Decorating a nativity scene for Christmas. Christmas miracle: making a nativity scene with your own hands. Making dolls from salt dough
It arose many decades ago. This composition usually depicts the greatest event for Christians - the birth of Jesus Christ. Nowadays, many people honor this tradition and make Christmas nativity scenes with their own hands. Master classes help you understand what a composition should look like and what materials it can be made from.
Crafts made from paper or cardboard
This plot composition can be made on the eve of a magical holiday at home or in kindergarten. Using the nativity scene as a visual aid, adults can easily convey to children the essence of the event, which is celebrated annually all over the world. Here's what you'll need for the creative process:
The main parts of the composition: the house, the furnishings inside it and the figures of the characters. They can be made from anything, but the simplest option is fabric scraps and cardboard. Experienced needlewomen, of course, will not limit themselves to this, but will bring something of their own.
Making a house and characters
You can start work by making a figurine of a sorcerer. First draw a circle. The height of the doll's body will be equal to the radius of the circle. 2 perpendicular lines are drawn through the center of the circle. The result is two diameters intersecting each other at right angles. One sector is cut out - it will no longer be useful. The remaining part is screwed into a cone. The edges are glued or pinned in several places with a stapler.
Hands are also made from cones. Since they are thinner than the body, you will need one circle of small diameter, which is divided into 2 halves. Each one is rolled into a cone and not yet attached anywhere.
The blanks are covered with bright fabric, preferably velvet. The edges are glued with double-sided adhesive tape and pinned with a stapler. Using safety pins or tape, attach the arms to the body.
To make the head, take a ball of white thread. If you don’t have one, a ball rolled out of thin paper and wrapped with thread will do. The next stage is creating a headdress. It is made from a piece of brightly colored fabric. It should look something like what the Arabs wear, with the edges falling on all sides. A braid is tied over the fabric around the circumference of the head.
They place the head next to the body, make sure that it looks proportional, and connect both parts with wire. The short end is inserted into the ball, and the long end is threaded into the body and straightened there. The shepherds, Joseph, and Mary are made in the same way. To make a paper nativity scene with your own hands, no templates are required. In this version, it is a box draped with fabric. Garlands are hung in it, not forgetting about safety.
A smaller decorated box is placed inside the nativity scene - this will be the manger. They put some hay in it and place a figurine of Jesus.
Lamb made from cotton swabs
Near the cradle with the baby, you can place figurines of sheep. The easiest way is to cut it out of paper and glue all the parts together, and draw the face with felt-tip pens. This option is more suitable for children's crafts. Beautiful animals are made from plastic eggs and cotton swabs. Scheme for making a lamb:
The animal's face is made from three cotton swabs. They are folded so that the ends diverge slightly. In this place, cotton wool is wound, laying it between the sticks. Using glue, give the lump the desired shape. The free edges are pushed through the holes into the egg. The eyes, mouth and nose can be made from any suitable materials, such as decorative buttons. These parts can also be knitted or drawn.
Now arrange all the figures and turn on the garland. That's it, the nativity scene is ready!
Nativity scene made of plasticine
Together with a child, you can create a Christmas composition from paper or plasticine. In the first case, the house is made of paper, like all other figures, and such a craft does not require a master class. With plasticine the situation is a little more complicated, but the composition turns out to be very interesting. You can involve children in creating the nativity scene - they will be very happy to help. Materials and tools that will be needed for work:
The baby figurine is sculpted without working out the details, since only the head will be visible from under the blanket. The face is sculpted more carefully, with the nose, mouth and eyes detailed. Curly hair is made from hard brown plasticine. To do this, cut a strip of the same thickness in a stack, and it will curl into a spiral. A few of these curls are enough, since the baby will be small.
Eyes can be made from beads. The finished baby is wrapped in a blanket (lace handkerchief) and tied with a bow. The cradle will rest on legs made from parts of skewers. It is molded from hard plasticine, and the pad is made from soft. The side surfaces of the cradle are decorated with pieces of matting.
The nativity scene in this craft is made from skewers assembled in the form of a hut. Take a cake plate or pizza stand, place 3 skewers and connect the upper ends with plasticine. This creates the basis for a hut. The space between the sticks is completed using the same wooden skewers. A star is installed above the entrance using plasticine.
