The Christmas Story is obviously one of the most important stories in the Bible. However, it is often misquoted and several myths are prominently told during the Christmas season. This activity combines a fun game with opportunities to bust some of the most common Christmas myths.
You will need a few supplies for this game:
5 boxes, any size will work
15 individual jingle bells, found at most craft stores
To set up this game you will need to place jingle bells in each box. There should be 1 box with 1 jingle bell, 1 box with 2 jingle bells, 1 box with 3 bells…etc up to 5. Tape the boxes shut.
Print and cut out the following words and then tape them to the boxes.
Donkey Star Wise Men Inn Keeper Gifts
It does not matter which word is on which box. It is better if not even you know how many bells are in each box so you can play along with the kids.
Make or print out the provided answer sheet and distribute it to each child or team.
Pass around the boxes and have kids try to figure out how many bells are in each box. They can shake the boxes, feel the weight of them, or whatever they want to except open them. Have them mark their answers on the provided sheets.
After everyone has had time to guess, gather all the boxes and use them to explain the common misconceptions about the Christmas story on your own or by using the following script.
I don’t know about you guys but that was pretty hard. I had to do a lot of guessing and a little detective work and I am still not completely sure I got all the right answers. Well, let’s open them and see just how many we got right.
Donkey – Grab the box with the donkey label on it and shake it a few times. Now would be a good time to give the kids your guess if you are playing along. After a few shakes open the box and reveal how many bells were in it.
How many of y’all got that right? Now that we know what is on the inside of the box, let’s talk about the word on the outside. Donkey. Have you guys ever heard anything about a donkey in the story of Jesus’ birth? Allow for responses. That’s right, I have heard that Mary rode a donkey to Bethlehem as well. However, our Bible does not tell us this. She might have ridden a donkey, she may have walked, she might have ridden a camel. We just don’t know how she got to Bethlehem.
Inn Keeper – Grab the box with the Inn Keeper Label and follow the same procedure as with the donkey box.
Who got that one right? Awesome! So who knows about the Inn Keeper in the Christmas story? Allow for responses. Well, guess what? An innkeeper is never mentioned in the Bible either. All we are told here is that there was no room for them in the inn.
Star – Get the box with the Star label and follow the same procedures.
How many of y’all got that one? Who can think of a star being mentioned in the Christmas story? Once again allow for responses. I always thought that there was a bright star right over Jesus’ birthplace. I have seen many pictures and manger scenes that show this as well. However, that scene is not biblical. We are told that there were some wise men from the East and they were guided by a star to see Jesus. However, when they finally arrive they do not know where he is exactly. In fact, they have to go ask the king for Jesus’ location. The bible does tell us that they were again led by a star and that the start stopped over Jesus which is how they found him. However, the depiction of a huge bright star hovering over the stable is a bit of an exaggeration.
Wise Men – you guessed it…grab the box with the wise men label on it and follow the procedure.
Anyone get that one right? We have all seen and heard of the wise men right? Well, what if I told you that they were not there when Jesus was born and they were not at the stable? Well it is true, the wise men did come to visit Jesus, however, it was not on the night he was born. The Bible tells us that when they did arrive to see Jesus He was in a house, not in the manger. The Bible also tells us that King Herod had learned a timeline of when Jesus was born from the wise men and that timeline was around two years earlier.
Another common myth about the wise men was that there were three of them. The Bible does not tell us how many of them made the journey. It could be as few as two or a great crowd of them, we simply don’t know. We often hear three because they brought three different gifts to see Jesus.
Speaking of gifts!
Gifts – Grab the box with the gifts label on it and follow the procedure one last time.
Anyone get that one right? We just talked about gifts and that the wise men brought them to Jesus. Can anyone name them? That’s right, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. I don’t know about you but I always pictured the wise men bringing three boxes, all wrapped up with a bow. One box had gold, one had the frankincense, and the other had the myrrh. However, once again this is an assumption that is not in the bible. The bible does tell us that they brought these three gifts to Jesus, but we do not know what they came in or how many of each present was brought. It could have been a lot of each or very little of each. We are simply told they gave him gifts!
Well, that was pretty tough and you probably had to do a few guesses in trying to figure out how many jingle bells were in each box. When you think about it, that is kinda how we get the myths we just discussed. People read the Christmas story and then make a few guesses on what details are missing. Well, now you know what is actually in the Bible and what has been “filled in” by guessing. You should always check anything you hear about God, Jesus, or the Bible by finding it and reading it yourself. You can also always ask questions if you don’t understand something you read!
Pray
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