How To Put On A Christmas Play In A Secular School
Choosing Secular Christmas Plays for Children
As the world changes and schools and communities become more multicultural and multi-faith, the traditional Christmas play becomes an issue of contention as it is increasingly exclusive and some parents may find that they don’t wish for their children to participate. However, this doesn’t stop a school from continuing with their traditional seasonal events. The issue can easily be overcome by choosing secular Christmas plays for children.
In these plays the themes are still important, but there is less of a focus on the biblical aspects that would normally be associated with a traditional Christmas play. The Christmas songs for children in both types of play still have great benefits, such as improving children’s confidence and clarifying ethical ideals.
Secular Christmas Plays for Children: What are the Options?
The options for secular Christmas plays are varied and leave a lot of room to try new ideas that will really make for a memorable experience, both for your pupils and for the parents that are coming to see them.
Some potential ideas for unconventional nativity plays include:
– Christmas With The Aliens – revised version of the Christmas story featuring alien visitors on earth, who want to tell the Christmas story to the rest of the universe.
– Prickly Hay – the story is told from the perspective of an under-appreciated stable boy, who finds himself in a key role in the nativity story and whose worth is proven to him by good friend.
– Hey Ewe! – the story is told from the point of view of a curious and excitable sheep. This play is full of catchy songs and parts that all the children will enjoy.
If your school doesn’t want to try out something too modern but would also not be comfortable performing a traditional Christmas play, choosing a Christmas-themed performance without the religious perspective is the ideal solution.
Traditional Christmas Plays
Of course, some communities may still wish to retain their traditions and have a more classically themed Christmas play that sticks to the storyline and format that has been a core part of Christmas celebrations for generations.
Whichever type of Christmas play you choose, your pupils will benefit from the experience greatly as it will help them learn about the morals and themes, giving these context and meaning. They will also grow in confidence as a play will give them an opportunity to perform, for the first time in some cases. Receiving a positive response from the audience will encourage their development, and this will have great benefits in later life.
Whatever Christmas play you choose, making use of a professionally written script with songs and music is the best way to make it a success, as well as taking the strain out of having to prepare a play all by yourself!
Out of the Ark has a great range of secular Christmas plays for children. Go to http://www.outoftheark.com.au to browse their selection and order online for fast delivery.