An ESL Christmas Presentation
This script is a guide to an improvisational inter-active presentation of the Christmas story, geared to non-English speaking guests. It presupposes the presence of young children, as well as language barriers, and can be modified according to the needs or abilities of the listeners. Characters are selected on the spot from amongst the guests attending, often their children. –Nikki White
Characters: Joseph, Mary (choose a husband and wife)
Innkeeper (Someone outgoing is best)
2-3 shepherds (minimal acting needed)
Sheep (can be kids acting, or stuffed animals given to the shepherds)
A cow (a must! Do NOT choose an older man for this role, though)
Three wise kings (a good role for older men, no silliness required)
A “Drummer Boy” (a non-guest you have chosen and prepared ahead)
Props: A tin foil star
Artificial snow (hole punch scraps or packing peanuts work fine)
A bag of pennies
A doll
Sheets, towels, and shawls
Cushion
Paper crowns
Motel Sign
Some toy sheep, or paper plates decorated as sheep faces
Angel wings, perhaps cut from white paper to duct tape on!
Hand drum (an ice cream pail covered in brown paper works)
Various instruments for sound effects, (cow bell, wind chime)
Narrator:
“Come and join us, come and sit down. We are going to tell a story! (Give a candy cane to the children, if fidgety) We are going to tell the Christmas story. Close your eyes now. We are going far, far away. We are not in Canada. We are very far away. Not in Korea, not in Taiwan, not in (Fill in their countries of origin), we are in another country. We are in Israel! (Quiet Israeli folk music could be played here) And we are in the city that is called “Bethlehem”.
“And now it is not 2006. Now it is a long, long time ago. It is 2000 years ago! And here in Israel it is winter, and it is cold. (You might throw some artificial snow and shiver) And it is dark, and late at night. (Turn some lights out) Everyone is asleep in their beds. But wait! There are two people who are not in their warm beds. They are walking on this dark, cold night.
“There is a man. (Select the man who is playing Joseph, wrapping a sheet or towel over his shoulders) He is very handsome. (Tease!) His name is Joseph. And there is a woman. (Choose his wife, if possible) And she is very pretty, but very tired. Why is she tired? (Tie a pillow to her stomach and wrap a sheet around her. Be prepared to let this be humorous!) Why do you think she is tired? Is she fat? No! She is going to have a baby! The woman’s name is Mary.
“They have been walking for a long time, and they are so tired. Where is the Holiday Inn? Where is the Sheraton? Wait – Look over there! There is a Motel. (Have one of the guests hold up the sign) Joseph and Mary go to the motel, and knock at the door. (Encourage children to do sound effects) Where is the man who owns the hotel? Here he is! (Choose someone with an outgoing personality) He is very rich, isn’t he? (Give him a bag of pennies to jingle) He hears them knocking at the door, and he goes to answer them.
MOTEL MANAGER: “What do you want?”
JOSEPH: “We need to sleep! Do you have a room for us here?”
MOTEL MANAGER (shaking head) “I have no room. But you can go and sleep in the barn with my cow/s if you want to.”
Joseph and Mary look, and they see a barn. (With enough guests you can use their arms to make a triangle with their arms for a barn) And there is a cow in the barn! (If there are a lot of kids, have more cows. They love this role! Tell them to say ‘Mooo’ whenever you say ‘cow’.) He is very dirty cow. (Moo) He is a very smelly cow. (Moo) Mary does not want to sleep with this cow!!!
“Poor Mary. She begins to cry. But there is nowhere else to go, so they have to go to the barn with the dirty, smelly, cow. (Lead them over and have them sit down under the ‘barn’ with the cow) The innkeeper goes back inside the motel to sleep. The night is getting colder. (More snow) Across the city there is a field (Walk across the room) and in this field there are men taking care of sheep. They are called Shepherds. Here are the Shepherds. (Choose some) Here are the sheep! (Can be kids…prompt the sheep, or shepherds, to say ‘baa’ when the word ‘sheep’ is spoken) What do the sheep say? (Baaaa)
“But who is this? (Chose a drummer boy, or have someone already prepared for that role – a more serious role) Here is a shepherd who is very young. He does not want to watch the sheep. (Baaa) He doesn’t like sheep. (Baaa) He would rather sit in the field and play his drum. (Hand him a drum). So now we have the shepherds (Wave) and some sheep (Baaa) and a drummer boy. (Hits the drum) What happens next? Look! (Go over to a guest, have them stand and hold up the star)
“In Bethlehem 2000 years ago, a special star came into the sky. What does it mean? What has happened? Something is happening over at the barn with Mary and Joseph! The baby is being born! (Go to the ‘barn’) It’s a baby boy! (Take a doll out, have Mary put the baby in the manger) And this star is his special star! What does it all mean?