The structure is decorated with hay. It is convenient to attach it to pieces of plasticine. You need to try not to let this material show through anywhere. Additional decorations - Christmas trees made of straw - are hung on loops on both sides of the entrance. Animal figures are made from toothpicks and plasticine, birds and people. You can complicate the task and make the characters in another way, for example, by sewing, knitting or cutting and gluing from cardboard.
Options for making dolls
Characters for the nativity scene can be made of fingers, wood or knitted. To create fabric dolls you will need pieces of fleece, felt and multi-colored beads. These characters can be put on your fingers to perform a Christmas performance. Beads are needed to decorate dresses and eyes. Finger puppets are sewn using patterns or without them, depending on the complexity. Before and after the performance they can be attached to the nativity scene with pieces of Velcro. In this case, the nativity scene is made from a cardboard box, covered with fabric and closed with a button, leaving it like that until Christmas.
Wooden dolls for the Nativity scene are sold ready-made, and if desired, you can turn them yourself. Characters are dressed in clothes made of fabric or paper, not forgetting about hats. Sheep are made from cotton swabs, as described in the previous master class, or ready-made soft toys are taken, only they must be small.
An important part of the composition is the gifts of the Magi. It is best to mold them from hard plasticine. The star is made in the form of a projection. To do this, cut a hole of a similar shape in a plastic egg and place a flashing or regular light from any children's toy inside.
It's very easy to make your own nativity scene out of a box. A shoe bag will do, but in addition to it, you will need 2 lids. The main part serves as a cave where the cradle with the baby is located. One lid is placed horizontally, and the Magi, Mary and Joseph, are placed on it. The second lid is placed on the side and a figurine of an angel is attached to it. The surface of the box and lids can be decorated as desired.
Based on these instructions, it is generally clear what a nativity scene is. The work templates proposed above allow you to develop your own options. A successful Christmas composition will be used for many years, delighting adults and children.
Attention, TODAY only!
The easiest way to make a Christmas nativity scene is on paper. You can make it in the company of a child, using paints, scissors and thick sheets from which paper figures are cut out. This option does not require a master class, so we will not consider it, but will give recommendations on how you can create a Christmas nativity scene with your own hands of more complex designs.
How to make a Christmas nativity scene from plasticine? Master class
To create a cave and figurines of nativity scene participants, you will need the following materials:
- plasticine (hard and soft),
- board,
- stacks,
- wooden skewers,
- lace handkerchief,
- narrow golden ribbon,
- woven mat or pieces of matting,
- toothpicks,
- cake stand or pizza packaging,
- star.
The baby figurine is sculpted without any anatomical features, since most of it will be hidden under a blanket (handkerchief). The visible part - the head - is made of plasticine with special attention to detail. To create beautiful curls, you need to run the sharp end of the stack along hard plasticine with equal pressure along its entire length, then the cut strip will turn out to be in the form of a spiral. Instead of sculpting the baby’s eyes, you can make them out of beads. The finished figurine needs to be wrapped in a lace scarf and tied with a ribbon bow.
A baby's cradle is made from a piece of hard plasticine into which four straws (a skewer broken into pieces) are stuck, acting as legs. We make the pillow in the cradle from soft plasticine. The side walls are made of mats, which also need to be secured to soft plasticine.
The nativity scene itself is made from wooden skewers in the form of a hut. To do this, 3 sticks are placed on a plate, which will be the basis of the composition, connected to each other using hard plasticine. Each straw should be equidistant from its neighbor. Then the walls are completed by filling the space between the skewers. One side remains open. We take soft plasticine and attach it above the entrance (open side). We attach a star to it.
If you don’t have such a large plate as in our master class, then you can make a small fence instead of a hut by fastening mats and toothpicks together with soft plasticine and installing the resulting structure along the edge of the base.
We make animal figures and a bird from plasticine, fastening the parts together with toothpicks. We also make paws from toothpicks. We tie a rope to the bird, which will need to be tied at the top of the hut. We make the eyes from beads.
Finger puppets. Master class
You can make a Christmas nativity scene with your own hands in the form of a finger theater. To do this you need pieces of multi-colored felt, fleece and beads to decorate the eyes. The figures are made in size 5-6 centimeters. All characters, including the Magi, are attached to the nativity scene with Velcro. The design itself is made of cardboard, covered with fabric, and closes with a button.
