It may feel like there a million options and ideas to celebrate the holidays with kids at church. But I want to offer you a simple option – and this option is a gift to your future self. Imagine a craft that you can make in December (maybe even November) and display until February! That craft, my friends, is a star. Stars work for Advent. Stars work for Christmas. Stars work for Epiphany. Let’s lean into that!

During Advent – as early as the first Sunday in Advent - invite children (of all ages!) to decorate a paper star. These stars can represent hope, shining in the darkness. Later, these same stars can hang on a Christmas tree, like little star ornaments. And then, when it’s time to take down the Christmas tree, these same paper stars can be hung on a garland in celebration of Epiphany. That’s right – one craft for three church seasons!

You can order pre-cut paper stars, wooden star ornaments, or have people cut out their own stars. Stars of different shapes, sizes, and styles will look amazing all jumbled together. Fishing line works great for both hanging ornaments, and later creating star garlands. Just a little tape on the back of each star, and voila! You have Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany decorations.

Some pieces of advice:

Cardstock paper! Regular paper may start to curl at the ends, the longer it’s on display. If you want to avoid that look, cardstock paper (or pre-cut cardstock stars) will keep its shape longer into Epiphany.

I would be very intentional about colors. In early December, many kids will choose red and green, because tis the season! But red and green stars might look a little strange in February. In order to extend the season, and extend the use of the decoration, I would suggest leaning into metallic options. You can buy metallic crayons, metallic color pencils, metallic markers, metallic paint markers, metallic paint… (Of course, if you are really brave, you can always add glitter). But I recommend a variety of metallic mediums for easy clean up.

Remember that wooden stars, paint, and glue all add weight, and weight can make it more difficult to hang the garland in the future. You have permission to keep it simple. (Simple may actually work best…)

If you are making all the stars at one event, you can make a garland and just wrap that garland around a Christmas tree. (This would save yourself a step after Christmas.) If you want the ability to “add more each week”, ornaments are a great option. For example, you can set up a table in a Sunday School room or community space for multiple weeks, and people can make and hang their star ornaments throughout the season of Advent. This is a great way to collect lots and lots of stars.

And truly: the more stars the better! Kids can make multiple stars. Teenagers can make stars. Adults in the congregation can make stars. Who knows – maybe you can collect so many stars in the Season of Advent, that your star banner in Epiphany runs all the way from the front to the back of the sanctuary. That might sound like a lot of work for one Sunday, but remember, this is a decoration that can fit the theme for 11 weeks this year. Eleven weeks! That might actually be worth the glitter. (Just kidding – I wouldn’t actually use glitter…)

You can also remember that kids of all ages will love coming to church and experiencing that sense of awe, ownership, and belonging: “I made that! I made that star, and now it’s hanging on the Christmas tree! I made that star, and now it’s hanging as an Epiphany banner. I made that!” That is a great feeling for everyone. This is a craft for everyone. For Advent… For Christmas… For Epiphany. One craft: three seasons. Enjoy!