Christmas! The word stirs up feelings of excitement and invokes anticipation! It is rightly so.
However, you can direct your children to the real reason for the excitement and cheer by helping them to understand what the holiday is about. As an adult, you understand the basis for the celebration for Christmas, the Birth of the Savior. But your children may not understand this holiday the way you do.

How can parents help their children understand the facts of Christmas? How can we plant the seeds of love and adoration of Jesus in them? How can we explain Christmas to them in terms that they will not only understand but hold on to and hold dear their whole lives?

Here are some guidelines to teach and talk to your children about Christmas.

Repeat the story of Christmas over and over in terms that they will understand.

Never weary of
re-telling the wonderful story and of explaining what each section of the story means.
Consider renting or purchasing videos of The Birth of Jesus. Read to them from children’s books
about the birth of Jesus. Coloring books can be a big help in explaining about Christmas to younger children. Children in a home where the parents are Christians should never be able to remember when they first heard the story of Jesus birth and the Gospel story! Start early and don’t let up!

Help your child realize that Jesus is God’s gift of love to us.

This is done mainly day to day in your life as a Christian. The love, kindness and patience that the child sees at home will be reflected in his response to the story of Jesus and to the Gospel. Nurture the feelings of thankfulness and love that will spring up in him as a result of hearing the story. Avoid the usual bustle and hectic-ness of the holiday that so easily makes the children feel left out. Plan to do things together as a family for Christmas. Things like Advent, fasting, singing hymns, praying together, serving others and reading God’s word will help the children feel like a part of the holiday with the whole family.

Your children will want to express the feelings of excitement and joy of the season, so help them to do this.
Making decorations, gifts and cards will help the children to learn joy and gladness for the season.
When you sing songs of the season, show gladness and joy in your expressions. Limit the singing of secular songs and concentrate on songs of Jesus Birth, and of God’s great love for us. Learn songs that your children may be learning at church and sing them together with them. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and talk to the Lord openly with the children through out the season, and throughout the year, thanking Him for His gift of Jesus. Allow them to hear you thank God for Jesus.


Talk about and demonstrate the Nativity.

Set up a Creche in your home. Use creativity in setting up the figures. Perhaps leaving out the baby Jesus until Christmas morning. Have the children search for Him every day or so until Christmas, when they will find Him lying in a manger in the creche. Leave it up until after Christmas and add the Wise men later. Talk about the story in God’s Word, how the Wise men did not visit Jesus until He was an older baby and lived in a house with his mother and father. Discuss the meaning of the gifts they brought to Jesus.

Children understand birthdays. Make a birthday cake for Jesus and celebrate His birthday.
Discuss gifts you can give to Him. Give Him gifts of self-sacrifice. Examples could include, money donated to a worthy cause, time given to a cause or organization, a visit to a shut-in, a gift of food, etc. Give gifts of love and time to those who are needy in some way. Include your children in this, don’t merely talk about it, actually go out and do it! Find some traditions for your family to share. Ask each of you children to choose one gift that they have received and re-wrap it to give away to a needy person.

Tell them the Truth about Santa Claus.

Contrary to what you may have been told, telling your children the truth about Santa won’t harm them or deprive them of a childhood necessity.
It may however cause your friends to look askance at you when your own children begin to tell other children what they have learned about Santa Claus, so take this into consideration.
Explain to your children that Santa Claus is a legend based on a real man named Bishop Nicholas who loved the Lord Jesus and gave to the poor. You can learn more about this man and help your children put him in his proper place at Christmas……a man who no longer lives on earth but in the presence of Jesus.

Avoid asking “What do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?” and “You’d better be good or Santa won’t bring you any presents!”. When your child talks about Santa, listen to him very
attentively. Then bring the discussion around to the real Nicholas and how he loved Jesus. Explain that we too should love Jesus with all out hearts as people like Nicholas did and as godly people we know today do. Help your child point out individuals in his own experience who show the love of God to others by giving and serving, pray for these people and thank God for them with your child.

Finally, show your children every day of the year that we are to be thankful for the birth of Jesus and show them the Joy that you have in your own life as a result of forgiveness of sins through Him.

Are you wondering why Christmas often seems so hollow and so meaningless? Its because we have filled it with many things other than the One whom we celebrate on that day. Help your children see the reason for Christmas, you will be so glad you did!

Click here for a site to start learning about St. Nicholas

sylvia