Christmas 3 – Sensory Christmas

The final post in the Christmas series.

Each year at our church we try to approach Christmas from a different viewpoint and bring this into the services and other activities.  This viewpoint is our Christmas theme and means that we can include different aspects in our Christmas teaching and events. Previous years have included “Imagine yourself in the nativity” and “Imagine the nativity in your world”, for this one the Churches Advertising Network was a great link, the poster being a great visual for this - Christmas 2009 Blog Post.

This year we did something that we’ve been building up to and follows on from previous years.  The focus this year was on the journey.  We were looking at the journeys made to the stable and then home, and what journeys we take from the nativity.  This was reflected in our children’s nativity, looking into the different journeys taken by the people in the Christmas story.

But the focus that this blog post is really about was our sensory stations that were laid around the church. The church was open for two hours, one in the morning and one in the evening.  During that time anyone and everyone were welcome to come to the church and take a journey (or even all three). The church was laid out with three journeys, Mary & Joseph, Shepherds and Wise Men. Each journey was laid out with different footsteps and each journey had 4-7 stations. Each station gave something to reflect on that would relate to something that person experienced in the Christmas story, for example the wise men meeting Herod, Mary and Joseph going on their journey, experiencing tiredness and other strains that relate to being on a journey. There are a couple of station examples at the end.

My priority when creating a sensory station place is to have something for children as well as adults to do at each station. This might be something to think about but it generally involves having something to do, e.g. making a person out of playdough who has helped you with your journey with Jesus. At another station break a glowstick and keep it to remind you that Jesus is the light of the world and is with you always. At a wise men based journey station smell some oils of frankincense and myrrh to think about the gifts the wise men brought to Jesus.  Having stations with things like this also means adults can try both and don’t just have to look at things deeply but sometimes see the journeys in simple ways.

The three journeys ended at the manger. This was a chance to sit in the nativity and imagine Jesus as a baby, a baby born like us all.

A station idea like this isn’t something most churches can do all the time but it is a great chance to give people different ways to pray, different things to consider when it comes to a story they may have heard many times before. We learn, pray and communicate differently and this is a chance to let people do that.  It is something that is difficult to describe to people but if done in different ways and linked in with services or other church events can encourage a variety of people to come.

Again our Christmas events were hampered by the weather but it did mean that people had to make difficult journeys of their own that week and related to all we were trying to share in our Christmas at church.

 

Station Examples

Station Shepherds 3

You are getting closer to the manger where Jesus was born now. While shepherds were waiting on the hill many angels joined with the angel Gabriel and together they sang praises to God. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests."There are people today who still write and sing songs to God, praising what he has done. Take this moment as you reflect on the experiences of the shepherds to listen to one of the songs on the CD player. A song that sings of the joy of a baby being born that will change the world. There are words if you want to read them.

Children: You are getting closer to the manger where Jesus was born now. While shepherds were waiting on the hill many angels joined with the angel Gabriel and together they sang praises to God. Listen to the song on the CD as you imagine the angels singing to God. Think of the joy they are sharing.

Station Shepherds 4

After the shepherds met with Mary, Joseph and Jesus they went and told people. They couldn’t keep the news to themselves. It is said that they spread the word and the people they told were amazed. The story for the shepherds didn’t end there. After they had told people they returned, they glorified and praised God for all that they had seen and heard. You will see that on one of the walls there is a wall for prayer. Is there someone you would like to hear the good news of Jesus or is there something you want to praise God for? Add it to the praise wall.

Children: After the shepherds met with Mary, Joseph and Jesus they went and told people. They were so excited they couldn’t keep the news to themselves. Is there something you want to say thank you to God for? Write it down or draw it on the paper praise wall.