Keep faith formation alive after Christmas with simple take-home kits—devotions, crafts, and activities that nurture connection, reflection, and joy through Epiphany and beyond.

The lead-up to Christmas is such a busy time for people of all ages, but especially for families with young children. So much emphasis in culture and even in churches is about the anticipation and build-up to Christmas, with Christmas pageants, concerts, additional services, and the list goes on. The week after Christmas frequently provides a much-needed break for families, children, youth, and church staff. However, this can also be seen as a “dead-time” in CYF programming where everything from Sunday School to youth group takes a break, many people are traveling for the holidays, and there can be little faith formation engagement during this period. 

A simple, low-effort way to help keep family units on the go engaged during Christmas break is to send participants home with a Christmas-themed take-home kit. These can be geared toward a variety of age groups and can be a simple way for children, youth, and their families to have meaningful conversations, add to their Christmas traditions, and keep faith formation ongoing during the Christmas season that follows a hectic Advent. 

Christmas Devotions and Bible Verses

A Christmas break take-home kit can be as simple or as elaborate as you would like. To start with, put together a daily prayer, Bible reading, and discussion question for each day of Christmas (December 25th through January 5th) and potentially the day of Epiphany, as well (January 6th). Many denominations already have daily prayer, devotions, and suggested Bible readings that can be a foundation for your take-home kit. A good starting place to find Bible verses is the daily readings suggestions for the Revised Common Lectionary or the Narrative Lectionary.

Include a discussion question. These can be about the Bible verse but do not have to be. Questions such as “What is your favorite holiday memory?” or “What was your favorite gift you’ve ever received?” can be easy and accessible for people of all ages to engage with among their families. 

You can also be creative with this if you have the time to do so! One year, I asked families to each submit a story about something they are grateful for during the holiday season, and then I collected them and turned it into an Advent and Christmas devotional that was distributed to the entire congregation. Each page also had a space for writing a gratitude list of things that participants were grateful for during the holiday season. 

Crafts and Activities

A staple of ministry for younger children is crafts, which can easily be added to a take-home kit. This allows children to be creative, and for the littlest to practice their motor skills, special awareness, and other important development traits. There are many Christmas-themed crafts that one can include. The Children’s Ministry website has instructions on how to make a Family Devotional craft that ties in with the twelve days of Christmas. There are also many craft ideas and storybooks, such as Jan Brett’s The Twelve Days of Christmas, that tie in with the Christmas carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” including some that explore the theological themes. Additional ways to tie into creativity is to include coloring pages, daily prompts for people to journal, draw, take pictures of, or more.  

Journeying into Epiphany 

One of the beautiful aspects of the Christmas cycle in the church year is the journey of anticipation in Advent that gives way to the joy of the incarnation in Christmas before the contemplative reflection of Epiphany. A Christmas take-home kit can be a way to help make that move from joyful incarnation to contemplation, tying in with the themes of Epiphany and the season that follows.

One theme of Epiphany is feasting, so asking families to collect canned goods or other donations for shelters can be an easy service-project tie-in. It also helps drive home the important point that there is great need in food banks, shelters, and other service providers in the cold months following Christmas.

Magi and Stars

As Epiphany also is a celebration of the Magi and their star-inspired trip to visit the Holy Family, perhaps end the kit’s daily activities with an invitation to star gaze. There are many apps and websites that can help point out the stars and planets that one might see outside in their own backyard. Stellarium is a website and app that gives real-time information about what is visible in the night sky and NASA has an entire webpage devoted to tips for beginning stargazers. Stargazing could even be an idea for an event at your church, particularly if you have congregation members who own telescopes who would be willing to share them with youth, children, and families for a night of viewing the universe.

By providing families with simple yet meaningful ways to stay engaged in faith formation during the Christmas season, you extend the spirit of the season beyond the church walls. A Christmas take-home kit encourages connection, reflection, and joy, helping children, youth, and adults alike carry the wonder of Christ’s birth into their homes and hearts as they journey toward Epiphany and the year ahead.

Peace and all good,

Dr. Pace Warfield

About the Writer:

Pace C. Warfield (they/them) is a recent graduate of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. In addition to their studies, Pace has worked in children, youth, and family ministries for over fifteen years at various congregations throughout the country. Pace has previously written blog posts for We Talk, We Listen, the diversity blog of the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, on mental health and the holidays called “Waiting for Snow” and a Lutheran approach to LGBTQIA+ systematic theology called “The Queer Ground.” They are the creator and cohost of the podcast Horror Nerds at Church which examines the theology of horror films. They live in Minneapolis, Minnesota with their partner and two dogs.

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