This Christmas  give the gift of baby Jesus in two ways.

The first way is by giving Baby Jesus in a Nutshell craft kits. Not everybody has the inspiration or supplies  to craft, but might love to do a few projects. Sound like any Moms of young kids you know? This is the first of a series of craft kits I’m making for my daughter and my five adorable grandkids. I’ll send them early so they have time to craft before the busy holiday season.

My friend and mentor, Lydia Harris, set wonderful precedence for making a spiritual impact in everyday events with her grandkids and wrote about this in her Bible study book, “Preparing My Heart for Grandparenting.” And yes, this is a book you should give for Christmas or buy for yourself. It is a treasure!

The second way to give baby Jesus will be through sharing Baby Jesus in a Nutshell Bible Truths to share as they craft.

I  wanted to create a craft where little fingers were welcome to play with their baby Jesus. It might keep little fingers off the glass nativity sets that many of us have. Those sets that now have  missing hands, arms, and sometimes heads. Kids can wrap and unwrap the baby in swaddling clothes, then lay down His sweet head into his little bed. That means the kid must be old enough to play with their little fingers and not put baby Jesus in their mouth.

 

Baby Jesus in a Nutshell Craft Kit:

• one baby 1 1/4 inches long (in cake decorating supplies)
• half of walnut shell with all meat removed
• 8 1/2 inch piece of jute, knotted on each end
• fabric strip 5 in x 3/4 in (I ripped mine)
• wooden star 3/4 in diameter
• straw (paper shreds or raffia)
• resealable bag  (mine is 3 in x 5 in)

I  made an example because most people need to see a project before they create. Especially little kids. Especially harried moms of littles who will constantly have one child wanting to nurse and another one needing a wipe.

Can you hear that?

“MOM! Come WIPE me!”

That’s one of my grandkids, pretty sure.

The craft kits were placed in a gallon Ziploc bag, along with an unopened Sharpie for Mommy to write kids’ names and year on each craft. Emphasis on UNOPENED so I’m not responsible for accidents this way. Smart Gwamma move, huh? Extra craft pieces were also included because I’m well aware that things could end up in the toilet, up a nose, down a diaper, or in a heat vent. Or, they might be eaten. I also made a few extra craft kits if they want friends could join them, like her high school friend Bre, mommy of three adorable little boys.

 

Variations:

• use larger star, write child’s name there
• glitter the star
• different trim for hanging
• use for Moses craft for Sunday school or VBS
  (glue 1/2 plastic ring on bottom to keep shell from rocking)
  (paint inside black to be pitch)

 

Baby Jesus Bible Truths in a Nutshell:

More than nurture creativity, we need to nurture spirituality in little children. Even little ones can learn simple Biblical truths. I learned the major doctrines at AWANAS when I was about eight in one or two visits. I grew up knowing  Jesus was the Son of God, the Bible was written by God, and Jesus was the only way of salvation. At 18 I was saved as I pondered, OK wept in conviction, over the verse I’d learned a decade before.

Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?”

I am proof that even if kids don’t completely understand at the moment, time spent talking about the Scriptures is never wasted time. The truth will be retrieved and used as they need. But you can’t retrieve something that wasn’t placed there. When I wanted to get saved, I knew how to, thanks to the AWANA leaders.

 

 

 

This verse has been called the Gospel in a Nutshell.

I Corinthians 15:3-4, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received,
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
and that He was buried,
and that He was raised on the third day.”

These are beautiful truths about the Lord Jesus that are simple enough for young kids to understand.

 

CREATOR:  The Lord Jesus created the world. Remember that awesome week in Genesis? Yea, Moms, cool factoid. In Genesis 1:1 the word God is ‘Elohiym, plural God.

I John 1:3, “All things were created through Him,
and without Him nothing was created that was created.”

 

 

LIVED IN HEAVEN:  The Lord Jesus lived in heaven as the Son of God before coming to earth. Sometimes adults look forward to living in Heaven because life on earth can be painful and hard. Can you imagine living in Heaven and moving to earth?

 I John 1:2, “He was with God in the beginning.”

 

 

BECAME HUMAN: He gave up living in Heaven with his Father God to live in a  baby’s body and grew up human. The big word for this is  Incarnation. Even when he was a baby, He still knew He was the Son of God. The Word is another name for Jesus.

John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh, and lived among us.”

 

 

NEVER SINNED:  The Lord Jesus never sinned. Not even when he was a little boy. Not even when He was a teenager. Not even when He was an adult. He was always perfect.

I John 3:5, “In Him was no sin.”

 

 

LOVED KIDS:  When He was a grown man, Jesus loved children and gathered them close to Him when the grown-up disciples were trying to send them away. They were probably noisy and had sticky fingers. Jesus didn’t care. Maybe he remembered how hard it was to be a little kid.

Matthew 19:14, “Jesus said, ‘Let the children alone,
and do not hinder them from coming to Me;
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’”

 

 

 

You can print these free Baby Jesus in a Nutshell verse cards and add them to your craft kit. These were predesigned gift tags on Publisher. I deleted the chart and inserted a text box, then exported it to create a PDF.

 

 

With Baby Jesus in a Nutshell craft kits, you can give the gift of creativity and spirituality.