CHURCH NATIVITY PLAY SCRIPTS
As a children’s worker and youth leader at my church for years it has been my role to find a nativity play script to use for our annual church nativity service, and it has always been a struggle to find one that was appropriate to our circumstances. We have so little rehearsal time, no guarantee that the children will be here for our two minimal rehearsals, and so few children, of mixed ages and ability (some of whom want to have speaking parts and others not). We have even had to include adults in one of our nativities and on many occasions have had to accommodate last minute changes due to casting problems!
If these difficulties sound familiar you will love my nativity scripts, as I started writing my own to overcome these problems, making the scripts fully and easily adaptable for all circumstances. Here are some of the main features of my nativity plays…
They are:
- Written entirely in rhyme and rhythm, using narration and have …
- Lots of options for small speaking parts to make everyone feel special.
They last approximately 25 minutes and are deliberately adaptable so that they…
- can be used for any size cast, small or large and ….
- are easily recast at short notice….
as the script is very much led by the narration.
Music
- I use simple, familiar tunes which I add my own easily remembered words to, so there are
- no on-going licence fees no matter how often you use the script or songs.
- I provide sheet music for the songs PLUS
- midi files (to play through a computer) in case you have no pianist.
Enough talk: use your imagination and preview parts of the scripts to see which would work best for you.
Oh….the best bit….it’s an instantly downloadable document!
You can purchase my scripts for £9.95 as a pdf document, but I have also made available the actual word document for you to save to your own computer and amend / personalise as much as you need, for an extra £2. It will save you hours of work when it comes to adapting the scripts to suit your circumstances and copying scripts for distribution, so my customers highly recommend it
1. Children’s Nativity Story
Click here for a preview of the Children’s Nativity Story script.
This script has been performed in churches of all different sizes, (click here for specific customer feedback)and tells the traditional bible based nativity story, with gentle humour, using the following songs/music:
- Away in a Manger &
- We wish you a merry Christmas
and my own words to the music of….
- Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
- The Virgin Mary had a Baby Boy
- Jingle Bells
Plus my own “Donkey’s Journey song (very simple and catchy).
2. Grandpa’s Nativity Story
Click here for a preview of the Grandpa’s Nativity Story script.
This script is perfect for young children, or an all aged cast, and begins with the excitement of children in their bedroom on Christmas Eve (anticipating Santa/Saint Nicholas’s arrival, although he is not specifically mentioned in the script), and continues (via Grandpa’s bedtime story) into the traditional bible based nativity story, including my own words to the following tunes:
- We wish You a Merry Christmas
- O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree
- Oranges and Lemons
- Children of Jerusalem (the tune of a simple children’s Easter hymn)
Plus my own simple, and catchy “Santa’s Song”
You can choose to omit reference to Santa without any detrimental effect on the play itself, which is how it was used in the Children’s Worship Festival in Saginaw Bay District, USA in 2011 where they chose simply to use Grandpa and his story of the traditional bible based nativity.
3. The Day That Baby Jesus Came to Town
Click here for a preview of this nativity script.
Perfect for a small or large mixed age cast, (particularly a whole school performance) this nativity play is written from the perspective of the gossiping Innkeeper’s Wife who wrote everything down in her diary on the day that Jesus was born in their stable!
- It therefore has lots of scope for older children to lead the narration via the roles of Innkeeper, Innkeeper’s Wife and narrators and to add lots of sarcasm, attitude and humour to the parts.
- The script is carefully written so that there is no need for children to learn their parts as they are apparently passing around the Innkeeper’s Wife’s diary (and a letter from Mary) and reading the story from there. (In reality, their entire script is printed in the diary, all coded so that they can each spot their part instantly when the diary is passed to them.)
- In addition to these key ‘narration’ roles, there are up to 19 simple, small, easily remembered speaking parts for other children, each suitable for any age, plus my simple words to 5 familiar children’s songs which are ideal for the younger children to sing:
- The Wheels on the Bus (ie, All Day Long)
- Go Tell it on the Mountain (Go Find the Baby Jesus)
- Here we go Round the Mulberry Bush (This is the Way to Bethlehem)
- Once I caught a Fish Alive (1,2,3 Wise Men)
- She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain (Oh, It’s Nearly Christmas Day)
And finally, my own composition….Sleep, Gentle Jesus
The diary, Mary’s letter and the soldier’s scroll are all included as part of the instantly downloadable nativity script together with the sheet music and FREE music midi backing tracks to be played through a computer. I also include a FREE Christmas poem entitled “Jesus is Not Just for Christmas” and a purpose written Nativity Roll Call poem giving everyone the opportunity to take a bow.
4. The Simplest Nativity Play Ever
Click here for a preview of this simple nativity play. (Including specific details on the cast required and the size of each speaking part.
SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE ENOUGH FOR ANY AGE OR GROUP PERFORMANCE, this entire nativity script is written in rhyming narration, WITH RHYMING INSTRUCTIONS TO THE CAST! This means that this nativity play could be performed literally without rehearsal. ( Of course, any rehearsals that you do will clearly improve it’s professionalism!)
This gives it the ultimate flexibility and adaptability as there is no problem replacing a cast member due to illness or absence, or even stage fright. You could even try a community nativity play with volunteers arriving an hour beforehand: if you are brave enough!
There are 19 (optional) short speaking parts (averaging 2 to 4 lines). If you choose not to allocate lines to an actor, the narrator simply says their lines as part of the story so the script is not reduced (see script preview to see how simply this works)
No music is included with this script as it is intended to be used with tradition carols/ congregational hymn for a ‘Carol Service’ atmosphere. The instantly downloadable script therefore comes with a customizable word document as standard for £9.95, together with absolutely all the printable aids you could benefit from: soldiers scroll, prompt cards for cast members, character name tags (to help if you brave the community nativity service idea!)
Also included is my trademark Nativity Roll Call poem, purpose written for this script in the style of a register, to give everyone an opportunity to take a bow to round off the play. In addition, I have included a unique Christmas Tree shape poem entitled “The Unending Christmas Story” which, despite being a shape poem, is also written in rhyme and rhythm.
5. The D-I-Y Nativity Play
Click here for a preview of this unique nativity play script.
This script is very specifically purpose written for a church nativity service with a small cast of young people of reading age ( teenagers especially!) in a church with a fun, family atmosphere (adults are required to join in!)
The DIY Nativity is so called because it expects some of the congregation to “Do-It-Yourself” by joining in telling the nativity story with the children. The script….
- tells the traditional bible based nativity story in a hilarious, lighthearted way
- using narration full of humour, sarcasm and mockery of the adult volunteers (all scripted in rhyme for the narrators to read….with attitude!)
- is a great way to bring young and old together in a nativity service with a difference.
- has a great message: ie. WE ALL need to share the message of Jesus.
The fact that the whole script is narrated makes it simple to recast in the event of illness or absence.
Music is not provided with this nativity play as it is intended to be used with carols and hymns for the congregation to join in to, so suggestions of appropriate hymns to use are made. This particular script is therefore instantly downloadable with the customizable word document as standard for £9.95. It includes one of my trademark purpose written Nativity Roll Call poems, written in the style of a register so that everyone gets to stand and take a bow to finish off the play, even if they have not rehearsed it. Also included is a Christmas poem called “The Message of God’s Grace”.
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