Christmas Nativity (For kids!)

Ever since reading the book, “Treasuring God in Our Traditions” by Noel Piper, (excellent book, I highly recommend it!)  I have wanted my children to have a nativity set that was meant to be played with. There are so many different nativity sets out there these days that are beautiful and decorative… but I wanted one that wouldn’t break; that was meant to be loved on, and handled by little ones. I want the story of Christ’s humble birth to come alive for my children through tangible, colorful things. My Mom bought us a Playmobile Nativity Set, and we love it! I grew up playing with playmobile, and can testify to it’s durability; it is fun, and well made. … I have a treasure trove of memories of hours upon hours of playing with Playmobile… my all-time favorite childhood toy.  

This nativity set (which we will only bring out during the Christmas season) has become Jane’s favorite thing to play with. She carries “Baby Jesus” all around the house, making sure that he takes naps (on my bed by the way) and eats well. I have come across many funny scenes during the day… and I’ve learned that she always has a reason for setting her little people and animals down in a certain way. Nothing is as it seems. For example, I found this on the couch:

Looks like there ought to be a mini football between them. I asked Jane what they were doing and she replied, “Wise men crawling.”

Of course…. Why didn’t I think of that?

Here’s another one of my findings. This one on the floor:

 

Jane’s explanation: “Shepherd cuddle sheep”

And here’s yet another one that was self-explanatory for me, but may not be so obvious to the untrained eye

For those of you who couldn’t guess, the Shepard is eating the goldfish. Yum. I’m glad that she has a generous, sharing heart. She could have eaten them all herself.