Christmas Resources 2022
Last year we put together a compilation of suggested resources for Advent and Christmas on our 2021 Christmas Resources page, which had updates from 2020. Those resources will still be great to use this year and there are ideas for online and video alternatives as well as ready-to-use resources for staff in school.
In addition to our compilations last year, this year we add the following to our list of Christmas resources:
POP UK’s Free Songs for Christmas – Discover PopUK’s free Christmas song resources with a contemporary lively style that P4-P7s will love
Ten Must Know Bible Stories – free Christmas resources ready for you to use with your class:
The New King Nativity Play – a brand new (and rather royal) nativity play. It comes with a regal twist, and opportunities for lots of actors to get involved in the production.
Christmas Story Trails – Hunt for the characters, crack the codes and solve the clues. Free to download.
Lesson plans for Early Level – These lesson plans for first and second level, including lots of outdoor learning ideas, will help you explore the story of the birth of Jesus with your class. Consider the characters, the emotions and the theme of trust in the story. The play-based and teacher-led learning ideas for Early level will help you explore the story with your youngest learners.
Nativity PowerPoints – Use Ten Must Know Bible Stories’ free PowerPoints with storytelling notes to help you share the story of the birth of Jesus with your class (under ‘Additional Resources’ on the webpage).
SU Scotland‘s Light Up Christmas – Based around a three-part video series, this cross curricular resource lights up the Christmas story for Primary 5-7s! Alongside the videos is a downloadable resource pack with quizzes and reflection activities for easy classroom delivery
Drama Kirk has some wonderful resources, freely available, for schools, churches and community groups to include in their celebrations!:
Bob Hartman’s Rhyming Bible – four performed poems to take you through Christmas, with the familiar nativity characters in the background helping to tell the story visually. These four online videos are a fun and engaging way to share the Christmas story, especially suitable for primary-school aged children:
A Woman Called Mary (3.5 minutes) – Mary is getting on with her chores, when she has an unexpected visitor…an angel! The angel has some amazing new. Mary is going to have a baby! A very special baby!
Joseph, Don’t Worry (3 minutes) – Mary is engaged to Joseph, but now he hears she is going to have a baby. Will they still get married? Join Joseph for a sleepless night, when he has his own special visitor.
It Begins in Bethlehem (4.5 minutes) – Shepherds, on a hill, have their encounter with the Angels; who explain why this baby is so very special. And so the very first Christmas begins, in Bethlehem.
One Hump, Two Humps (4 minutes) – The Wisemen are watching the skies and see a new star, meaning a new king has been born! They follow the star to King Herod, expecting to find the Royal Baby in a palace. Will the Wisemen find the baby? And how will Herod react to a new King?
“Shepherd’s Christmas” by Jeannette Walters (14.5 minutes) – A lovely short film, which tells the story of a young boy on a farm, helping his Dad with chores. A little reluctantly. His Dad tells him the story of the Shepherds that very first Christmas, tending their sheep on a hillside. An angel appears to them, bringing glad tidings of the new King, born that very night.
Share the wonder of the Shepherds this Christmas as they go from tending their flock to being the very first visitors to the new-born King.
Jerusalem News by Ray Markham (11.5 minutes)
A fun film and a different take on the nativity, with excellent scope for follow on discussion. Whilst the film can be enjoyed by any age group, it is particularly suitable for P4 to S2.The first ever Christmas from the perspective of a newsroom, looking for a fresh scoop. Will they cover the story of this baby, supposedly born to be the saviour of all mankind?