Children’s Christmas Eve Activity Bags

One of my favorite volunteer projects at our church each year is making activity bags for all of the children who will be in attendance at Christmas Eve services.

Why provide these activity bags?

My goal with this project is two-fold. First, I want the children who walk into a church service to feel, welcomed and thought-of in advance. Second, I want parents of children to feel thought of in advance and to know how much our church community values children – a few quiet activities that a child can do while sitting through a 20 minute sermon can go a long way for everyone! If you build it well, it helps children participate more fully in the service.

What do you put inside the bags?

I have selected a variation of items for these bags over the years and you are free to decide what items will serve the ages represented in your church community. This year, I decided on a half-size goody bag to help our ushers be able to hand them out easily (they don’t take up much space!) and also to help families be able to get the bags out of church easily when they leave – these can quickly be tucked inside of a purse or a parent of multiple children can gather multiple bags up on one finger.

Items that I avoid putting in the bags are items that would be too distracting for the others in attendance.

Here are the items that I chose:

Half-size Nativity Goody Bags – There are lots of options out there! I chose these.
Nativity Activity Booklets – These are small enough to fit into the half-size bag and also have varied levels of activities inside for a range of younger children.
Crayons – You can select whichever amount option best suits your needs.
Christmas Slap Bracelets – These might just be my favorite part of the bags this year. These don’t just work on wrists! Kids will find all sorts of things around the house to slap them around and play with.
Happy Birthday, Jesus! Stickers – The stickers I purchased are out of stock, so I linked a similar match.

Activity bags are a thoughtful and simple way to serve the young families in your church.