Image from projectqueen.wordpress.com
Clothespin Manger Nativity Scene Christmas Craft
One way to really get the kids involved in the Christmas story is to create a manger scene of your own. It turns on their imaginations, same as when they play dolls. Here’s a Christmas craft idea for a manger made out of clothes pins and other easy household items that you can use to bring the story to life!
Materials
– Empty toilet paper roll or small wooden box to create manger
– Clothespins (fully wooden – not the spring kind)
– Glue
– Black marker
– Scraps of colored cloth or felt.
– White clay or Play dough
– Scrap of white cotton or felt (an old handkerchief works well).
Instructions
1. Cut the toilet paper roll in half and then cut one of the halves lengthwise to form the cradle.
2. Draw a circle on the piece of white cardboard. (The circle will form the two ends of the cradle when cut out. Cut the circle in half to make two semi-circles. Glue semi-circle to both ends of the cradle, curved side down.
3. Paint the cradle brown and set aside to dry.
4. Use plastic “straw” (as used in Easter Baskets) for the cradle bed, or if available, cut a few straws from a straw broom.
5. Use white play dough to make a ball for the baby’s head and a cone shaped
“body” for the baby. Attach head to body.
6. Completely swaddle the baby in white cloth so that only the face is visible.
7. Use clothespins to make figures around cradle.
8. Use cloth scraps to make simple clothes to glue onto the figures.
9. Make round circles from clay or play dough to make pedestals for figures to stand on. (Push the clothespins into the clay pedestals.)
10. Use black marker to make eyes on the figures. Baby’s eyes will be closed.
Conclusion
Use the text of Luke 2:1-21, moving the pieces around with the story, until you have everyone together. Have kids move their own pieces, and they will learn the Christmas story by working their play time imaginations.
And be sure to check out our other great Christmas craft activities! Don’t forget to Become a Fan on Facebook, and Follow Me on Twitter, where we will be sharing even more great Christmas craft ideas and activities all month long!
Kristina and Millie says
December 2, 2014 at 9:52 amhow adorable and sweet! what a great idea and kid friendly craft too! Thanks for sharing these Clothespin Christmas nativity set with us!
dalia says
November 28, 2014 at 7:44 pmThats wonderful! Thanks for sharing.
Carrie says
November 28, 2014 at 6:26 pmWhat a great craft!! I love how it came out as well. May have to try this for this year’s Advent calendar (we usually do a craft a day). Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!!
Kristi@MyWeeklyHabit says
November 28, 2014 at 2:00 pmWhat a sweet nativity set! I love crafting and really love Christmas crafts that help you remember the reason for the season!
Jann Olson says
November 25, 2014 at 9:24 pmYears ago I made lots and lots of clothespin ornaments. Seeing this brought back lots of memories. My grands would love making a Nativity set like this. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Zenda says
November 21, 2014 at 7:26 pmGreat idea!
Dee says
November 21, 2014 at 12:45 pmThis is so sweet! We have several Nativity sets, but this would be a great craft for the kids to make and enjoy. 🙂
Carrie This Home says
November 20, 2014 at 6:24 pmMy daughter loves to do crafts and this is an excellent way to share the story of Christmas while doing something fun! Thanks so much for sharing this at the Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop! I hope to see you back on Sunday!
Ashley ~ 3 Little Greenwoods says
November 20, 2014 at 6:59 amMy little girl would love playing with this manager set! And I wouldn’t have to worry about her breaking mine. 😉
Thanks so much for the inspiration and for sharing on Show Me Saturday!
~ Ashley
Noreen says
November 19, 2014 at 5:10 pmThis is such a nice idea!
Pinkoddy says
November 19, 2014 at 4:57 pmI think it is so important that children know why we celebrate Christmas and I think activities like this are such a good way to remind them.
Thank you I am featuring this on the weekly Kids Co-op
Jann Olson says
November 18, 2014 at 8:51 pmSo cute! This is a perfect activity for young kids.
Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Cathy says
November 18, 2014 at 4:10 pmI love making clothespin people and using them in this nativity is adorable. Thank you for sharing at Share It One More Time. Cathy
Kayla Shown-Dean says
November 17, 2014 at 7:39 pmWhat a cute and fun idea! I like the tip on incorporating it into a Sunday School lesson too.
Grace @ The Big Reveal says
November 15, 2014 at 8:09 pmThese are adorable! I hope you will share them tonight at the Found & Foraged Linky Party! The party starts at 8PM CST! Hope to see you there http://www.thebigrevealblog.com
Sarah Ann says
November 14, 2014 at 10:07 amSo cute!!! I love this idea and can’t wait to do this with my kids! You’ll be a feature at the Saturday Soiree Blog Party this week! Congrats!
Linda says
November 13, 2014 at 10:14 pmThis is just so sweet and the perfect project to do with my granddaughters. Thanks for sharing at What’d You Do This Weekend.
Linda
Karren Haller says
November 13, 2014 at 7:15 amThanks for stopping by to share this cute idea. Wishing you a great week!!