With wooden figures. Master class
You can make a nativity scene with your own hands from an entire shoe box and the lid from another one. The box plays the role of a cave, and both lids are located in the lower and upper parts (horizontally for placing the Magi, vertically for attaching the angel). The boxes are fastened together with a stapler and glue.
The cave is painted black, the lids are covered with sheets of colored paper. The sheet of paper for the top cover is purposefully crumpled for greater aesthetics. Straw is also piled into the cave, on which the characters land.
You can make wooden dolls yourself, or you can buy a ready-made version and dress them up according to the images. Outfits can be sewn from fabric or glued together from paper. You can also take factory-made animals (from children's toys). An angel is attached to the top cover. Gifts are molded from plasticine and added to the composition. To make a projection of a star, you can cut out its outline from an empty Kinder egg and make a projection onto paper using a flashing light from a children's toy.
Crochet characters
You can use crocheted dolls in any of the presented nativity scenes. To do this you will need cotton yarn of various colors and a small hook. The characters' eyes can also be crocheted or dark beads used. The cradle can be made from pieces of yarn laid out in the form of a nest on which a crocheted baby fits.
Nativity scene - entertainment with deep meaning
There is a rehearsal in the large hall of the Palace of Creativity for Children and Youth “on Stopani”. The lights are dim. Two powerful spotlights illuminate the stage. A dozen teenagers lined up in a semicircle around four chairs - an improvised stage on which a two-thousand-year-old story unfolds.
“Stop, stop,” Valeria Petrushina, the leader of the folk ensemble “Veretentse,” shouts to the guys. She has a baby in her hands. Addressing the students, she speaks in a sing-song voice, pumping up her daughter who is falling asleep. - The song is in a minor key, I sing it sadly. Rachel is crying. The bell rings and the angel sings in a high voice: “Don’t cry, Rachel. But God accepts him into his saints... Paradise will be glad.” Is everything clear?
The children nod and continue to play the nativity scene, but every now and then the teacher stops them. Still, ancient texts are quite difficult to understand.
For their Nativity scene, the ensemble “Veretentse” thirty years ago chose “Performance with singing and stories “The Death of King Herod”. This is one of the quite popular texts in Russia, included in the folklore collection “People's Theater”.
They say that the text was once invented by seminarians of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. Under the guise of entertainment, they catechized listeners and spectators.
Later, during public festivities, “The Death of King Herod” was performed both by a “living den,” that is, by people in disguise, and by dolls. In the 19th century, folk theater was a fairly popular form of entertainment.
Nativity scene makers walked around the cities with huge wooden boxes, inside of which there was a two-three-story stage and all the characters. The top tier was angelic, the middle one was for Herod, and the bottom one depicted hell. All the floors had slots so that the dolls on sticks could move. As a rule, the nativity scene maker alone acted out the scene of the Nativity of Christ. Moreover, he could show it not only on Christmas itself and on Christmas Eve, but throughout the year as a reminder of the Gospel events.
The puppets for the Veretentse ensemble were once made by Nikolai Nikolaevich Komov, a famous puppet master and host of the once popular program “A Holiday Every Day.” He thought through the images and made masks. Children show performances with his dolls at festivals, in hospitals and nursing homes, orphanages and hospices, introducing viewers to Russian traditions.
Many parents of children from the ensemble make their own doll dens; some even have a box at home that they take out once a year. Often in the summer, folklorists organize a nativity scene competition at the Family Circle festival.
Will children experience psychological trauma?
Valeria Evgenievna takes off again and shows the children what voice they should use to portray the characters. Quite menacingly and in a singsong voice she says:
- About Herod... For your great anger... Death will come... And the devil will take your soul and bones... Arseny, well, take a break. After each phrase, count to yourself to three. Once. Two. Three. Understand, children, a pause is important. Just don’t think that you are silent for a long time. It doesn’t take long, but the audience understands everything.
Death appears on the scene, gets into an argument with Herod and ends up cutting off Herod's head with his silver scythe. The teacher runs up to the children again, shows how the mechanism of Komov’s dolls works and adds:
– The head should spin and roll between Death and the devil. Don't rush to clean it up.
Immediately one of the teenage singers asks quite seriously:
– Valeria Evgenievna, there are children in the hall! Will they experience psychological trauma?
– Calm down, Vasya, there will be no injuries. He's a negative hero! The main thing is to understand that when the screen appears, no one will see you. It will not be you who will play, but the dolls, even if they speak in your voices. Spectators - adults and children - will believe in what is happening. Therefore, play with dedication and pleasure.