“The shepherds are looking at the star. So are the sheep. (Baaa) While they are looking, an angel appears in the sky. (Choose a guest and give him wings) The shepherds are afraid. (Cover their faces with their hands) So are the sheep! (Baa!) So is the cow! (Mooo) But the angel begins to speak.
ANGEL: “Don’t be afraid! I have good news! Tonight a baby has been born, and he is very important! This baby is going to save the whole world! This baby is the greatest king that ever was! This baby is Jesus, and He is the Son of God!”
“The shepherds are amazed. So are the sheep! (Baaa!) So is the cow!! (Mooo!) They hurry to the barn to see this baby, this king who will save the whole world. They say to the drummer boy: ‘Let’s go! Come with us to see the baby king! We will give him our sheep as a present!’ But the drummer boy feels very shy. He is afraid to go and see this baby king. He is too young, too poor, and too shy. He has nothing to bring as a present.
DRUMMER BOY: (shakes his head and says) “No, you go. I will stay here and play my drum.”
So, the shepherds run to the barn to see the baby Jesus, the baby who will save the world.
“Far, far away someone else is looking at the star. Far away, almost in China, there are wise kings (Choose them, crown them with paper crowns) who see the star, and they know that a baby king has been born. They take presents (Give them wrapped boxes to carry) and they also go to see the baby who will save the world, the baby king who is the Son of God.
“The drummer boy sees them, and sees their presents and he feels sad. He is too shy to go to see the baby, and he has no gifts to bring.
WISE KING 1: “Come with us! Come and see the baby king!”
DRUMMER BOY (shakes his head) “I have nothing to give him. I cannot go.”
WISE KING 1(smiling): “Of course you can go! Of course you have a gift to bring! You have no gold, or treasure, but you can give him your heart!”
DRUMMER BOY (cheering up) “Give Him my heart? Will he want my heart? Will that make him happy?”
WISE KING 2: “Come and see.”
And together they go to the manger. The baby Jesus is there, and his mother Mary, and Mary’s husband Joseph. The shepherds and the wise kings are kneeling before him, because he is the greatest king, the king who will save the whole world. The drummer boy sees the baby, and he kneels too. From his heart comes a song, and he begins to play his drum and sing quietly, as he gives his heart to the baby king, Jesus the Son of God. This is what he sings: (lead in singing the Little Drummer Boy).
The Little Drummer Boy
Come, they told me (parum-pum-pum-pum)
A newborn King to see (parum-pum-pum-pum)
Our finest gifts to bring (parum-pum-pum-pum)
To lay before the king (parum-pum-pum-pum x3)
So to honor Him (parum-pum-pum-pum) when He comes
Baby Jesus (parum-pum-pum-pum)
I am a poor boy too (parum-pum-pum-pum)
I have no gift to bring (parum-pum-pum-pum)
That’s fit to give a King (parum-pum-pum-pumx3)
Shall I play for You? (parum-pum-pum-pum) On my drum?
Mary nodded (parum-pum-pum-pum)
The ox and lamb kept time (parum-pum-pum-pum)
I played my drum for Him (parum-pum-pum-pum)
I played my best for Him! (parum-pum-pum-pum x3)
Then He smiled at me (parum-pum-pum pum) Me and my drum
Consider praying a prayer after the song like this:
Dear God, thank You for sending Your Son Jesus to be a baby in this world. Thank You that He is also the King that has saved us from death, so that by believing in Him we can be with You in heaven forever. Thank You that every Christmas we can remember the wonderful gift You gave to us in Jesus Your son. And we can also give You the one gift that You want from us: We can give You our hearts. Help us to understand. Amen.