The Nativity Story Busy Book Activities for Little Ones
Ooh, it’s that super special time of year when we get to teach our little ones all about the very first Christmas! I’m so excited to teach my little guy all about the Nativity Story this year. We have a couple books to read and a short movie or two to learn with, so I created this busy book to give us a few other hands-on activities to play and learn about the Nativity story with.
There are activities to practice matching, tracing, coloring, new vocabulary words, fine motor skills, beginning sounds, retelling, and counting all packed into this one little book. The book includes 9 Nativity activities for you to create two different kinds of books about the Nativity Story. You can create a one-use book with all black and white printables that you attach the the book's pages for kids to color and complete once. Or, you can create a multiple-use book by printing out the colored pages, laminating each one, attaching them to the book’s pages, and allowing learners to use small cards, dry erase markers, play dough, and mini-erasers to play and learn with the activities.
Scroll down to learn what activities are included in this resource, as well as tips and ideas for you to make each activity work perfectly for little ones of all ages!
MATCHING
The matching activities included in the book are perfect for practicing matching pictures that are the same and noticing things that are different. The matching activities included in this Nativity busy book are simple ways to practice matching, as well as introduce new Nativity-related vocabulary words. Some words may be familiar to your little ones, but some may be brand new! You can help those new words stick by connecting the words you’ve read in a book with the words they’re learning in their busy book. Making connections is a great way to help learners anchor their learning and retain that new knowledge.
COUNTING
The activity included for practice counting serves a few purposes. Of course, learning one-to-one correspondence and counting objects is an obvious one, but this activity also is great for practicing number recognition and number formation! If your little one is JUST learning to count, just count together. If they’re ready to identify numbers, they can match a number card to the group of objects and say the number’s name out loud. And if your little one is ready for even more, they can write their numbers in the small box below the group of objects instead of matching a card. You could also have learners match magnetic numbers to the page or show the same amount using manipulatives. There are so many different ways to practice math basics with this one activity!
TRACING
Tracing is a great way for little ones to start learning how to control their hand movements. These fine motor skills take a lot of muscle control and practice, so using these skills in a variety of ways is a great way to help your little one develop these skills more quickly. This Nativity Busy Book includes pages to practice tracing letters to spell Nativity words and pages to practice tracing a variety of lines. Your little one can use a dry erase marker to trace, cover the lines’ curves with a small manipulative like mini erasers, or trace them using crayons or markers in the black and white version. And they’re not ready for a crayon, marker, or manipulative, just encourage them to practice tracing using their fingers!
BEGINNING LETTER SOUNDS
Learning letter names and letter sounds is an essential literacy skill for little ones. So, even if they’re not quite ready for letter names and sounds independently, this activity is a fun one to do together. You can hide the cards around the room or place them in a sensory bin and have your kiddo choose a card. Then, talk together about what the picture is, what letter the word starts with, and where they see that matching letter on the page of their busy book. I’d recommend telling them the most common sound the letter makes and see if they can copy that sound too! This activity will probably be a VERY guided learning time at the beginning, but as kiddos start to recognize the way letters look and remember the sounds from hearing them often or singing phonics songs, this sort of activity will get easier.
Need a few other ways to practice the alphabet? Check out this blog post about fun ways to learn the alphabet!
COMPREHENSION (RETELLING)
Being able to retell and recall information from a story is another super essential skill for a solid literacy foundation. You can practice these skills by asking your little ones what the best part of their day was, what they played in the backyard today, or what they ate for dinner last night. Though they might not always know the answers right away, you’ll be teaching them that they need to be able to recall information that they remember from a previous time. So, this adorable retelling activity in the Nativity busy book is a great way for little ones to start to tell the story on their own! There is a retelling page for the book and 9 key, Nativity-themed pictures to cut out. Then, learners can use the pictures and page together to retell the parts of the story that they can remember. Maybe they only know that Baby Jesus was there…and that’s okay! Little steps are still steps! :) Or maybe they’re older and can use the pictures to act out the story in great detail. Whatever level your kids are at, practicing telling a story from their memory is a great way to boost comprehension skills and prepare them for more complex skills later on.
FINE MOTOR SKILLS (PLAYDOUGH)
Manipulating playdough is really fun way to strengthen hand muscles and develop fine motor skills. It’s the perfect tool to use to blend together learning and playing too! The playdough pages included in this book are all Nativity-themed. There are pages with just one Nativity picture on them and 2 pages that show a variety of pictures. Choose whichever ones are best for your kiddos, laminate them, and let them go to town creating Nativity pictures from their favorite playdough.
COVER OR COLOR
These activity pages are designed for kiddos to decide which of the pictures shown are related to the Nativity Story and which ones aren’t. In the color version, learners can cover each picture that’s related to the Nativity with a manipulative of their choice. In the black and white version, kiddos can still just cover the pictures that are Nativity related OR they can color the ones that are Nativity related. You can make it a bit more challenging for advanced learners by asking them to explain why they think each picture is Nativity related. Or, you can make it a bit more simple for younger kiddos by finding similar pictures in a book first and then asking them to cover the picture that looks similar. :) A little something for everyone!
COLORING
This one is pretty self-explanatory, but COLORING! Yay! I love coloring and it’s a great way to strengthen hand muscles in little kids. So, there are a variety of different pages in the black and white versions that can be colored neatly. The activities are all the same as in the color versions, except that kiddos need to color the pictures first before completing the activity, like matching, counting, or beginning sound matching.
FIND & COVER
These activities are a bit like a scavenger hunt. The activity pages show a few Nativity pictures and your little learner needs to find those pictures in real life or in a book before they can cover (or color, with the black and white version) that picture.
And that’s the Nativity Story Busy Book breakdown! I hope this deeper look into the activities included in this resource was helpful for you and you’re able to use these engaging activities with your little ones all season long. :) Please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email if you have any questions!
Happy learning and merry Christmas, y’all!
