Advent and Christmas Activities

Although they actually are nothing more than brightly colored leaves—not actual blooms—brilliant, showy poinsettias are an American contribution of joy to the celebration of Jesus’ birth. For background information about the origins of the poinsettia as a Christmas symbol, see below.

Share with your students this background information and “A Poinsettia Legend” . Then help them make simple poinsettias that can be part of the joy they bring to others this Christmas. These poinsettias can be used to decorate your learning space or your students’ homes, or they can be attached to gifts as part of the wrapping, or they can be made into holiday greetings for those who may not have family or friends with whom they can share the holiday.

A Poinsettia Legend

One Christmas Eve in the small town of Taxco, Mexico, Pepita and her cousin Jose walked the path to church for Midnight Mass. “Why are you sad, Pepita?” Jose asked. “We are going to celebrate the birthday of Jesus, and I know you love him very much.”

Pepita looked at Jose with sad eyes. “Yes, I do love Jesus. But I have no gift to give him on his birthday.” Jose reminded Pepita about the gift of love. “Pepita, remember this: even the most humble gift is precious, including the simple gift of the love that is in your heart.”

Just then, an angel appeared and told Pepita to pick the weeds along the side of the path and to take them to church for the Christ Child. “These weeds are so straggly,” the little girl thought to herself. “I am embarrassed to bring them into church when others are bringing nice things, including lovely poinsettias.”

But Pepita did as the angel bid. She picked a lot of weeds, walked the rest of the way to church with Jose, and placed the weeds among the other lovely poinsettias in front of the altar.

Then, suddenly, a villager exclaimed, “Oh, look! Pepita’s weeds have become beautiful red flowers!” People marveled and wondered if this was a Christmas miracle.

“Pepita’s love for Jesus is indeed a miracle,” the priest explained. “When we give to Jesus with love, there is no telling how the gift might be transformed into something beautiful and magnificent for God, for our parish, for the people we love, and for everyone. Thank you, Pepita, for being brave enough to give this humble and loving gift to our Lord. You have reminded us all to give to God first and foremost all the love in our hearts.”


Poinsettia Craft

Materials

• red (or pink or white) and green foam sheets or cardstock, larger than the leaf patterns
• pieces of yellow foam sheets or cardstock
• leaf patterns, one large, one small
• large beads or baubles
• pencils and scissors
• craft glue
• double-sided tape
• roll of magnetic self-adhesive tape

Procedure

1. Make two leaf patterns, one larger than the other.
2. Cut out patterns.
3. Place the larger leaf pattern on a piece of green foam sheet or cardstock and trace around it.
4. Cut out tracing.
5. Place the smaller leaf pattern on a piece of red (or pink or white) foam sheet or cardstock and trace around it.
6. Cut out tracing.
7. Glue red (or pink or white) leaves on top of green leaves, so that leaves are not lined up
8. Cut small circles (less than 1/2”—a 3-hole paper punch works well) from pieces of yellow foam sheets or cardstock and glue in center.
9. Glue small beads or baubles on and around yellow center pieces.
10. How you finish your poinsettia depends on how you want to use it.  As a magnet, cut a piece of magnetic self-adhesive tape, 1/2” long, and affix it to the back of the green leaves. The poinsettia magnet is ready for the family refrigerator or to give as a delightful holiday gift.  As a wrapping decoration, affix 1/2” piece of double sided tape to the back of the green leaves and press the poinsettia to the top of a wrapped package. As a greeting, write a word or a variety of words of celebration on each leaf (“JOY,” “HOPE,” “GLORIA,” “PEACE,” “LOVE,” etc.) and give the poinsettia to a person who needs special cheer and love at this time of year.

Poinsettia Blessing

Invite students to stand in your prayer space holding the poinsettias they’ve made. You will need a prayer table on which students will place their poinsettias.

Leader—Opening Comment: God gives each of us special gifts that we share with others every day. At this time of year, we are especially aware of the gift that God gave us in his Son, Jesus Christ. For our friends and families, we have made these special poinsettias to celebrate this holy season and to remind us of the Christ Child who brought to us, on that holy night, God’s promise of redemption. One by one, let’s bring our poinsettias to the prayer table. (Option: Play soft instrumental music as students place poinsettias on the prayer table one at a time.)

When all poinsettias are on the prayer table, arrange them in a tight collection to give the appearance of a full bed of blooms.

These blooms are symbols of the gifts and talents that we offer others to the praise and glory of God—who so loved the world that he sent us his only beloved Son.

Allow a short period of silence for students to look at the prayer table full of poinsettias.

Leader—Blessings of Poinsettias: Thank you, Lord, for giving us gifts, great and humble, so that we can show our love for you, our families, and our friends. Help us to develop our talents to give you glory and to serve with love. Bless these poinsettias we have made. They are symbols of the star of Bethlehem that guides us still along our way of living in love and peace. Let these glorious blooms remind us that in Jesus, our gifts and talents grow, flourish, and become more beautiful. May this Christmas bring us fresh joy in your coming, and lead us further into your light.
All: Amen.

Sing a favorite Christmas carol.


The Origin of Poinsettia as a Christmas symbol

Many of our much-loved Christmas traditions can be traced to European origins. But the poinsettia has its origins in the New World. The plant’s origins can be traced to Central America, where it grew in great abundance in Taxco, Mexico. The plant was cultivated by the Aztecs before Christianity came to the Americas, and was an especially prized flower. It was seen as a symbol of purity because of its brilliant color. Local peoples called the plant cuetlaxochitl (star flower), and used its sap to control fevers and its bracts to make reddish dyes.

One of the plant’s earliest associations with Christmas is dated to the seventeenth century, when Franciscan priests living near Taxco saw brilliant red poinsettias blooming at Christmas time and used them for their Fiesta Santa Pesebre, a nativity procession. By the eighteenth century, people had come to consider the plant as a symbol of the star of Bethlehem—and often called it that. It was also called flor de Noche Buena (flower of Christmas Eve), flower of the Holy Night, and flame flower. Its botanical name, Euphorbia Pulcherrima, meaning“very beautiful,” was given by German botanist Wilenow, who thought it an exceptionally beautiful growth when he first noticed it growing through a crack in his greenhouse. Its usual color of rich red is symbolic of our hearts’ great love for Jesus. The way poinsettias seem to explode all around us at Christmas reminds us of Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah:“As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring up, so will the Lord God make justice and praise spring up before all nations” (16:11).




Jeanne Heiberg is the author of Advent Arts & Christmas Crafts (Paulist Press) and a new Advent calendar (Creative Communications). She has taught art, writing, creative catechetics, and meditation, and has directed parish catechetical programs. She writes, paints, and gives workshops in writing and clay sculpture.

Source: CATECHIST Magazine, November/December 2006
Copyright 2009, Peter Li, Inc. All rights reserved. This article is protected by United States copyright and other intellectual property laws and may not be reproduced, rewritten, distributed, redisseminated, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast, directly or indirectly, in any medium without the prior written permission of Peter Li, Inc.