Christmas Resources

Here is our pick of resources for 2020. This can also be found in a PDF version which has specifically been adapted with the aim that an email or print copy of this can be given to your local school Senior Management Team to provide them with information on good quality teaching resources on Christmas. We would encourage you to get in touch with your school now and share this PDF:

Advent Resources 2020 pdf

[A larger selection of resources to use during Advent and Christmas can be found by typing ‘Christmas’ into the search function at the top of the page (by clicking on the magnifying glass) or into the search facility at the foot of a resources or existing search page.]

Ten Must Know Bible Stories

New Early Level Christmas resources include:

a quick guide to help you get the most out of what’s on offer
an early level story script
some simple, but interactive teacher-led ideas to explore the story further with your class
a mind-map of ideas for play contexts that can easily be set up in a Nursery or class play area. These allow the children to explore the Christmas story at their own level, but also provide links and suggested teacher prompts of how to extend learning further.

Best of all, Ten Must Know Bible Stories’ resources are ready-made for practitioners to pick up and use.

The Ten Must Know website also includes a Christmas Assembly, ideal for early level.

Find Ten Must Know Bible Story’s Christmas Assembly here:
https://tenbiblestories.org/assemblies-and-minilessons/

The Children’s Society

Christingle
The symbolism of the Christingle is an excellent way of communicating and celebrating the true meaning of Christmas.
Perhaps your class or group could create some and reflect using this symbol, or a chaplain could provide a school class with the materials and then talk the young people through the symbolism live over a video call?

The Children’s Society has produced a suite of resources adapting this for the curriculum.

Guide for Schools
Assembly Pack (PowerPoint + full script)
A range of Arts, Crafts and Games for classroom use

As well as emphasising the true meaning of Christmas, the PowerPoint explores ideas and values around the family, and highlights the work of the Children’s Society. Schools are encouraged to link their Christmas activities with raising funds for this charity, although this is entirely optional.

Scripture Union Scotland and Scripture Union Ireland

SU Scotland has partnered with SU Ireland to create an exciting free RME digital resource, comprising professionally produced videos and a downloadable resource pack. ‘Light up Christmas’ has been written in line with the Curriculum for Excellence to help children in P6 & P7 understand what Christians believe about Christmas. It can be delivered by the teacher with minimal preparation (printing two activity sheets) and all the links to Experiences and Outcomes documented.
Take a look at suscotland.org.uk/lightupchristmas, which has lots of information including a lesson plan and registration form to receive additional resources.

This resource has been added to since 2020 and a new website with resources is available at lightupchristmas.org.uk.

The Scottish Bible Society

There are two excellent PowerPoints for this season on the B ibleworld website which are free to download:

Mary and the Angel (about the annunciation and journey to Bethlehem)
Jesus Is Born (Jesus’s birth, presentation at the Temple, and the shepherds).

What makes these two resources particularly useful are the accompanying detailed suggestions for discussion, to help children relate these historic events to their own everyday lives.

Suitable for Primary RME and Time for Reflection.

The Scottish Bible Society has put together a pack of ten activity cards, using ‘Christmas Windows’, that help families interact with the Christmas story as told in the Gospel of Luke. Through short daily readings, activities, and a specially produced 3 minute long daily podcast, households will be able to pause and reflect on what Christmas really is about. The activity cards could also be used by a class to work through the Christmas story each day and the pictures put up on their classroom window or door.

By the end they will have created a nativity scene for the community to see and ponder on the peace and hope that Christians today know and trust, because of what happened when Christ entered into our world.

Sacred Spaces at Advent

For Advent 2020, the Archbishop of York Youth Trust has partnered with the fantastic organisation Prayer Spaces in Schools to produce the free resource ‘Sacred Spaces at Advent’. The lead up to Christmas can be a busy time and we can forget to slow down, missing some of the most important things about this special season. With four weeks of content, it explores moments of stillness found in the Christmas story. Each of these moments, or as they are called ‘sacred spaces’, came out of simple every day activities. This resource will help pupils to take inspiration from the Christmas story and learn how to create sacred spaces in their everyday lives, which can support their well-being and happiness.

Each week, the resource includes:

An introduction to the sacred space theme
Bible link verse
A short video reflection from the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell
3 practical challenges
A closing prayer

The resource can be used for collective worship in school or church settings, as well as individually or as a family at home. Activities and challenges are most suitable for upper Primary and lower Secondary ages and have been written with the English school system in mind. Downloadable resources come in the form of a PowerPoint, video files and printable sheets.

‘Sacred Spaces at Advent’ has been replaced by ‘Community Matters at Christmas‘ for 2021.

Messy Church

We love Messy Church’s wealth of creative resources for anyone young at heart which can help transform those Christmas making activities into something really meaningful! Messy Church has a great compilation of Christmas resources which includes sessions for use at home and links to other pages, such as instructions on how to build this fantastic Lego Nativity scene (suitable for boys and girls, men and women!).

Youth For Christ

Youth For Christ have produced some Christmas cards as part of their ‘Go Colour’ range. The Yo-Ho-Go Colour cards are £12 for 6 including delivery.

GodVenture

On the GodVenture website there are many Christmas resources, for example advent calendars, stickers, posters and books, which would be most suitable for families at home of Primary aged children but some of these resources could also be used in the classroom and/or given as gifts to pupils from churches or schools workers. The site has lots of fun, colourful resources such as activity boxes and magazines.

Assembly materials

Here are a selection of assemblies for different age groups for either teachers to use in front of a class, or for someone to record on video and then send into school:
– Steve Younger’s ‘Seasons’ booklet has 10 detailed outlines for Christmas assemblies and his YouTube channel features short videos which he send into schools each week. These will continue in the run up to – Christmas and the exact content can be reproduced by yourself.
– ‘Christmas Unwrapped’ for Secondary school, complete with text, questions, quiz and CfE E&O references
– ‘All I want for Christmas’ Christian Aid assembly for upper Primary ages
– ‘Surprise, Surprise!’ is a good example of an assembly created by Scripture Union England and Wales which can easily be adapted to suit Scottish schools.
– There are some good Secondary and Primary assemblies and other resources available free on the Salvation Army website.
– Barnabus in Schools also has many resources but these are written with the English National Curriculum in mind.

– ‘Christmas: What’s in a Name?‘ video by Robyn Welsby is really excellent, looking at the anticipation of Christ and could be used for an assembly or Time for Reflection.