Interactive Christmas

I currently have three days off (annual leave) doing final prep for our Interactive Christmas" event this coming Sunday. As with the event that we ran last Easter, this will consist of a series of 'stations', most of which people can visit at their own pace. It has a bit of everything in it.

- music by some talented locals plus the remarkable Leigh Newton
- biblical storytelling by Sarah Agnew
- a 'Christmas around the world' activity where people share and learn about ways that Christmas is celebrated around the world
- a space to respond to the Christmas story using clay
- a display of images of the Christmas story from history and today and nativity scenes (this will be in a darkened room with light and video and hopefully cooler than it sounds...)
- making and decorating Christmas cookies to take and share as a gift
- an experiential re-telling of the shepherds' encounter with the angels
- a storytelling corner with story books and Rory's Story Cubes (I'm adding some additional images to some of the faces)
- some other Christmas crafts
- a reflective activity using 'stars' and inviting reflection on hope
- a Jesse tree on which to hang peace prayers
- a live nativity (featuring Luci, Mark and baby Anna - aka Jesus) and Athena speaking a reflection that I havent written yet
- iPhone video loop of short Christmas-related clips (iPhone in box with headphone hub)
- outdoor sausage sizzle

I'm using angels as an icon throughout the event, and starting with people making angels to travel with them and whisper to them along the way. I'm not a craft person, but I decided to hunt online myself for angel ideas, as I didnt want anything too tacky. The following is not what was in my mind's eye (but that involved glass and metal and other kid-unfriendly things). So here's my own angel design:

- polystyrene head and body. head glued to body
- a pin through the head into the body
- hair glued to head
- pipe cleaner wrapped around ribbon and then glued to body

We used a glue gun and that seemed to hold.

The idea is that people can then decorate the angel with coloured felt pens.

Grace designed some wise men for her uni are portraits, and we've scanned these, tidied them up and  getting them enlarged and printed on fabric to display.

so it's all happening. will let you know how it goes.

 

Comments

[David MacGregor]

Sounds absolutely marvellous Craig.
It's got me thinking about what Oxley UC could do this time next year!
Keen to hear how it all went!!!

Cheers

David