Christmas Every Day
How do we make Christmas last?
by Becky May
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To encourage us to explore the true meaning of Christmas.
Preparation and materials
- Have available the song ‘I wish it could be Christmas every day’ by Wizzard and the means to play it during the assembly. It is 4.55 minutes long and is available at: https://youtu.be/IJPc7esgvsA
- Have available some information about ‘Mr Christmas’. His website is available at: https://www.mrchristmas.co.uk/ or the YouTube video ‘Mr Christmas shows off his home’ is available at: https://youtu.be/yn-C07VM3nM (4.16 minutes long)
Assembly
- Have the song ‘I wish it could be Christmas every day’ by Wizzard (4.55 minutes long) playing as the children enter the assembly.
- Welcome the children and ask them if they are looking forward to Christmas.
Ask the children, ‘What are you most looking forward to? What do you get most excited about at this time of year?’ - Talk about how Christmas is a very special time for us to celebrate.
Ask the children when they think the celebrations begin.
The shops started stocking Christmas supplies in early September, and many people now mark 1 December as the start of Christmas rather than the start of Advent! - Ask the children how long they think that we should celebrate Christmas for: 12 days, like in the song? A week? The whole month of December?
Listen to a range of responses. - Now ask the children if they can imagine celebrating Christmas every single day.
Ask them the following questions.
- Do we wish it could be Christmas every day?
- How would it feel to wake up to presents to open every single day?
- What would it be like to have the Christmas tree up all year?
- Could we perform our Nativity play every single week?
- Could we eat roast turkey and Brussels sprouts every single dinnertime? - Use one of the links to introduce ‘Mr Christmas’.
Explain that Mr Christmas has celebrated Christmas every single day for over 30 years now. He has lived in a constant state of Christmas! - Invite the children to share a few thoughts both in favour of and against the idea of celebrating Christmas every day.
Help them to see how the sparkle and shine of a few special days could soon fade if it became an everyday reality. - Explain that there is a lot to do to make it possible for us to celebrate Christmas in the way we do. We couldn’t keep up this level of work or expense every day of the year.
- Ask the children, ‘Is this really all there is to Christmas, though? Is there another way in which we can keep Christmas alive every day?’
Listen to a range of responses.
Time for reflection
Explain to the children that although the various elements of Christmas that we have discussed are all good and exciting, they’re not the things that matter most about Christmas. In fact, there is a key to celebrating Christmas every day without losing any of the specialness!
Remind the children that at the heart of Christmas is the story of God entering the world as a baby, Jesus. Explain that one of Jesus’ names is ‘Immanuel’, which means ‘God with us’. Explain that Christians believe that this refers to God coming into the world as a baby to live among us. It reminds us that God is always with us, every single day.
Ask the children to make themselves really still and quiet, and think about what this means to them: God is with us every single day, all through the year! He is everywhere we go and in everything that we do! How special is that?
This is the most special part of Christmas, and it is the thing that lasts every day of our lives: God is with us.
So, what does it really mean to celebrate Christmas every day?
Perhaps it means that we should remember that we carry God with us. We can share his love with everyone we meet - both in big gestures like Christmas presents, and in tiny acts of love and kindness, like sharing a smile or holding a door open.
Ask the children to consider how they can share Christmas every day with the people around them.
Pause to allow time for thought.
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank you that you came into the world to be with us.
Help us to share the hope and love of Christmas every day of our lives.
Amen.
Song/music
‘Every step’ by Nick and Becky Drake, available at: https://youtu.be/nZBhKp5_HwE (4.05 minutes long)
Extension activities
- Try to carve out some space in the busyness of the season where children can pause and be quiet for a moment. They could use this time to reflect on what ‘God with us’ means to them.
- Encourage the children to live out the love and hope of Christmas, both with each other and with their wider community. Come back to this theme when you return in January to encourage the children to live out ‘Christmas every day’ in full!