How to perform a nativity play at home
You won't need many characters. The main ones are Mary and Joseph, a baby, a bull and a donkey, a shepherd, three kings, an angel, a star. The number of characters can be expanded by adding several shepherds, sheep, camels, and a Christmas tree.
You can make figures from paper or plasticine, felt or wool. They can be knitted, sewn, glued, cut out, and even bought ready-made figures in the store. Fantasy will tell you what will be simpler, more interesting and more fun.
It is most convenient to set up your impromptu nativity scene on a chair with a backrest. Then its back will be the second tier of your theater and mountains for kings to walk on. However, the stool is quite suitable. Place it near the table so that the kings have somewhere to walk.
Cover the “stage” with a dark cloth or scarf. After all, the action takes place at night. To illuminate what is happening, you can use a floor lamp, a table lamp, and finally, a phone flashlight. If you have any musical instruments at home, you can use them. But any plywood can become a drum, and a bell can be a pot lid or a crystal glass that can be lightly hit with a spoon.
The nativity scene is installed. Inside the cave, which could just be a hat, are the Child Christ, Mary, Joseph and animals. The action begins with the singing of the troparion to the Nativity of Christ:
Thy Nativity, Christ our God, risen up and the world's light of reason: in it, for those who serve the stars, learn from the stars, I bow to You, the Sun of Truth, and I lead You from the heights of the East: Lord, glory to You.
Then the kontakion is sung:
Today the Virgin gives birth to the Most Essential, and the earth brings a den to the Unapproachable: the angels with the shepherds praise, and the wolves travel with the star: for for our sake the Child of Mlado, the Eternal God, was born.
While singing, an angel should appear above the nativity scene:
There is new joy, like praise in the sky
The star shone brightly above the nativity scene.
At this moment, the star rises and hangs or stands above the nativity scene, if you made a star on a stick, for example. And the shepherd boy comes. He bows and remains standing in front of the nativity scene.
The shepherdesses walk with the lamb, in front of the little child,
They fall to their knees and glorify Christ.
David is playing today, striking the harp,
He melodiously and wonderfully praises God.
We pray and ask Christ the King, Heavenly Sovereign,
Grant a happy summer to all rulers.
Then, one after the other, three kings walk along the table or back of a chair. They can walk back and forth at a slow pace, as if traveling among the mountains, and stop at moments that the plot requires. And do not forget that kings must bow to the Infant Christ.
At this time, you can sing or simply say the following lines:
Three kings came to Christ with gifts,
Herod is before them, where do they go to ask:
First king: “Let’s go to the one born!”
Second king: “Let’s go bow!”
Let's go bow and appear before the King.
If I bow down, I will humble myself before the King.
First king: “I am King Kaspar from distant lands,
I’m following a wonderful star, unknown to me!”
Second King: “I am King Belshazzar from the eastern countries,
I saw a holy star and I am following it!”
Third King: “I am King Melchior from the Persian mountains.
I read wise books, I learned the secret of the star!”
Where Christ was born, there the star appeared,
The star will shine wonderfully from the east before noon
Then the bell rings and an Angel appears. He must speak in a high voice:
"Go a different way,
don't go to Herod
Herod is confusing
convenes the Magi,
beats up babies"
And then, accompany your singing with the sounds of thorns. The thorn is one of the most ancient instruments. Usually made from poisonous hogweed, but only when frost hits. You can make thorns from reeds, sedum, even plastic. If there is no thorn, any other instrument with a pleasant noise effect will do. And at this time you need to sing:
“The three kings went to their countries,
They glorify Christ, there will be tea in heaven.
Christ is glorified and praised forever...
Immediately, all participants in the nativity scene should take turns speaking quickly and several times:
“Herod gains glory by beating all the babies” several times.
The bell rings again. It always announces the appearance of an angel. And the Angel flies out in a thin and high voice and says:
Joseph, Mary, get up!
Run to Egypt and save the baby!
Then you need to place the dolls of Joseph and Mary and the baby on animals: a donkey and a camel. And imitating a clicking sound, which can also be accompanied by playing a balalaika, if you have one at home, the characters drive away and leave the stage,
One of the children, summing up the performance, should say:
Herod the beast failed to destroy Christ,
His Mother took him to hidden places!
