Last year I wrote a post about finding Christmas plays for your children’s ministry. In the comments that followed, one reader offered to share her Christmas play. We are posting it here for anyone to use in their church Christmas pageant. Please leave feedback or say thanks in the comment form at the bottom of this post.
This Christmas play was written by Meketa Swords from Lighthouse WOC in Monroe, GA and this is our website. They used adults to do our puppets and the scripts where hiding in the barn behind the curtains and made it easy for the performance. The parts can be traded for children dressing as animals as well. More narration could replace some of the parts for smaller churches or a child could do different scenes.
Print this Christmas Play
Christmas in Genesis? How could this be?
Narrator: Long, Long, Long time ago was nothing.. close your eyes and see nothing.. Genesis 1:1 in the beginning God created….everything! Then he created man and woman. Everything went fine for a while and then It happened! Satan, the devil told the lady if she ate the fruit from the tree of good and evil she to could be as smart as God. God told Adam not to eat from that tree and he told Eve, only one rule to OBEY, but she pulled the fruit and ate it! so did Adam. That’s when sin entered the world and that’s why we were all born with the nature to do the wrong things. And God way back then had a plan! That plan would happen many years from that day….. day by day he waited until the right minute and it happened.
An angel appeared to a young lady named Mary. Mary was probably very frightened! The angel said as all angels do FEAR NOT! and Mary ask who are you. I am a messenger from God, the most high and Holy, he sent me to tell you… You have been chosen to have the Holy baby, the son of God and his name should be Jesus, Emmanuel the Holy one.
Mary was speechless….. Angel: ” Are you okay? nod if you understand.. ” (Mary nods her head yes)
Angel: “Will you listen and obey God’s plan for your life?”
(Mary again nods…yes) (The angel disappears)
Narrator: Mary sits speechlessly and in deep thought. That was a lot to say to a young lady who was engaged to be married to her boyfriend Joseph… What have I done? What will Joseph say? What will everyone say? Have I ever goofed? That very night as Joseph slept softly well, not softly Joseph snored very loud… Joseph woke up from his dream shaking his head, could it be? how? us? why?
Joseph hurries to Mary’s house… She meets him…
Mary: …Joseph I need to talk to you…
(as she speaks so does he…) Joseph : Mary, we need to talk…
Joseph: ” you go first… ”
Mary:”Joseph, you are never going to believe me….”
Joseph: “go ahead I think I may….”
Mary: Joseph, I was kneeling and praying and from no where there was an angel, that said I was the chosen one, the scriptures spoke of the mother of the son of God. I told the angel I wasn’t married and the angel said that was God’s plan the scripture spoke of that too… and I said yes before I could stop myself..
Joseph: “Mary, It’s okay the angel said the same to me, Fear not and follow the plans of God and the promised Messiah was coming.”
Narrator: The king send a letter to everyone in the villages, It read you are to go to the city of your birth place and pay your taxes.By this time Mary was about to give birth to this baby, but the law was the law and it didn’t wait for any baby! On a donkey with their bags they started their journey with no hotel reservations, because they had no cell phone to call. Hoping for an empty room somewhere that started knocking on doors, each time the same… sorry, no rooms left.no rooms left.. Joseph knew before they said it…NO rooms, he would repeat. The last hotel in the city The “N” Joseph was not taking no for an answer… No rooms was the answer…… But my wife.. The door slammed anyway. The “n” keepers wife saw the young couple and the expecting mom, she slipped out the side door and stop them… excuse me, excuse me… We have a barn with animals in the back, there is no bed but you can rest on the hay… Thank you , thank you it will work for now, for we have traveled far and my wife. I see said the n keeper’s wife. When’s the little one due? anytime now….
(Barn scene opens….)
Scene opens with the cow is arguing with the donkey….
Cow: I know it was my feeding tray!
Donkey: I rode her in on my back, I know the whole story.
Chicken: I was at her feet.
Duck: (quacked) I was listening at the door of the inn!
Pig: Will you all calm down.
Cow: Why should we listen to a pig? you just roll in your mud all day, what would you know anyway?
Chicken: yeah!
Pig: Someone has to take control of this madness.
Rat: (as he picks up dropped corn… ) I know the story I was in the house and outside!
Cow: What could a rat tell us? He lives in the dump!
(All laugh)
Pig: We can sort this out if only one at a time talks. Chicken first!
Chicken: I was by the lady and I heard her said that this was the one!
Cow: One what!
Chicken: I don’t know, I just know he is the ONE!
Pig: okay, He is the one! okay, duck
Duck: I heard the lady of the house say, They only had the barn, the couple said that would be fine they had traveled a long way.
