Christmas time is coming...I need some ideas!

I'm starting to think about what creative kinds of things I can do this Christmas at my church. I know, it's already October, but hey, we're a small church so we're not going to be doing any sort of huge production. I figured I'd see what the ol' internet could show me, and I came across a website called "Christmas carnivals."

Promising, I thought.

Christmas is just round the corner and everyone is busy preparing for the Christmas celebrations. Christmas is simply the perfect time to have fun and enjoy the festive season by organizing various Christmas programs that will entertain everyone and make the Christmas the most memorable one.

Hmmm, there was a lot of messed up grammar in that teaser, but heck, why wouldn't I want to "make the Christmas the most memorable one?"

I continued reading...

Christmas programs can be of various types but it all depends on the audience whether to like them or not. In order to make the Christmas celebrations a hit it would be advisable to plan for the Christmas programs before hand...

It depends on the audience whether to like...the audience? The Christmas programs? Hmmm, I DO want to make "the Christmas" celebrations a hit, but gee whiz, who would have thought it would be a good idea to plan for them "before hand?" I know some of you are wondering, and yes, "beforehand" is one word.

That planning ahead advice seemed pretty reliable, so I thought I'd see what other nuggets of wisdom I could find...

It is essential to first divide the characters according to age groups. The most appropriate character that fits rightly into the theme should be selected. This would be a perfect Christmas program idea.

Who are these characters? Are they the kids you're planning on using? I think the cast of characters comes included in whatever program you decide to use...could be wrong...
But WAIT! Apparently, dividing up my characters by age and theme is a PERFECT Christmas program idea! How can I afford NOT to???

Tell me more!!

The Christmas program should not contain too many characters. This would simply confuse the audience. The lesser the characters for the Christmas program the more interesting the Christmas program. This would be a splendid Christmas program idea.

Too many characters = confusing. Got it. I know, maybe I'll just have zero characters, that should be the most understandable..."splendid" idea.

Making use of Creativity and imagination would be a fantastic Christmas program idea that is sure to make the Christmas program a hit.

Creativity gets a capitalized "C" but imagination gets plain ol' lower case...maybe Creativity is a highly trained animal of some kind..."fantastic" idea.

Making use of old and worn out material for the Christmas program would be a great Christmas program idea. This would help by making use of the waste and make the Christmas program simply wonderful.

Old and worn out material? Hmmm, at first I thought that meant costumes/stage sets/props/etc., but then apparently this idea is great because it makes "use of the waste" which brings an entirely different group of objects to mind...it would make it "simply wonderful" though...

Singing Christmas carols at the Christmas programs would be a fantastic Christmas program idea. This would make the entire atmosphere of the Christmas program awesome.

I'm not even sure this is an idea. Even if there is no "program" involved at all, Christmas carols are still sung every year...the carols are the staple items...we're looking for something to add to them...right? Truth be told however, carols ARE awesome...

Suspense in between and the end of the Christmas programs would leave the audience guessing forever. This would be a fantastic Christmas program idea and make the Christmas program more interesting.

What??? Keeping the audience guessing forever is a fantastic idea? Hmmm, this story's been around some 2000 years, I don't think there is any guessing involved at this point in history. What I want is a new and creative way to tell it...right? I guess "more interesting" is good too...

Make this Christmas simply awesome by organizing Christmas programs that will leave the audience spell bound and gaping in joy forever.

Again, I'm pretty sure spellbound (yep, single word) and gaping in joy FOREVER isn't my goal...although "simply awesome" is pretty enticing...

Check out Christmas Carnivals for more "awesome" and "splendid" ideas to leave your audience "gaping in joy."