And we wish you a Merry Christmas and wish to glorify Christ.
At the end of the performance, you can sing any carol. Take it from the collection “Church Life”, or you can sing, for example, this:
My mother Maria walked across the field,
Carried out candles
Little kids stood in the city
They were waiting for Christ.
Christ was born in the city and appeared,
Sow, sow, sow, happy new year!
This performance lasts no more than 10-15 minutes. The performance itself can be performed as early as January 7 in the evening and throughout the Christmas season it can be enjoyed by friends and acquaintances.
Well, if you still want to see for yourself and listen to folk singing, then on January 8, 9, 10 at 11.00 and 14.00, students and teachers of the Veretentse ensemble will perform Nativity scenes at the Center of Slavic Literature and Culture in Moscow. Merry Christmas!
On the eve of the Nativity of Christ, according to pious tradition, Orthodox churches are decorated with nativity scenes.
The word “nativity scene” corresponds to the Latin term “praesepe”, which means “manger, feeding trough for livestock”. In Christian perception, this term has received a generalized meaning as the place of the Nativity of Christ. The nativity scene has no standards either in size, or in the number of characters, or even in time (its main plot can be transferred to modern times). The only constant throughout the centuries remains the scene at the manger where the newborn baby Jesus lies. In addition, theatrical productions with Christmas themes are called nativity scenes.
In Rus', the nativity scene has been known since the 17th century. However, the origins of the Christmas puppet theater are much more ancient. This theater has been known in Ukraine since the 16th century. It was Little Russia that gave Russia such a unique tradition. The Ukrainian nativity scene, in turn, became the successor to the Polish tradition. And Christmas puppet theater came to Poland from the Catholic culture of Europe.
At the beginning of the tenth century in Rome there was a tradition of presenting scenes from the life of Christ in the temple. This performance lasted for several days. But the scene of the Nativity of Christ was never played out lively. She was present in the temple throughout the entire action from the Birth to the Death of the Savior. The Virgin Mary, Joseph and the Child Christ were depicted by dolls made by famous sculptors. The dolls who had the honor of playing the Virgin Mary were called marionettes in Italy.
This is where the tradition of arranging Christmas nativity scenes in Catholic churches came from. Then they began to make smaller dens. They were placed in boxes made in the shape of a temple. So the nativity scene left the temple and came to the man’s house. Western nativity scenes were mechanical, the figures in them moved in a circle.
Nativity scene design
What was the Christmas nativity scene like? The nativity scene was a simple wooden box with slits. Peasants free from their summer agricultural labor made this theater on long winter evenings. The nativity box itself was a two-story house. The upper tier of this house, in fact, represented the cave of the Nativity. It housed a small manger in which lay the swaddled Infant Christ; figurines of Joseph and the Virgin Mary bending over the manger; an ox and a donkey warming the Savior with their breath.
These figures could not be called just dolls: they were never played with as dolls, no speeches were made for them. They depicted a Christmas scene and were signs, symbols of Christmas. Sometimes, instead of figurines, an icon of the Christmas holiday was placed in the upper tier.
The entire upper tier of the house was decorated according to this Christmas scene. It was covered with blue paper or painted blue. The Christmas Star of Bethlehem was carved onto the roof of the house, announcing to the whole world the miraculous birth of the Son of God. This Star was through. From the inside of the house it was illuminated with a candle. And she really did shine with a twinkling light during the Christmas pageant.
The inside of the box was covered with white hare skin. White color symbolized purity. At the same time, the hare skin hid the slots in the box through which the figures moved.
The owner of the nativity scene usually spoke the text himself and led the dolls. Several choristers - boys who sang at the service - sang Christmas carols. And if a musician was part of the troupe, he would accompany the singing and dancing by playing his instrument.
Earthly and heavenly
Tiers divided the house into two spaces. The upper tier designated the heavenly space. After all, the Infant Christ descends from heaven to earth. And the lower tier is the earthly one, in which we, sinful people, live, with all our passions, joys and hopes.
Here on the lower tier the theater will present the puppet show itself, which will tell what happened in the year of the birth of Jesus Christ in the city of Bethlehem - a folk mystery drama about the cruel King Herod. It is King Herod and his warriors that the people will portray as puppet characters and speak for them. The third, lower, tier is also implied - the underworld, where the devil dragged Herod. So a simple dollhouse grew to the size of the Universe.