Pig: okay, we know He’s the one and they traveled a long way! rat, do you have something to add…
Rat: yeah, the man said that star was placed here so others would know!
Pig: okay we know He’s the one, they traveled a long way and others will know by the star! What will they know?
Horse ( speaks up): They also said everyone had been waiting for him.
Pig: He’s the one, they came along way, the star shows others, everyone is waiting on him. okay we are getting a story together…cow
Cow: don’t forget the baby! I gave up my food for that little one and the mother said the angel said he’s name was Jesus! What’s an angel?
Pig: Don’t know, I do know He’s the one, they traveled a long way, the star shows others, everyone is waiting on him. It’s about the baby the mother calls Jesus! wait a minute someone’s coming, sssshhhhhh, keep your ears open and mouths closed let’s see what’s going on…
Over the mountain the shepherds in the field watching their sheep and playing a star game and all of a sudden BBOOOMM! a bright blinding light!
Angel: FEAR NOT!
( screaming loudly they missed the command to FEAR NOT!)
oldest shepherd: settle down …. okay. maybe we are not seeing anything, everyone close your eyes, now open..
Smallest Shepherd: It’s real. Who are you and where did you come from? how did you find us?
Angel: slow down…. I am a messager of the most Holy God. I come in peace to tell of the great news. Tonight in Bethlehem the city of David, the Messiah was born, if you go you will find him in a manger in swaddling clothes. Go quickly follow the star….
( Shepherds leave following the star……)
(lamb enters barn with shepherds….)
lamb: excuse me, may I sit for awhile I walked from the other side of the mountain…
pig: sure, what do you know about what’s going on?
lamb: I know that my masters where playing star games and something, they called an angel came from nowhere and told them the Lamb of God was born, follow the star and you will find him in a manger…(cow) that’s my manger…. and he would be in swaddling clothes. Here we are!
pig: He’s the one, they traveled along way, the star shows others and everyone is waiting on him. It’s about the baby the mother calls Jesus! and angel said he is the lamb of God and is in a manger go see! that is a lot about nothing…
donkey: can I speak now? pig sure I forgot about you…. well it started when we were home. I was resting and an angel appeared and spoke to my lady and said she was going to have a baby and he would be the Messiah, the son of God… (There was a aawwhhh in the barn!)
pig: …why didn’t you speak up sooner donkey?
Donkey: anyway, Joseph my lady’s husband had a dream and an angel told him the same thing and then he recieved a letter about taxes and here we are, no rooms in the inns or homes and the nice lady and the last stop n said we could stay here and here we are in your barn with the most special baby to ever be born was born in your barn and slept in your manger… chicken (spoke up) and slept next to me. And don’t forget me, duck said… WOW they said together!
Narrator: In another part of the country was Magi, they where men who watched the stars, like sciencists, they where very smart men and that same night they too saw the new star…
#1 wise men: Look!
#2 wise men: where?
#3 wise men: There you can’t miss it! WOW! there it is. It is as bright and big as we thought it would be.
#1 wise men:We must go!Now?
#2: Yes! But what about dinner?
#3: What about it? should we eat first?
#1: There is no time for that! we must go!
#3: Yeah!
#2: We must go buy gifts for the king! gifts where will we get gifts at 8:30? you know the marketplace closed at 4:00 yeah you are right… digging through old boxes one finds a tie? I have a tie! It’s never been worn!
#1: And what will a baby do with a tie!
#2: Yeah, the king is a baby!
#3: Let’s just get the gifts we had ready for the past few months for this occasion. Yeah that’s right, I forgot all about that. That’s why you have us to look after you!
#1: I’ll take the gold,
#2: I guess I’ll get the frankincense
#3: That leaves me with the myrrh, good thing I like myrrh!
#1: Let’s go!
Narrator: They to left to find the king, stopped by Herod who was jealous and a wicked King. He too had heard the rumors about the new king. He told the wise men, magi that when they find him come and tell him where he is so he too could go and worship! They knew he was lying to them, remember they were wise men. Herod wanted to kill the baby so he could not take his job away.
The magi had a long trip to make so they left….Arriving later they too found the baby and presented their gifts fit for a king.
(About that time entering the barn the three camels……)
Camels: excuse us, may we rest here…
pig: why no, this seems to be the most special spot on earth tonight, why are you here?
camels: our masters are here to bring gifts to the new king…
pig: King, Messiah, God’s son. Lamb of God, wow in our barn… God must really love us to allow us to give our home up to the King of kings….. What a night!
