Advent 2011: The Christmas Cast

A few years ago, we spent an evening making a nativity scene from salt dough.  The whole family and even the grandparents got involved.  It was great fun!  Each year, our nativity scene is one of the first things to get pulled from the Christmas box.  I place the dough characters in a shoe box and they are played with until the day that we create a manger for the baby.  These ornaments have been played with as dolls, set up as decoration, and even puppets in a play.

As you know, every good play has a good cast and that could be no truer than in the Christmas story.  Today we are using salt dough to create the “cast” for our Christmas play.   I hope that you will play along with us.  If you do not have time to make a salt dough nativity set, you can find most of these characters in any set that you buy in the store, including the ones that are made especially for kids.  Here are the characters that you will need:

God: No need to make Him since he made us all!

Joseph: Jesus step-father; known for his godly character and compassion.

Mary: Jesus mother; young, obedient and highly favored by God

Jesus:  Son of God; carpenter; Messiah

The Angels:  Appeared to Mary, Joseph and the shepherds

Shepherds:  working at night, faithful, told others about Jesus, praised God

3 Wise Men:  Brought 3 gifts, followed the star

The Star:  Led the shepherd and wise men to Jesus

The King:  Saul, David, Jesus, and Herrod

Extras: sheep, cows, donkey

Christmas Adventus Day 2:  Place one of the nativity characters (or the recipe for the salt dough) in the envelope for Day 2.  Next, place all of the ingredients (or characters if already made) in a shoe box under the tree.  As you craft each character in the cast of the Christmas story, talk about who they are, their character traits, and why they are important.  If your characters are already made, place them in a shoebox under the tree.  Place baby Jesus in the bag for Day 2 on our Advent garland.  Have your angel remove Jesus from the bag and tell you all that they know.  Use our guide above to be sure that your angel knows the basic information about each of the people in the story.

For more information on our salt dough nativity, go to our "Christmas Adventus 2011" page.



For our other Advent activities, see "Christmas Adventus 2011: Celebrating Allergy-Free".