For several centuries in Moscow, a week before Christmas, the History of the Cave Act was played out publicly. This was one of the favorite plots of theatrical performances in Rus' in the 16th - 17th centuries and before Igor Stravinsky’s “Petrushka”. The rite of the “Cave Action” is an ancient and now completely forgotten tradition of the Church. It is celebrated on the day of remembrance of the prophet Daniel and the three holy youths, that is, December 18 according to the old style and December 30 according to the new style. And if the nativity theater was staged mainly for children, then everyone, young and old, never tired of watching it from year to year. The performers of these Christmas performances were not professionals; they provided income to those who were left without work for the winter. In the villages these were peasants, in the cities - amateurs from the middle class.
But the spectacle of the puppet show will never become the main thing in the nativity scene. The nativity figures will remain an illustration of the spiritual content of the texts. In folk tradition, texts in Christmas nativity scenes were presented in a detached manner. They were either sung in spiritual verses, or spoken, or simply spoken without any intonation.
The nativity scene was a favorite entertainment for children, who were practically not taken to secular theaters in pre-revolutionary Russia. Throughout the year, Christmas box theaters, along with sets of dolls, were stored somewhere in the attic or barn. We went with them from December 25 during the Holy Week, and sometimes until Lent itself, but after the Holy Week it was forbidden to show the spiritual part, only the secular part remained.
Not a game, but an action
What material were the nativity dolls made from? There were no clear instructions here. In the Russian folk tradition, dolls were made both in volume, from rags, wooden blocks, and flat cardboard figures. But it was impossible to play with puppets the way they are now operated in modern puppet theaters. Folk Orthodox ethics prohibited the introduction of individual, actorly figurative play into the nativity scene. The Christmas nativity scene represented the believing people, the Orthodox. The individual acting craft carried within itself the concept of insincerity and lies. The cry of Rachel, whose baby is being killed, cannot be depicted in a nativity scene and, finally, is simply impossible.
All the figures in the nativity scene, made of any material, were static and moved along the slots using a wooden rod on which the figure was attached. The mechanism for driving the figures itself was hidden in a box with a secret bottom. However, during the performance itself, the audience had a feeling of miracle: as if the figures themselves floated out of the doors of the house and, gliding smoothly, spun along the slots in the wooden box.
The texts for the nativity scenes were written by clergy based on the Holy Scriptures. And schoolchildren presented nativity scenes at Christmastide and Christmas. This is what students of theological seminaries were called in the old days. Since the wooden den dollhouse was heavy, the students dragged it on a stretcher. And it seemed to float in the frosty Christmas night over the village road, like a saving ark, protecting the earth from everything alarming and dangerous happening in the world.
However, in the detachment of presenting the text and driving the figures, complete harmony of a holistic artistic impression was achieved. It is also necessary to mention that the nativity scenes were presented late in the evening with lit candles. And the burning candle was a component image of the Christmas puppet show.
How to experience the miracle of Christmas - especially if there are small children in the house? One possible solution is to make a nativity scene. Working together with children and other household members will in any case bring joy.
“Nursery,” one child dreamed, “
Can be glued from colored cardboard,
Make gold out of paper
Shepherds with a Christmas star.
Donkey, ox - what a beauty! –
They will stand next to the manger of Christ,
And the Holy Child at this hour,
He is in the hearts of each of us."
.jpg)
Making a nativity scene (different options)
To make a nativity scene, you will need a medium-sized box. The decoration can be covered with colored paper or foil. For this case, it is appropriate to drape the structure with fabric. In this case, dark blue festive material is good for the outside, red for the inside, gray or brown for the ground, floor.
In the depths of the nativity scene, in the middle, place a manger with the Baby, made from a small box and covered with straw or dry grass.
To the right of the manger place Mary, preferably in a red or blue robe, to the left is Joseph in brown. There are animals around the manger. In the foreground are shepherds in gray robes and with staffs in their hands. If the nativity scene is made in the form of a house, the Angel can be suspended by a thread from the roof of the structure to create the impression of floating in the air. The manger of the nativity scene does not have a roof; it can be placed near the shepherds.
In the evenings, a small lamp is lit in the nativity scene, and the characters come to life... New Year's garlands are suitable for lighting. In the evening, after turning off the lights, you can sit comfortably near the nativity scene and tell your children Christmas stories...
