Description
Nuts about Christmas
An All Age Address
Use 'special' walnuts to talk about the Christmas message of the gift of
God's love in the person of Jesus Christ.
Preparation
Take four whole walnuts. Place one aside. Using a junior hacksaw carefully
cut the other three in half by sawing around the midline of the nut. Carefully
open them up and remove the edible part of each nut and as much of the
husk as possible.
Next make a ‘pretend' present out of a cube of polystyrene (or similar)
wrapped in sparkly paper and with wool as the 'ribbon'. It should be about
1cm square (but needs to fit inside a nutshell!).
Place the 'present' in one of the walnuts and glue the two halves of the shell
together with superglue. Place a small ‘x’ in felt tip on the nut so you'll know
which one contains the present.
Fill one of the other walnuts with tinsel, glue the shell back together and
mark the nut with a small ’T’.
Fill the third of the cut walnuts with hay, glue the shell back together and
mark with a small ‘H’.
You’re ready except one more thing. Just remember you’ll need a
nutcracker!
Address:
The exact words will need to suit the make-up of congregation. It could be
used at a children’s Crib Service, as an address at a Family Service or for a
school assembly.
N.B. Remember that some people are allergic to nuts. It’s advisable to
announce before you start that nuts will be used. Anyone with an allergy can
then position themselves where they will be unaffected.
Start by asking what food people will eat over Christmas. Eventually
someone will mention nuts. Bring out a bowl with the four walnuts in. Ask
what kind of nuts they are.
Crack open the first nut (the one that’s an ordinary nut) and display the
edible contents inside. Explain that the other three nuts are special nuts that
are going to tell us all about Christmas.
Crack open the nut, marked with the x, with the ‘present’ inside. Talk about
the importance of presents at Christmas, that they symbolise the love that
exists in families and between friends.
Continues…
www.mjclaridge.co.uk December 2014