Christmas Play

[hopeytg]

Hi All, We made the decision this year not to do a nativity - done it for the past few years and although very well received thought this year we would have a change. Big mistake!! - We decided to just sing a few christmassy songs, one parent has very kindly adapted a few well known tunes with christmas words, but its too short. What I am looking for is some ideas on how to extend the performance - all suggestions gratefully received.

[Fredbear]

Hi could they do a christmas poem, dance or act out a short christmas story.

We have just had our Christmas Concert today with 55 children. they were all fantastic as always.

We use a company called The Ark, has lots of Nativity songs, plays etc, and we just adapt to our setting.

[Panders]

Hi All, We made the decision this year not to do a nativity - done it for the past few years and although very well received thought this year we would have a change. Big mistake!! - We decided to just sing a few christmassy songs, one parent has very kindly adapted a few well known tunes with christmas words, but its too short. What I am looking for is some ideas on how to extend the performance - all suggestions gratefully received.

 

 

Do you know, I could almost have written your post! We too decided not to do the nativity this year. But....... it does mean coming up with another "production" which it tricky for the children to learn sometimes, is just as tricky for us adults because it's still a work in progress, rather than the nativity which we had done a few times with variations, songs etc., but basically adults knew where the children needed to be and what we were "looking for".

 

This year, just trying to work out the staging of it all has had me pulling my hair out at timees. anyway, this is what we are doing - I am telling a story about Father christmas going off into the starry night, children are holding up their starry night pictures and adding sound effects like it was cold.. brrrrr, and he patted his cat meow and his dog woof woof and off he went. Then some of the children will be doing a counting song about stars. then i narrate more of the story, and they add sound effects like sleigh bells etc. and Father Christmas hearing a carol song, cue Away in a manger, before Father Christmas gets stuck coming down the chimney, cue another song, then some of the boys wanted to do a super hero song, so we have introduced that by saying Father christmas leaves a book about super heroes, then more story to be narrated and sound effects, before Father christmas gets home and falls asleep dreaming about snowmen, cue another counting song with the children. We finish with We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

 

With all the stops and starts about getting the transistions a bit smoother, we think if it runs well it will last 20 minutes, if not it will be half an hour!!!! Either way that is more than enough for us. Ours is on Tuesday next week.

 

To extend the time yours takes, could you pop in a counting song or two and have two groups do the same one if you have to. One which can take some while to sing but is dead easy to do is 10 little robins sitting in a tree. Our little robins sit on top of the climbing frame with slide attached and member of staff making sure the robins behave themselves! anyway, this is the song if you don't know it. It is to the tune of 10 green bottles.

 

10 little robins sitting in a tree,

10 little robins sitting in a tree,

and if one little robin should fly away for tea,

there'd be 9 little robins sitting in a tree.

 

When we get to the fly a way for tea the next available child slides down the slide and flaps their wings until they get to another adult waiting on the other side of the hall.

 

To dress them up, we have in the past, had red breasts made from brown card/sugar paper which has been sponged red in the middle, or head bands with pictures of robins stuck to them.

[Guest]

We no longer do a little "play" in nursery but at the end of the Christmas party we sit all the nursery children down and they sing a few songs to the parents and then we get the parents to join in with a few songs too.

 

It is short.

Easy to organise.

No major stress and the parents love it.

[Susan]

If you have a stock of Nativity costumes or simple props, you can still do a nativity.

 

The best Christmas Nativity I have ever seen in Nursery was very impromptu, one of the adults read the story and the children came to the front and acted out the parts appropriately but it was very much children led. The children had obviously been prepared in as much as they knew the story and everyone I think had previously role played all the parts but it was not choreographed with specific children in specific roles and everyone had a part to play.

[Inge]

We too ditched them and did the songs with parents at end of Christmas party, parents cams in to see Santa, thenwe had a mini social event with songs and a story all joining in, the children who wanted to sit with me did so and ohters atyed with parents.. was always a big hit.

 

other years I chose a story and we wove songs around it.. children all learnt the new songs but did not know the story until the day and then i held it as a story session with songs . some were action ones, we had a circle one, one we had the parents join in with and then the children's favourites at the end..

 

i always asked myself what were the children gaining by doing this? Too much of the same thing to practice and make it 'good' for the parents was not my idea of a good learning environment or fun...More than once I have worked with supervisors who always did a big production thing ans started daily practice before half term each year.. put me off them for life... never mind the children. A aprent social and songs was so much more fun for us and the children, parents enjoyed it once they realised we were a bit different..

[Panders]

If you have a stock of Nativity costumes or simple props, you can still do a nativity.

 

The best Christmas Nativity I have ever seen in Nursery was very impromptu, one of the adults read the story and the children came to the front and acted out the parts appropriately but it was very much children led. The children had obviously been prepared in as much as they knew the story and everyone I think had previously role played all the parts but it was not choreographed with specific children in specific roles and everyone had a part to play.

 

 

That is the way we do the nativity really. I tell the story very simply using props to begin with which are wrapped in tissue paper and each child unwraps another part of the story. We ask them if they would like to act it out, they role play it for a couple of days, choosing and playing any parts they want to, the next week they are doing it in front of their parents and because they haven't rehearsed it much there is still a lot of spontonaeity in it which I think works well. I couldn't imagine rehearsing something from half term onwards, that would be complete hell for all concerned.

 

I have to say tho I prefer the nativity to what we are doing this year, but we have been able to mix up the rehearsals so that we don't run through the whole show everytime, we just pick out bits of it to practice "today", will probably have a full run through on Monday.

 

I like the sound of Inge's morning that would be lovely.

[Inge]

Sorry, just tried to re read mine with all the typos.. that is what comes of having 2 cats try to sit on your lap around the laptop... not easy..they have moved to fill the floor now in front of the log fire ..

 

now back on subject..