A few years ago our family began a tradition shared by many Christians in hopes of keeping Christ at the center of our Christmas celebration by having a birthday cake for Jesus and singing “Happy Birthday”.  The following year the children wanted to decorate just like a “real birthday party” & invite a few neighborhood friends over for cake.  With each year our Birthday Party has grown, and our outreach along with it.

I’ve tried a variety of ideas & thought I’d share some of what has worked for me, with you.  Keep in mind that I love crafts of any kind, and I love to decorate, but that is not a requirement for hosting a Birthday Party for Jesus.  You can simplify my ideas or you can come up with your own way of doing it.  Very soon I will have my crafts & decorations available for sale, so if you’re a “keep it simple, write a check” kind of girl, we’ve got you covered.

I purchased “What God Wants for Christmas” from Family Life, and have used that as our party theme.  If you’ve never heard of it before, it is a fantastic, interactive, kid-friendly nativity set & story.  The message is that what God wants for Christmas….is you!  He wants your heart to be His.

I have found this to be a wonderful outreach to the friends of my children who don’t attend church as well as our Christian friends, who, like us, can lose the focus of what this season is about.

I have posted photos of our parties as well as the crafts & decorations & invitations.  We’d love to see yours as well, so please share!