Our New Nativity

While last year's paper nativity was certainly more my style, I couldn't help but notice how much the kids wished they could touch it. I wanted to encourage that-- after all, over the years we've pretty much eliminated any tradition involving Santa {short of labeling at least one gift from the North Pole}. It seemed only fair to balance things by adding more Christ-centered traditions. 

Recently, my mom gave me a box of some of my old toys and pictures that she'd saved over the years and as I went through them, I was stunned at how much I remembered the feel of things. I think kids spend much more time handling objects. Experiencing them in a truly tactile way. 

In fact, that made me think about L's favorite Halloween decoration: the skeleton tree. He spends hours every single day in October playing with the skeletons and rearranging them around the tree. Trust me, someday he's going to get a sentimental twang in his heart when he digs out those old, plastic skeletons!

Luckily, he's equally fascinated with the Playmobile Nativity that I hobbled together after a couple of successful ebay bids. Even second-hand they were a bit pricy, but as I justified to J, I'm investing in an heirloom here. A bright, plastic heirloom. :)

So far, I'm pleased. They have tremendous child-appeal without being too precious; They include several little interactive pieces {L likes to fill all the little bags and vessels with the tiny gold coins the Wise Men came with}, and they're quite durable. I love waking up every morning and seeing that the angel has climbed up on the stable roof again and the sheep are chasing the camel.

Do you have a nativity? Growing up, we had a beautiful, white, ceramic creche that we weren't really allowed to play with. I'm still putting up my pretty, white paper nativity. But now I don't have to feel guilty about not letting the kids handle it. :)