Use these seven free Christmas programs and plays for your Sunday school or children’s church. They run from a pageant with no rehearsals to a play for a small cast, and each one is a printable script you can download for free.
Start here: the No Rehearsal Christmas pageant, a free script from The Sunday School Store.
Seven free Christmas programs, side by side
Three come from The Sunday School Store and four are scripts hosted here at Kids Bible Lessons. Every one is free to print. Each entry below tells you who speaks and what you need.
1. The No Rehearsal Christmas Pageant (Christmas Light Show)
This program needs no rehearsals. The performers are chosen at the time of the program, and adults and children can take part on stage or from their seats. Read the script through ahead of time, gather a few props, copy the script for the narrators and volunteers, and set up the two music videos in the download, “Light It Up” and “Shine Your Light.” Get the free No Rehearsal script.
2. Christmas Skit for Kids: The Birth of Jesus
A narrator carries the story, so the children have very little to memorize. About 99 percent of the words come from Scripture (New International Reader’s Version). The cast is a narrator, a parent narrator, Mary, Joseph, three angels, Caesar Augustus, three innkeepers, a stablekeeper, shepherds and stage hands, with sheep for your preschoolers. Get the free Christmas skit.
3. Stories of the Savior
Two scientists give a presentation that starts at Creation and follows the promise of a Savior to the first Christmas. Only the two scientists and the Bible Readers speak, and the other children walk on as Bible characters with no lines to learn. The 14-page PDF has 26 Scripture readings (New American Standard Bible), a cast list, a props list and six songs. With one child for each part and each sign it uses about 26 children, and a smaller group can double up. Get the free Stories of the Savior script. You can also read about it on Kids Bible Lessons.
4. The Birth of Jesus (a simple traditional pageant)
This pageant mixes songs with light narration. The children have no speaking parts. A narrator reads the story. It has been used with a preschool cast ages 1 to 5 and with a children’s church ages 2 through 5th grade. Read the Birth of Jesus pageant and download the script. It is a different script from the Christmas skit above.
5. Christmas Hope (a play for a small cast)
A reader named Julie Snyder contributed this script. It puts a traditional manger scene beside a modern family at home. The cast is Mom, Son, Daughter, Mary, Joseph, an Angel, Isaiah, Jesus and shepherds or wise men. The script suggests adding simple Christmas Bible readings. Get the Christmas Hope script.
6. The 12 Symbols of Christmas
A mom is decorating the house with her children. As they hang each item, they talk about what it means and how it points to Jesus. Think of it as a Christmas object lesson turned into a play, with a mom, five children and Readers. It is based on the free 12 Symbols of Christmas book. Get the 12 Symbols of Christmas play.
7. A Super Christmas (a super hero twist)
A group of famous super heroes learn that Baby Jesus came to save the world, and that he will not be stealing their jobs. Vanessa Unti wrote it, and a group of teenagers and adults performed it at a family Christmas Eve service in place of a sermon. The PDF and an editable Word version are both on the page. Get A Super Christmas.
Turn a script into a full Christmas program
- Songs: the No Rehearsal pageant comes with two music videos. Stories of the Savior lists six songs in order, including Silent Night and Joy to the World. The Birth of Jesus pageant is built around songs.
- Bible readings: Christmas Hope suggests adding a few simple readings. That also gives more children a part.
- Costumes: the church that wrote the Birth of Jesus pageant used large t-shirts in different colors when money was tight.
- Narrator: if the children get nervous, a narrator who can see them and call them to their places keeps the program moving.
Free Christmas lessons to use beside your program
Teach the story before the program. Try the free Birth of Jesus Christ Christmas lesson (Luke 2:1-20) or the free Isaiah 9 Christmas lesson. Kids can color while they wait with the free Christmas coloring pages. The No Rehearsal page calls that pageant the perfect addition to its Christmas Lights Show 4-week children’s ministry curriculum.
More free Christmas plays
Looking for more? Browse the full list of printable Christmas plays for church, including Easy Christmas Plays for churches with very few kids and a Christmas play and family experience.
Leave a comment below and share how your Christmas program went. Kids Bible Lessons is a free ministry of The Sunday School Store.
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