None of the younger children were paying very close attention, most were not singing, and most often totally missed their cues (after all, there are so many other things to look at and think about, right 😉).
One boy who was standing right behind his little sister suddenly decided that his sister would make a brilliant arm-rest/leaning post 😕 Another decided that he needed to try to match the size of the very littlest 2-year old angels by hunching his shoulders and making himself appear shorter. Hilarious yes, but not so promising for day of the program.
After we finished the rehearsal, I was talking to the program leader and she told me her little boy wouldn't even practicing singing at home because he didn't "know how to sing" (his words).
So I decided we needed a way to inspire the smallest children to sing and participate (loudly enough for everyone to hear). Sometimes small children need something more concrete than "make sure you speak and sing loudly enough so that everyone in the back can hear you." And quite honestly, a bit of bribery helps sometimes too 😁
So I started brainstorming. Candy canes are always fun, but I would have to make them more attractive - EVERYONE has candy canes at Christmas. Once when we were children, we were all given candy cane reindeer (candy canes with wiggle eyes and chenille wire antlers) - and that was my original intent... but somehow reindeer didn't quite seem to fit. And then I had an epiphany! Candy Cane Donkeys! And these Candy Cane Donkeys would have a story to help the children focus. 😀
So I began working on the donkeys (Daphne and Danny aren't fully complete in these images; I added eyes after the photos were taken). And the next Sunday I told the children the following story:
This is Daphne the Donkey:
Daphne will come to the service with me - and she will sit with me where can see her; she'll help remind you to watch me so you know when to sing. And every time you see Daphne, you will remember about her friend Danny.
Danny the Donkey is a very old donkey (Look! His mane is gray and even his ears and nose are white) and poor Danny can't hear very well at all.
Danny will sit in the back of the church and he wants to learn about Jesus too. So you will need to sing and speak loud enough for him to hear even way in the back 😀 And if Danny can hear you really good so he can learn about Jesus, when the service is over, you can all have your very own candy cane donkey to take home (or eat immediately as the case may be 😋).
I was rather tired of donkeys by the time I finished:
Zillions of donkeys in a basket.
While I cannot say for sure if the donkeys helped a LOT or if it was just that the old superstition of dreadful dress rehearsal = brilliant show, the Christmas Eve service went very well - even with a runaway angel and shepherds who haven't mastered the art of quiet walking (on an echoey and mic'd stage) 😊 And I do know they helped the little boy who didn't know how to sing -- he suddenly discovered that singing was fun after all 😆
So, if you find yourself in need of inspiring young children to participate at Christmas-time, Candy Cane Donkeys might be just the thing 😀
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