Narrator: And that night with the chickens, duck, cows, donkey, pigs, lambs, and the rest of the animals there it was a tiny baby boy, and was he ever beautiful. Mary could not take her eyes off the beautiful baby. There in the sky was the brightest star they had ever seen over the barn they where they all were… See the King of the world was born in a barn! not a hospital not a castle, but a barn! Still it didn’t matter to Mary or Joseph, he was the most beautiful precious baby ever born!
That night all that heard came to see and worship the son of God! the Messiah the promised one! That was to beginning to God’s plan to take away our sins and make a way to heaven again.
That’s why we give gifts to each other at Christmas to remind us of the gift God gave us. His son Jesus was born and came to earth as a baby. God loves us all so much that in John 3:16 For God so loved the world…….. He gave His only begotten son. He loves us all so much he gave his son Jesus to take our punishments for all our sins., he was born, died and rose again to make a way for us, because we all know that the only thing not in heaven is SIN and we must be forgiven of sin. And that was God plan all the way from Genesis to now! What a story of love. Remember Christmas is a time to give because God gave us his son, we can give ourselves to him by receiving Jesus for our own savior by allowing him to forgive us for our sins and confessing to him when we do wrong. What better gift to give this Christmas as giving yourself to Jesus and receiving Jesus as your gift. Jesus is the reason for our season!
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
(Barn scene opens….)
Scene opens with the cow is arguing with the donkey….
Cow: I know it was my feeding tray!
Donkey: I rode her in on my back, I know the whole story.
Chicken: I was at her feet.
Duck: (quacked) I was listening at the door of the inn!
Pig: Will you all calm down.
Cow: Why should we listen to a pig? you just roll in your mud all day, what would you know anyway?
Chicken: yeah!
Pig: Someone has to take control of this madness.
Rat: (as he picks up dropped corn… ) I know the story I was in the house and outside!
Cow: What could a rat tell us? He lives in the dump!
(All laugh)
Pig: We can sort this out if only one at a time talks. Chicken first!
Chicken: I was by the lady and I heard her said that this was the one!
Cow: One what!
Chicken: I don’t know, I just know he is the ONE!
Pig: okay, He is the one! okay, duck
Duck: I heard the lady of the house say, They only had the barn, the couple said that would be fine they had traveled a long way.
Pig: okay, we know He’s the one and they traveled a long way! rat, do you have something to add…
Rat: yeah, the man said that star was placed here so others would know!
Pig: okay we know He’s the one, they traveled a long way and others will know by the star! What will they know?
Horse
( speaks up): They also said everyone had been waiting for him.
Pig: He’s the one, they came along way, the star shows others, everyone is waiting on him. okay we are getting a story together…cow
Cow: don’t forget the baby! I gave up my food for that little one and the mother said the angel said he’s name was Jesus! What’s an angel?
Pig: Don’t know, I do know He’s the one, they traveled a long way, the star shows others, everyone is waiting on him. It’s about the baby the mother calls Jesus! wait a minute someone’s coming, sssshhhhhh, keep your ears open and mouths closed let’s see what’s going on…
(lamb enters with shepherds….)
lamb: excuse me, may I sit for awhile I walked from the other side of the mountain…
pig: sure, what do you know about what’s going on?
lamb: I know that my masters where playing star games and something, they called an angel came from nowhere and told them the Savior of the world was born, follow the star and you will find him in a manger…(cow) that’s my manger…. and he would be in swaddling clothes. Here we are!
pig: He’s the one, they came along way, the star shows others and everyone is waiting on him. It’s about the baby the mother calls Jesus! and angel said he was the savior of the world and is in a manger go see! that is a lot about nothing…
donkey: can I speak now? pig sure I forgot about you…. well it started when we were home. I was resting and an angel appeared and spoke to my lady and said she was going to have a baby and he would be the Messiah, the son of God… (There was a silence in the barn!)
pig: ..why didn’t you speak up sooner donkey?
donkey: anyway, Joseph my lady’s husband had a dream and an angel told him the same thing and then he received a letter about taxes and here we are, no rooms in the inns and homes and the nice lady and the last stop n said we could stay here and here we are in your barn with the most special baby to ever be born was born in your barn and slept in your manger… chicken (spoke up) and slept next to me. And don’t forget me, duck said… WOW they said together!
About that time came the three camels…… excuse us, may we rest here…
pig: why not this seems to be the most special spot on earth tonight, why are you here?
our masters are here to bring gifts to the new king…
pig: King, Messiah, God’s son wow in our barn… God must really love us to allow us to give our home up to the King of kings….. What a night!
