DIY Felt Nativity Scene

Deck the Halls and prepare for His glory fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that it can be tough to teach kids to stay focused on the true meaning of Christmas in all the hustle and preparations of the Christmas season. We try each year to stay focused on the birth of Jesus, our Savior, and also enjoy the excitement that the season brings.

Here’s a DIY Felt Nativity Scene that I like to use with my children. It reminds us of the beauty and promise in the birth of our Savior.

More felt, Please!

Okay, so I might have over done it this year with the felt activities. I’m not sorry though because your kids are going to love them all! Check out our Felt Christmas Tree and Snowman activities.

You will LOVE this one too!

It’s super easy to make and fosters a love for books, Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the TRUE meaning of Christmas…the birth of our Savior!

Supplies Needed:

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Light brown and dark brown felt (for Manger scene)
Scissors
Stapler OR Velcro Command Strips (for attaching Manger to the wall)
Printable Nativity Scene, like this one from DLTK’s (print, color and laminate)
Peel and stick velcro (for the back of nativity characters)
Variety of Nativity books

Steps for Assembly:

Cut dark brown felt (mine is 30×20 inches) to create the manager background

Cut light brown felt to create the top of the manager (mine is in sections so I could create the pitch of the roof)

Staple the manager scene securely to the wall (or use velcro command strips)

Print and color the Nativity scene characters. I have 3 “big kids” that did the coloring. I printed a set for each child so they would be included. It’s also an opportunity for independent play as each child can use his/her own set of Nativity characters when they use our Nativity scene felt board.

Laminate your Nativity scene characters. This ensures that you can use these character pieces year after year. {Also, so the pieces survive your toddler too, if you have one of those!}

Use peel and stick velcro to attach to the back of the character pieces.

Place all your Nativity characters on your felt manger. Tip: Each time we use our felt board as a family, we try to use pieces from each child’s set. This way everybody feels like they’ve contributed to our family activity.

Collect a variety of Nativity books (you’d be surprised at what you already have, I was!)

Family Time

This activity is so interactive! Each of my children take turns moving the characters around our Manger as we read the Nativity stories. This only makes it that much more meaningful!

What I love most about this activity is it gets all of us together talking about the true meaning of Christmas.

I hope your Christmas is joyful and blessed!

I’d love to hear how you’ve chosen to use this activity with your own children, please leave comments below!