April says
November 12, 2014 at 1:33 pmI am a Sunday School teacher and am always looking for creative ideas for my class. I love this nativity craft, simple and very nice looking, definitely pinning to my Bible Crafts Board! 🙂 Thanks for sharing this craft!
Heather @ My Overflowing Cup says
November 10, 2014 at 11:44 pmThis is precious! Thanks so much. I’m going to pin it to my Christmas board and share it in my upcoming post about keeping Christ in Christmas. Thanks so much.
Rach D says
November 9, 2014 at 2:40 pmAwwww…this is super sweet! Love this 🙂
Pinning this one…
Visiting from Inspired By Me Mondays; hope to see you again this week!! Rachael @ Diamonds in the Rough
Kristina says
November 8, 2014 at 12:54 pmWow! What a great idea, so creative! Maybe I’ll try it:)
Thanks for stopping by the #SHINEbloghop
Shecki @ Greatly Blessed says
November 7, 2014 at 11:01 pmAdorable! I have some left over peg people from our Chinese New Year project. I’ll have to try something like this with my kids. 🙂
Amanda says
November 6, 2014 at 10:52 amVisiting you from the Shine Blog Hop, and this is a very timely find! I’ve been thinking about when I will get out the nativity sets. The Girl(4) likes to play with the ceramic ones but I’m not ready to let The Boy(1.5) do the same!
Tiffany says
November 6, 2014 at 10:14 amThis is such a fun idea! And super cute. 🙂
MB says
November 6, 2014 at 9:24 amI’m not really a crafty person, but this is absolutely adorable. I love nativity scenes. Visiting from SHINE Blog Hop.
Julie says
November 5, 2014 at 2:41 amWe have several nativity scenes that my kids made when they were little, and they still get set up every year despite the fact mine are all teenagers now! I love the idea of the kids being involved, making the figures, thinking about who needs to be there, the story of Christmas.
Miranda says
November 4, 2014 at 10:36 amAnother cute Christmas craft. I’m glad I found your blog on the Teaching What is Good Tuesday link-up.
Sarah @ Pretty Simple Ideas says
November 4, 2014 at 9:17 amAdorable! My nieces love crafts and they certainly love the manger scene. 🙂
Eva @ The Multitasking Mummy says
November 4, 2014 at 5:57 amI really love this idea, thanks for sharing.
Cheri says
November 3, 2014 at 11:03 amAmazing. What a wonderful job you did! If I had kids… I’d be a copy cat! That’d even be a good idea to make instead of paper dolls!
Jessica says
November 1, 2014 at 8:30 pmVery Fun!! I’d love for you to share this on Theology Thursdays FOR KIDS!!!
Amanda says
October 29, 2014 at 6:35 pmI love this idea. You can even double this project as ornaments.
Karissa Barber // The Acting Mom says
October 29, 2014 at 6:43 amThis is such a cute idea! I have wanted to purchase a nativity set, but my wish-list one is too expensive. This will be a great alternative and match my mish-matched, homespun home decor. Thanks! Visiting from Anti- Procrastination Tuesday.
Debi @ Adorned From Above says
October 28, 2014 at 4:58 pmThis is a really cute project. Thanks so much for sharing with Adorned From Above’s Link Party. We hope to see you at tonight’s party.
Debi
Kaye Swain says
October 28, 2014 at 10:07 amAwesome idea! We did something similar years ago with my kids, using blocks of wood from my husband’s discard pile. I love this clothespin idea. I’ll have to try it with my grandkids! Off to share
Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom says
October 24, 2014 at 3:26 pmOoooh, I just love this! So very cute!
Such a sweet idea.
Thanks for sharing and linking up to the #SHINEbloghop.
Wishing you a lovely weekend.
xoxo
Elizabeth says
October 24, 2014 at 10:58 amSo fun and darling. I love having decorations that the kids can actually play with! Great idea!
Dawn says
October 23, 2014 at 6:45 pmThis is too cute. One year for Christmas I got a little plastic organizer and put ribbons, sequins, pom poms, glue, etc. (anything you can decorate with) and found a huge bag of the round clothespins at the thrift store completely new and unused and made a doll kit for our youngest. She loved it and spent hours playing with this. This reminds me of that. What a fun idea! Thanks for sharing.
Elaine Goh says
October 23, 2014 at 2:38 pmThanks for this, I’m glad I found your website! I, too, try to make Bible stories come to life for my kids using props. Right now, we’re doing pretty well with Lego. I’ll be following you!
Judith says
October 23, 2014 at 1:28 pmThis is so stinkin’ cute! I especially love Joseph’s lil’ beard!
Carolyn says
October 20, 2014 at 10:48 amACK! This is so cute! I bet my kids would love it, I’ll have to keep my eyes out for some old-fashioned clothes pins. Thanks for sharing!!
Marie @ Child Led Life says
October 14, 2014 at 8:49 amThis is so great! I have a whole bag of these clothes pins and a need for a new nativity for my kids. Well timed. 🙂 I found this post on the Link up on Golden Reflections Blog!