Nativity scene characters
Mary, Joseph, the Baby, angels, shepherds, animals (donkey, sheep, lambs, cow, bull - not everything you can find (if the toys are purchased), the main thing is that it fits the meaning). The Three Magi, or "three kings", never appear one at a time.
We will need: salt dough (although these crafts can also be made from plasticine or plastic), a straw, a rolling pin, a teaspoon, a pencil.
Maria
1. Roll a short, thick sausage for the body so it looks kneeling.
2. Make the arms and head, outline the mouth and eyes. Roll out the dough ball for the cover.
3. Drape the cover over your head and torso so that it lies in folds at the back.
Joseph and the shepherd
Make their body a little longer. For a shepherd, roll a tourniquet around your head.
Nursery
Roll into a thick sausage. Push the center deeply with the phalanx of your finger. Roll out a thin sausage for the crosses at both ends.
Three kings
Color their clothes brightly. Roll a tourniquet around your head from balls or twisted sausages.
Child Christ
Make a Christ child.
Roll into a ball for the head and a sausage for the body. Connect. Use a fork to scrape the joints.
Mark the eyes with the point of a pencil. Roll up a small nose.
For the blanket, roll out the dough onto the film. Make marks with the point of a pencil.
Remove the film and wrap the baby in a blanket.
Bake in the oven, and then paint the doll. Draw a mouth with a felt-tip pen.
Place the baby in the manger.
Sheep
For the body, roll into a thick sausage.
Attach four ball-legs to the body.
Roll the head into a sausage and attach it to the body.
To make ears, flatten two small sausages.
Use a pencil to mark the nostrils and eyes. Use a fork to mark the fur.
For gifts, make bars from thickly rolled dough and decorate them with patterns.
Nativity scene decoration
The nativity scene can be decorated with fir branches or cones, artificial flowers. You can hang a Christmas star on the edge of the nativity scene. The outside of the nativity scene can be decorated with stars made from yellow paper or foil.
The Christmas nativity scene creates a special atmosphere in the house: this is the feeling of a fairy tale, but at the same time there is an awareness of the greatness of the event, the anniversary of which the whole world celebrates on Christmas night.
Options for making a nativity scene with your own hands
So, we will need:
- cardboard and colored paper
- glue, scissors
- double-sided tape
- gouache, brush
- quail eggs
- pieces of fabric, narrow ribbon
- cardboard box
- white and brown yarn
- toothpicks.
Using a needle, extract the yolk and white from three quail eggs. We paint one white, and the other two - flesh. A flesh color can be achieved by adding a drop of red and ocher to white. For ease of coloring, I used sticks. This way the color goes on more evenly and the egg dries evenly.
We cut out circles with a diameter of 15 cm from brown and blue cardboard. Cut out a segment from the circle and roll it into a cone.
We cut off the top of the cone so that the head-testicle is held more securely. We attach the testicle to the cone with a narrow strip of tape. Glue on handles cut from colored cardboard.
The blue cone makes a figurine of the Virgin Mary. We attach a cape made of a piece of fabric to the head. We tie a thin “belt” around the figure—a strip of sequins. Let's draw the eyes. The figurine is ready.
We make a figurine of Joseph from a brown cone. We make hair and beard from brown yarn. Glue with double-sided tape. (you can also use PVA, but it seemed to me that it was more convenient to work with adhesive tape). We tie a piece of fabric around the body and add a belt. The figurine is ready.
We wind a ball of white yarn - the body of a lamb. We attach the head - a white egg - to the body with a toothpick. Insert toothpick legs. Glue yarn bangs to the head. We draw eyes. The lamb is ready.
Let's make a manger. We make a base from a rectangular piece of plasticine. Insert toothpick halves around the perimeter. Sprinkle some sawdust inside the manger.
We depict the Baby Jesus using a piece of cotton wool wrapped in cloth.
We place the shoebox on its side. We cover the background with blue paper. Glue the “curtain” and the Christmas star.
All that remains is to arrange the figures and sprinkle some sawdust on the bottom of the box.
The Christmas nativity scene is ready!
P.S. I used a similar pattern for making figurines for the Christmas Angel. The same cardboard cone, a chicken egg, a piece of fabric for a raincoat. The wings are made of cardboard covered with cotton pads. Hair - New Year's "rain".
