Set the scene for your nativity performance with a Nativity Song Trail – a fun and playful way to introduce your Baarmy Bethlehem performance. This activity will help children get to know the characters and narrative, giving them a deeper understanding before rehearsals begin.

You could run the song trail as a whole-class, one-off activity, or you might gently introduce the songs and activities over a couple of weeks. Alternatively, you could choose just a few of these and use them as part of your classroom play provision, or simply use them as a springboard to create your own nativity song trail!

What You’ll Need

• Bluetooth speakers (if working outside)
• A device (e.g. iPad, tablet or phone) to play the songs
• Props and simple costumes for each station, such as:
  • Party plates, cutlery, tablecloths, paper hats, toy food, instruments
  • Costumes for Mary and Joseph
  • Cardboard tubes or cones (optional)
  • Wrapping paper and items to wrap
  • A nativity crib scene
  • Three toy sheep (optional)

Possible Nativity Trail Stations – if completing the trail in the school grounds, decide on a location for each song.

Introduce the nativity, Baarmy Bethlehem, and show a picture of the three cheeky sheep on the front cover – Cheeky, Rascal and Scamp. All are on the hunt for a party in Bethlehem!

• Use a box of simple props (e.g. party plates, cutlery, tablecloths, paper hats, toy food, instruments)
• Can the children use the props to set up a party scene?
• Play Bethlehem Is Barmy Tonight as children decorate and role-play

Optional: Bring along three toy sheep to every nativity station!

Introduce Mary and Joseph by reading a simple version of the Bible story where the angel tells Mary she will have a baby.

• Provide dressing-up clothes for role-play
• Explore facial expressions and gestures to show how Mary and Joseph might have felt

Listen to Mary And Joseph.

Mary and Joseph search for a place to stay, but everywhere is full.

• Share an important line from the play: “No room at this inn!” and invite the children to practise saying this in their loudest voices!

Optional: For some added fun, why not give them some cardboard tubes or plastic cones to use as loudhailers so that they can experiment with the volume of their voices?

The party sheep love noise, and they love to dance!

• Set up a boogie station and play the instrumental track of Baa Baa Boogie!
• Encourage jumping, hopping, skipping and spinning
• Let children invent dance moves – perhaps some could be used in the performance!

Create SFX for when the angels appear to the shepherds. If available, show some pictures from a children’s Bible that illustrate this section of the story. 

• Provide baskets of percussion instruments such as cymbals, triangles and homemade sound makers (e.g. tinfoil, paper) 
• Explore sounds for: 
  • Shepherds huddled around a crackling fire 
  • The bright explosion of light as angels appear

Talk about the star that led the three kings to Jesus, and the gifts they brought.

• Set up a very simple ‘wrapping station’ with gifts of all shapes and sizes. Alternatively, provide gifts in recycled cardboard boxes for the children to decorate using coloured pens and crayons
• Play A Very Special Secret while children have fun wrapping or decorating gifts

Create a simple nativity scene with baby Jesus – use a crib and nativity figures. 

• Ask children to name all the people who came to worship Jesus in the stable 
• You may like to give the children some time for reflection, stillness and quiet

• Explain how the party sheep in the nativity are thrilled to have found the Son of God and want to tell everyone! 
• End your trail by listening to the final song in the nativity, We Wanna Shout!

Optional: Enjoy a celebratory break-time snack as you listen!

Remember, if you are accessing your songs using Sparkyard, you have the option of creating a QR code that you can download or screen-grab, and it can then be printed to create a simple poster/label and placed at the appropriate location.

Simply:

• Choose the song you want to share
• Find the three-little-dots icon on the play bar and on the song page
• Click ‘Share’ and then ‘Generate Share Link’