This year we've been working to emphasize to our 4 littlies the gift of Christ in our lives during the Christmas season, instead of focusing on being good so Santa will bring presents. Still, Santa's name has been popping up more than I would wish. One night as I was getting into bed I had an idea that I quickly wrote down. We used it as our lesson for Family Home Evening last night and it went over really well!
First, I held up a picture of a door I drew on a piece of paper. This door was covering a picture behind it. I said, "Pretty soon we might have a special guest visit our house. You never know! I'm going to give some clues that describe this person and you guess who it is." The clues included:
- he sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good.
- he has a beard and a kind face
- he spent his life giving to others
- he's often pictured in red and/or white clothes
- he loves little children
- he gives the very best gifts
- you can never see him, but you can feel him
- he gives us a wonderful, special warm feeling
- he can get into our homes even if the doors are locked
- he has special, wonderful powers
- we want to give gifts back to him, but he doesn't need anything we could buy; he just wants us to give to other people. (My kids have been talking about giving a present to Santa.)
- I ended with, "He encourages us to be good so we will be ready when he comes."
The kids all excitedly shouted "Santa!" Then I had the youngest come and open the door to welcome our guest into our home.
We used this image from the Gospel Art Book. (You could use any number of pictures, including Christ in a Red Robe, The Second Coming, Christ and Children Around the World, etc. I just made sure he was wearing red and white.)
The kids all gasped in amazement that I was actually describing Jesus - there are so many similarities! We discussed how each description applied to both Jesus and Santa, and then we talked about how Santa is actually a symbol for Jesus, and everything we love about Santa is really everything we love about Jesus. We can be reminded of Jesus through many different symbols during the Christmas season, and we mentioned a few - candy canes, giving gifts, stars on the tree, etc.
We looked at a few more pictures of Jesus and even a picture of Santa kneeling at the manger to discuss how Jesus is the greatest gift. It was a very enjoyable and memorable lesson. Now the youngest keeps wanting to open the door and let Jesus in - and we let him!
Tami Greene is a homeschooling mom of 4, a wife, a BYU grad, a former journalist, a Canadian, a reader, a learning enthusiast, a lover of all things baby. She can't believe she is blogging instead of finishing her numerous Christmas sewing projects :)
20 comments - Add a comment below -:
Lovely idea, Tami! I love the idea of showing how Santa is actually a symbol for Christ. Do your littles not believe in Santa then? Just wondering how that works in your home. Or do they believe in Santa, but understand now that he is a symbol of Christ? Thanks for the thoughts!
This is such a great FHE idea. I can't wait until Monday to give this lesson. Maybe I'll sneak it in today! Thanks so much.
This is just awesome. Thanks for listening to the Spirit and writing down your thoughts when they came, and thanks for blogging about it instead of finishing those Christmas projects! :)
Simply wonderful. I can't wait to use this with our littles on Monday.
Yes, they do believe in Santa, though as I become more aware I would like to transition them to seeing him as a lovely symbol. I am beginning to feel that Latter-day Saints who know Jesus and have the truth do not need Santa to confuse their realities. But it's hard to do that! My oldest is 7, and I think as they begin to question we will be able to guide them more in the direction we would prefer, and we won't push the Santa issue with the young ones. I don't want to be a Santa-Scrooge I just want to do whatever will help bring them closer to their Savior! I'll keep praying as we travel this road, and would welcome your thoughts and suggestions!
I love your FHE lesson idea. So good! Have you read I Believe in Santa Claus by Diane Adamson? It is my favorite book about bridging the gap between Santa as a symbol of Christmas and Christ as the focal point. Just thought I would share. We read it to the kids every Christmas Eve. You can find it here:
http://www.amazon.com/Believe-Santa-Claus-Diane-Adamson/dp/0967357101
Thanks for sharing-this is a great idea. I'm hoping to not do Santa at all at our house-but I'm they will inevitably learn about it from others.
love it and am using it tonight. you're brilliant!
I absolutely love this. Thank you for sharing, its perfect! I'll be using this on Monday!
I'd love to know where you got the picture of Santa kneeling at the manger.
Crystal - I just did a Google search for Santa kneeling at the manger. There are several choices!
There is a beautiful picture book titled " I Believe in Santa" by Diane Adamson that depicts this very thing. I highly recommended it. We read it every Christmas Eve.
I'd love to find that book! It's like $78 on Amazon (probably meaning they don't actually have it and your order would be cancelled anyway)
I truly believe this is an inspired idea. I so love the spirit of Christmas, and it bothers me when people gripe on Santa. I have always believed that he embodies the spirit of Christmas, and you have given us a mode of teaching this to children in such a simple, poignant way!
Thanks so much for sharing your inspirational FHE! As others have said it is a good way to make the transition from "material" Santa to the true meaning of the season. I really wish I could find the "I Believe in Santa" book but it seems to be out of print, dang it! If anyone knows where to find a copy, please pass on the info! :)
I have told my kids that Santa is pretend and keep them from watching and reading to much about him so that they don't get confused. My sister in law tried to tell my four year old that Santa is real ( she knows that I don't want her to believe in Santa) and she told her, " but Santa is pretend." then she wanted to make sure with me. Very aggravating. In fact my husbands whole side of the family think it horrible that I am doing this and says so often. So we are now seeing them much less. I was never taught to believe in Santa and I am so glad because I was never confused about the real purpose of Christmas. Love this idea! It is truly inspired!
I have told this to my kids, but wasn't sure of a way to really present it. Thank You for sharing! This is perfect.
I really appreciate the comments from anonymous. Since my husband left the church, I wanted my kids to be able be able to trust me completely. So for everyone who looks down on Santa haters, some of have a hard road to travel and have our reasons.
I love this idea! I'm very interested in the picture of Santa kneeling at Jesus though!
Thanks for this great idea! I'm using it for FHE tonight! :)
It hasn't felt much like Christmastime to me this year. I keep telling my husband I think it's because we've been so busy with getting all of our presents in order that we haven't talked about the true meaning of Christmas with the kids. THANK you so much for this post. It's exactly what we need in our home. I can't wait to do this with my family on monday night!! great way to teach our kids!!
I like this post except that Santa isn't a symbol of Jesus Christ. Santa was St. Nicholas, a Christian who gave gifts to little boys & girls around Jesus' birthday to help celebrate.
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