This simple Nativity printable helps you add reading, writing and storytelling to your Advent activities.
The Nativity printables for kids
QUICK RESOURCE >> Download your ready-made Nativity Unit here
I made a simple Nativity printable (<-click to print a set) with a set of Nativity words for my daughter to use while she’s enjoying playing with our little Nativity scene.
Adding print into your play and learning environment is a gentle way to build your child’s reading and writing skills.
How to use the Nativity printable
How you use the Nativity printable will depend on your child and how they like to play and learn.
You might like to try some structured literacy play, or simply have the words available as part of your play materials, but whichever you chose you’re giving your child the opportunity to see, read and use written words.
Here’s a selection of ideas you could use, if they seem right for your child.
:: Print the word sheet out on to card so it’s ready for play. Take a look at the words with your child and read them together.
:: Invite your child to cut along the dotted lines to make some word cards, great for scissor skills.
:: Play a matching game with your Nativity set. Pair each word with the correct person or object in the story. You can play this with a toy nativity scene (ours was from Tesco) or use these Nativity printable puppets as your characters.
:: Practise writing by copying the words on the cards.
:: Re-tell the Christmas story aloud by using the word cards as prompts. This is good both as a one-to-one activity with your child or as part of a group activity or circle time.
Hold up a card and ask ‘What does the angel /Joseph / donkey do in our story?’
:: Use the cards to look a bit deeper at story telling. Talk about how most stories have a beginning, middle and end. See if you can lay out the words cards in the order that they appear in the Christmas story.
Which characters and objects are most associated with the beginning, middle or end of the Nativity story?
:: Use the character cards for a guessing game. Pick a card and give some clues about who you are and what happens to you in the story. Can the other players guess who you are?
:: Talk about your character and how they might have felt. What do they do that’s important in the story. You could use this as a starting point for some writing.
Download your ready-made Nativity Unit
Download the Play Academy’s ready-made Nativity Unit and you’ll have everything you need to lead a set of activities to introduce your children to the Nativity story.
This Unit includes artist-drawn puppets/colour-in nativity scene characters and printable Bible verse cards, that your children can use year after year.
In this Nativity teaching unit your children can:
:: learn about the Nativity and create their own Nativity book or small world scene using colour-in puppet / nativity scene characters
:: learn about Mary and Joseph’s journey, and explore junk modelling
:: learn about the shepherds role, and explore loose parts
:: learn about Jesus’ birth
:: learn about the three wise men, and complete their book / re-tell the story in their small world
Bonus Nativity thematic unit printables
The Play Academy’s thematic units come with practical printables that make the lessons more engaging for your children and easier for you to teach.
No need to go searching for printables to accompany your lessons, they’re all included when you download your chosen unit.
In this Nativity Unit you’ll receive these bonus printables:
:: My Nativity Story book to write, colour and complete to tell the Nativity story
:: a set of artist-drawn My Nativity Puppets to colour, cut out and use to re-cap and act out the Nativity story
:: Nativity Vocabulary Cards to recap and consolidate learning
:: Nativity Bible Verse Cards to read, narrate your own acting out of the story, and perhaps to memorise
How to download this Nativity thematic unit
You can download this unit along with over 50 more from NurtureStore’s Play Academy.
If you are already of the Play Academy, you can download this unit straight away from our Library here.
If you are not yet a member, find out more and choose your first unit here. Your teaching is about to get a whole lot easier!
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