One of the traditions pertaining to Christmas is the novena, nine days: from December 16 to 24 to pray in honor of the birth of the Child Jesus. Among the Christmas traditions of most Colombians is sitting with the family next to the manger to pray it, sing Christmas carols, eat sweets and delicacies for everyone and carry out activities to liven up the night.
If you are thinking about what activities or games you are going to do in your novenas, we present some ideas for you to put into practice this Christmas:
Children’s representation of the manger: if you have children you can invite them to dress up with the characters of the manger: Mary, Joseph, the child God, the three wise men, the angel, the sheep, the ox and the mule. It will be a cute, tender theater act and so they can learn how Christmas originated and live the true meaning of it, because many times in the midst of so many gifts and material presents the true feeling of these dates is forgotten.
Christmas carols game for children: write on several pieces of paper a verse of different Christmas carols, from the best known to the most unknown. Put them in a bag. Sit the children (and adults if you want) in a circle. Each child begins to remove a piece of paper from the bag. The goal is for him to sing the Christmas carol that came out, if he knows it he wins a point. If you don’t know, you should pass it on to the child on the side until it reaches someone who does. The child with the most points will win a prize at the end, either a candy or a gift.
Songs sung by the children: you can organize the children in pairs or groups, (depending on the number) days before the novena, ask them to prepare a Christmas song or a Christmas carol with bailey, and if they can with homemade costumes. Children will really enjoy watching friends do this.
The game of yes and no: this game consists in that when each guest arrives you put a necklace made by you with a ribbon or thread and some Christmas pendant. And throughout the night the attendees will sit to talk and ask questions on any topic, the idea is that no one can say the words «yes» and «no». Whoever says them takes off the necklace and puts it on whoever made him fall into the trap. Whoever collects the most necklaces at the end of the night for having made their friends fall will win a prize.
Letting children read the novena: One way to get children to focus on the novena and not be distracted by what is around them is to make them participate in it. For example, it is good that they are the ones who read it, they share the prayers, the joys and so everyone has their participation. It doesn’t matter that they are just getting off the ground on the subject of reading, let them read at their own pace.
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