(We played a song by the doughnut man, the animals sung around the barn with all characters)
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This play is absolutely wonderful for children of all ages. Most know the story of the birth of Jesus, but this retells it in such a fun way to gain their total attention. Even adults would thoroughly enjoy this adorable re-enactment of that glorious night. Wish I had stumbled across it sooner though because I now only have a week to incorporate it into our final religious education class before the Christmas break. But what I’m thinking of doing is in order to simplify things a great deal, I may just hang a sign over each child to signify which character they are, much like we recently did for our short Baptism role playing. They thoroughly enjoyed that. Seeing we need approximately 17 characters though, it would be nice to invite another class to join us. We won’t have costumes and maybe only a few props, but the main thing will be to get this beautiful story into their minds and hearts. The animal insight adds so much to the storyline, enough to make anybody wonder “just what if they really could have spoken to eachother like that?” This play could even be read alone as a story, although we do like to keep the children involved in various ways throughout our lessons. Anyway, thank you so much, Cheryl, for sharing your amazing God given talent! Merry Christmas to you, your family, and to all who are responsible for this entire wonderful website!
I’m so sorry. In my comment above, I meant to thank “Meketa” for her amazing adaption of this beautiful play!
We will decide should we use this play or not. Reading it myself it is a great play. Thank You and Merry Christmas to all.
Great play, will adjust bits to make it easier to fit our cast. We’ll call the inn ‘The Do Drop Inn’. I like the repetitive compilation that the pig does, I’ll fit that to each animal saying their part and adding it again after the camel. Nice gospel wrap up at the end. Thanks,
Cheryl
Thanks! We are going to use this for our program this year. I’ve adapted it some, and we are doing it on video.
Thanks for the site this is truly ministry at work.
Thank you for allowing us to use your plays. I have always wanted to have a good Christmas production but having a small church and no budget it was difficult to pay for plays but you have made it possible for us, thank you and may our good, and glorious Lord continue to bless you.
thank for the great play Iwill use it for my chuch this year God bless you.
Thanks this is so cute! Will either do Christmas Hope or Christmas in Genesis. Keep on writing new skits and using your gift!
Hello, I like the general Idea of the play, but there are a few things I need to re-write… Also the wise men didn’t come until a few years after Jesus was born. So I think I’m going to leave them out completely… If I am going to be biblically correct in the play.
i enjoyed reading this play and it will be in the finals for our church performance this year thank you for submitting it. we needed something fast and filled with fun as well as giving the message
thanks a lot for these scripts. i can now find something for my kindergarten class at school and also for my class at children’s church.God bless you for the work you’re doing.
we did this play yesterday at our little country church. we had the older teenagers memorize the parts and then coupled them with the smaller children. took jogging suits and turned them into some of the cutest animalse ever seen. we only got positive feedback from everyone both in the play and watching. everyone loved that it was from the animals point of view. we ended up with 32 people in the play that is what is so good about this play it is easy to let the children be part of it. thanks so much for shraring it.
hello im am 12 years old and i love this play i hope we do this at our church
i love it, i love it, i love it!!! i will be doing this paky at my church on 12/18/10. thanks and God Bless!
I like the humor in telling the truth. I’m thinking about using it.
thank you,
I like the play, Im going to try it in my church. Thank you
Wow… Praise the LORD ..thank you very much , i am excited to get involved with the kids this christmas since this is my first time.
Thanks indeed. You are a blessing to me and the kids am trying to help, with all your support.
I’ll try either Christmas hope or Christmas in Genesis for my play.
Should incase you have some Christmas poems, I will also appreciate it.
Thanks dearly
This is very creative. We may try it out this christmas. God richly bless you.
Sounds like a very good program and with lots of different characters. We will try to work this out if we have enough children and adults. Thank you
Marlene Oglesby
Thank you for the great play ! I think it’s gonna be fun and yet the message of God’s love will be pass to everyone.
Keep up the good work ! Thank you for sharing ! God Bless !
Thanks for the great idea. Since we do our children’s program in the a.m., we need to change the last line a tad, but we really do love this. Such a great message! Thanks for sharing!
I enjoy the Christmas Play…especially the animals talking and taking part in the play…thanks for sharing with us…Rolanda…
Thanks for the play! I needed something fast but something that was going to be fun and that could be used with puppets. I may not have enough for all the characters but I can easily adjust to what we need. I’m really excited to share this with our church this year! Thanks again for making it so available for us! God Bless!
Thank you for the play, I fell that we are going to have fun with the play. And my pastor will love it. We did a play like this last year, bout we didn’t use the pigs cow ducks and others talking, we just use the people. So this time it is going to be diffent. THANK YOU DONNA HOSTON
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