The Birth of Jesus

Cooking Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

The kids will make a nativity snack bag to help them learn the story

For scripture and objectives, see above.

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson.
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
• Gather the materials.

Supplies List:

• Bibles
• The Young Reader’s Bible
• Parchment paper
• Rolling pins
• Flour
• Star & Gingerbread men cookie cutters
• Pencils & Markers
• Items in kitchen: cookie sheets, hot pads, clean-up supplies
• paper plates
• Brown or white paper lunch sacks
• Hershey’s kisses wrapped in colorful foil (to represent gifts from the Magi)
• Mini candy canes (to represent Shepard’s hooks)
• Mini wheat cereal (to represent bales of hay)
• Animal crackers
• Sugar cookie dough (Pillsbury brand pre-made dough, enough for all kids to make at least 4 cookies rolled out)
• Yellow sprinkles (for star-shaped cookies)
• Toothpicks (to draw a face in the Jesus cookies)
• Fruit roll ups (to represent the swaddling clothes)

Before Start of Class:

• Wash the metal tables.
• Preheat oven to 350° degrees. Turn on vent fan (switch is to right of refrigerator).
• Set out cookie dough, flour and rolling pins and cookie cutters; line cookie sheets with parchment paper and have a pencil near by for writing on the paper

Presentation

Opening- Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Gather everyone around the tables in the Social Hall. Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the Cooking Workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults. Pass around a basket to collect any offering.
[Note: The Shepherd will quietly take attendance, etc. while you are starting your lesson.]

Say: Today we will learn more about the nativity story which is to say that we will be learning about what the Bible tells us about Jesus’ birth. But first let’s begin with prayer.

Ask for any prayer requests. Ask if anyone would like to lead the group in prayer. Be prepared to say a prayer yourself, working in prayer requests. A suggestion: “Dear God, Thank you for sending your son Jesus to be born and to live among us. Help us to remember that this season is about celebrating your gift to us in Jesus. Amen”

Dig- Main Content and Reflection:

For 3rd grade and up:
Ask: Where in the Bible would we read about Jesus’ birth?
What are the first four books of the New Testament?
What do we call those first four books? (the Gospels)
Say: The word Gospel means “good news”. Jesus’ birth was good news.
Distribute Bibles.
Have everyone find Matthew 1:18-23 to read about Mary and Joseph first learning the news that they would be the parents of Jesus.
Then have the students read Luke 2:1-18 to learn about the birth of Christ and the shepherds coming to visit.
Then go back to Matthew 2:10-12 to introduce the concept of the wise men visiting the baby Jesus.
If this is a week early in the Rotation, read the scripture together. Towards the end of the Rotation, ask the students if they can tell you the story. Have them check their Bibles for accuracy.

For 1st and 2nd graders:
Ask: If we want to read something about the life of Jesus, where would we find it – in the Old Testament or the New Testament of the Bible? (new)
Say: Today, we are going to be listening to the story of Jesus’ birth.
Read from “The Young Reader’s Bible” showing pictures as you read.
Pages 226-231 tell of the angel visiting Mary;
pages 238-243 tell of Jesus’ birth;
pages 244-249 tell of the shepherds visit; and
pages 250-255 tell about the wise men.

For all students:
Say: Today we are going to make a snack bag that will have a variety of fun things to eat in it that will remind us about the different parts of the Christmas nativity story we just read. The first thing I am going to do is pass out a brown paper lunch sack to each of you, and I want you to put your name on the top.

Pass out markers and bags.

Ask: Okay, what was the sign that the shepherds and the wise men saw in the sky that told them about the birth of Christ? (star).
Say: We are going to make some star shaped cookies for our snack bag to remind us of the sign that God sent. Of course, the real star of the story is Jesus himself, so we will also cut out a gingerbread man shape to represent Jesus in our snack bag.

Have the students wash their hands and move to the metal tables in the kitchen. Allow each student to roll out dough and cut out a few star-shaped sugar cookies. Let them also cut out a few gingerbread men shapes to represent Jesus. Allow the students to put yellow sprinkles on the stars if they desire and to draw a “face” on Jesus with a toothpick if desired. Place cut out cookies on cookie sheets lined with parchment. Write child’s name next to their cookies, and place in oven to cook.
[I plan to use Pillsbury pre-made sugar cookie dough according to the directions for rolling it out. This dough calls for a 7-minute bake time.]

While the cookies are baking, move back to the table in the social hall and pass out a paper plate to each child. Show them each item and ask them to guess what the item might represent in the nativity story. Explain the significance of the items to go in the snack bag. Allow each child to put a handful of each of the following items on a paper plate near their seat.
Mini wheat cereal to represent the hay that was in the manger
Animal crackers to represent the stable animals
Candy canes to represent the shepherd’s hooks
Hershey’s kisses wrapped up like presents to represent the gifts from the Magi
Fruit roll-up to wrap around the Jesus cookie when it comes out of the oven to represent the swaddling clothes
Finally, add the star shaped cookies and the Jesus cookies to the plate.

Discussion:
Say: We have learned about the story of Jesus being born. We learned about the same story from two different books of the bible. It is interesting that Luke and Matthew tell the story a little differently from each other, but the main message is clear. God sent Jesus to be born as a human being. God meant for his son Jesus to live and grow and learn and teach as one of us. It is a pretty amazing story. Just think how Mary and Joseph must have felt to have angels visit them to tell them what was going to happen. Think about how bright the new star would have been for shepherds and wise men to see it from so far away.

Ask: Are you surprised that God allowed Jesus to be born in a manger?
Are there any other parts of the story that surprise you or that you have questions about?

Try to answer questions as best as you can. It is fine to admit to the kids that we don’t know all the details about the story and we may not know why things happened exactly as they did, but try to focus on the main point, that Jesus’ birth was a special gift to mankind from God and that is what we celebrate at Christmas.

Closing:
Have the students place the snack items into their paper bag to create a “nativity snack bag.”

Say: I want you to take your snack bags home and show your family and friends what is in them. Tell them how each item represents a part of the nativity story. Of course, sharing your snack bag with someone else is also a great way to share the “good news story” of Jesus’ birth.

Have the kids repeat the key verse with you: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11

If Time Allows:
Allow the kids to use the markers to decorate their bags – have them draw a picture of what they think the manger may have looked like. Have kids who finish first start cleaning up the kitchen area.

Resources:

• Bruno, Bonnie and Carol Reinsma. The Young Reader’s Bible. Cincinnati, OH: Standard Publishing, 1998.
• The KJV is public domain in the United States.

A lesson written by B. Moore for First United Methodist Church
Ann Arbor, MI 

Copyright 2006 First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI. 
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material

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Moore, B. Lesson set posted at rotation.org:"Birth Narrative - Cooking Lesson." December 2006. Place URL where lesson found inside angle brackets<>.

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