Several centuries ago, a wonderful Christmas tradition appeared in Rus' - a puppet show telling the story of the birth of the baby Jesus. In those days, people enjoyed watching actors act out scenes from the Bible and rejoiced at the great miracle all together. If you want to give your kids an unforgettable holiday, then hurry up and make a small home theater, or nativity scene, with your own hands. With its help, you can not only decorate your apartment and fill it with magic, but also introduce your children to the history of Christmas.
What is a nativity scene?
Ancient nativity scenes were a large wooden box made in the form of a two-story house. At the top of this structure were figures of Mary, Joseph and the baby. On the lower tier there was an action that told about the evil king Herod and his minions. The heroes of such stories were often the actors’ contemporaries: a soldier, a priest, a gypsy, a peasant and many other characters. Nowadays, the wonderful tradition of performing such performances is only being revived. You can make a nativity scene with your own hands with the whole family, and then gather there in the evenings, talk, read books and admire beautiful pictures. These gatherings will remain in your child's memory for many years and will warm him even in the most difficult times.
You can create a home in different ways. But for all performances you will need a large box, which will serve as a stage. It is absolutely not necessary to make it from wood or other heavy materials—shoes or household appliances are perfect. Cover the future scene inside and out with film and decorate it with foil stars. You can create a design from natural or waste materials, colored paper and Christmas tree decorations. Figurines of heroes for such a theater are made in various ways. For example, they can be made from paper, clay, or ready-made toys. Some craftsmen create a shadow theater, which is a great success among both children and adults. In our article we will tell you how to make a nativity scene with your own hands from paper. The process of creating such a theater will be no less exciting than watching the performance itself. And if the rest of the family gets involved in the work, then everyone will remember the fun time for a long time.
To make the main characters of your home theater, you will need the following materials:
Thin cardboard and drawing paper.
Scissors and glue.
Paints, colored pencils, markers and plasticine.
Make small cones from cardboard that will serve as the basis for the figures of the mother of Jesus, Righteous Joseph and the Magi. Draw faces on paper, cut them out and carefully glue them on the front side. Now you can start coloring. Draw costumes, make an applique, add plasticine details. The heroes' arms can also be drawn separately and glued to the body. Remember that a nativity scene created with your own hands is not an exam in fine art, which means you don’t need to strive for ideal shapes and colors. Make this process fun and enjoy a job that unites and brings your entire family together.
Animal figurines
Remember who surrounded the divine baby in the first hours of his life. Figures of sheep and donkeys can be drawn on paper and placed on a stable stand so that they can be easily moved. If you know how to sculpt from clay or dough, then make animals from these materials.
Baby figurine
When making it yourself, do not forget about the main hero of the occasion - the newborn Jesus. To depict a manger, you will need a small box of perfume or matches. Cover the cradle with colored film, cut straw out of brown paper and stick it on top in any order. Draw a baby figurine on paper, color it and glue it to the box. Place the manger in the most honorable place, and hang above it, which two thousand years ago announced a great miracle to all the peoples of our planet.
Other ways to make a paper nativity scene
A Christmas composition made using templates will make your work much easier. You just need to save the pictures to your computer, print them and transfer them onto thick cardboard. Be sure to give the silhouettes of the holy family some stability by using stands made of the same material. To decorate the frame, take a cardboard box, remove one wall and the bottom. The roof of the future nativity scene can be made curved, and transparent plastic can be used for the back wall. Glue openwork tape or braid around the perimeter of the front to cover the uneven edges of the box. After this, you can glue figures to the bottom of the box and place a star on the roof. Since our work looks somewhat sketchy, it will look best in Place a candle or small flashlight behind the composition and turn off the light. Now the picture looks mysterious and evokes thoughts about the most beautiful days in the life of mankind.
How to act out a show
After you have made your own Christmas nativity scene, be sure to come up with several puppet show scenarios. If you want to comply with all the canons of ancient Russian ideas, then you will have to make several additional heroes. You might want to see an angel in a makeshift cave announcing the birth of Jesus. Or maybe you will draw the evil King Herod, who will order to kill all the babies in the country. In ancient times, children were shown scenes in which a cruel ruler meets death. She appears to the king in the form of a terrible skeleton and throws him into the underworld. The performance may be accompanied by singing, poetry reading, and after its completion there may be a game of questions and answers. Your kids will be happy to repeat what they learned this evening and will look forward to the next performances.
