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Unto Us a Child Is Born

For thousands of years, prophets like Isaiah, Micah and Samuel the Lamanite promised that the Savior would come, and this week we celebrate the night every promise came true. Each day your family adds a piece to a homemade Nativity: a stable and star on Monday, Mary and Joseph on Tuesday, shepherds and angels on Wednesday, Baby Jesus on Christmas Eve, and the wise men arriving at last on Saturday. Along the way you’ll learn His names, shine His light through service, and remember that Jesus is Heavenly Father’s greatest gift.

  • Week 52
  • 📅 Dec 21–27, 2026
  • 📖 Christmas
Start with Monday
Come, Follow Me manualOld Testament 2026, week 52

What your kids learn in class

Stories, verses and games for the week come from each child’s own Primary or youth lesson, so home matches Sunday.

Daily sparks

Five to ten minutes a day, Monday to Sunday. Grown-ups lead; kids act, play and answer. Where a step says to tap something, that’s in the Gospel Sparks app; on the web, use the “Play along” links.

Monday · 10 min · Story

The Promise Stable

🌟 Day 1: Build the stable! Hang the star!Prophets promised: He is coming!Where are the wise men? Far, far away…

📖 Read together: Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2; Helaman 14:2–6 ↗

  1. Open the story scenes and read them together. Say: “Prophets promised Jesus would come, hundreds of years before He was born!”
  2. Start your Nativity countdown: turn a shoebox on its side to make a stable and set it somewhere special. Have your kids cut out a paper star and tape it on top.
  3. Have your kids draw or cut out a few paper wise men (or use toy figures). Put them as far away from the stable as you can, like the other side of the house. They’ll travel a little closer every day!
  4. Tell how Samuel the Lamanite promised a night with no darkness and a new star. Turn off the lights, then flip them on and say, “The sign came true!”
  5. SAY“Every day this week, we’ll add a piece until our Nativity is complete.”

🎭 Play along: the story scenes (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • Which prophets promised that Jesus would come?
  • How do you think it felt to finally see the promise come true?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one be in charge of the star: they tape it on the stable and point to it each day.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Have your 10–13-year-old read Helaman 14:3–5 and explain Samuel the Lamanite’s sign to the family.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Have your teen read Helaman 14:2–6 and 3 Nephi 1:9–15, where believers were going to be put to death if the sign didn’t come. Ask: what would it have felt like to wait for that night, and what are you waiting on the Lord for right now?
☕️ For grown-upsSamuel the Lamanite’s prophecy put believers in real danger when the sign seemed late (3 Nephi 1:9). Waiting on a promise can be the hardest part of faith, and Christmas is the story of a promise that came exactly on time.

Sticker for today: ⭐

Tuesday · 8 min · Verse

His Name Shall Be Called…

🚶 Day 2: Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem!Wonderful! Counsellor! Mighty God!Everlasting Father! Prince of Peace!Isaiah 9:6

📖 Read together: Isaiah 9:6; Luke 2:1–7 ↗

  1. Open the key verse screen and read Isaiah 9:6 together. Make up a motion for each name: arms wide for Wonderful, hand on heart for Counsellor, muscles for The Mighty God, a big hug for The Everlasting Father, and praying hands for The Prince of Peace.
  2. Say the verse with motions three times, faster each time.
  3. Add Mary and Joseph to the Nativity (drawn, cut-out or toy). Have your kids carry them on a slow “long trip” around the room before setting them by the stable.
  4. Scoot the wise men a little closer.
  5. SAY“Isaiah gave Jesus these names more than 700 years before He was born. Which name do you like best?”

📖 Play along: the key verse (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • Which of Jesus’s names is your favorite, and why?
  • How do you think Mary and Joseph felt on their long trip?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one carry Mary and Joseph on their trip and do the “Prince of Peace” praying hands.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Ask your 10–13-year-old to explain what one of the names means about Jesus, like how He is our Prince of Peace.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Ask your teen to choose one name from Isaiah 9:6 and find a place in the New Testament where Jesus lives up to it (for example, Prince of Peace and John 14:27). Have them teach it to the family in two minutes.
☕️ For grown-upsOf all the names in Isaiah 9:6, which one do you most need Jesus to be for you this Christmas? For a tired parent it may be Counsellor: the one who knows what to do when you don’t.

Sticker for today: 👑

Wednesday · 10 min · Service

Shine His Light

👼 Day 3: The angels shine! Now you shine!Add shepherds and an angel.Light up someone’s night!

📖 Read together: Luke 2:8–14; Matthew 5:14–16 ↗

  1. Read Luke 2:8–14 together. Add shepherds, sheep and an angel to the Nativity. Say: “The angels couldn’t keep the good news to themselves. They lit up the whole sky!”
  2. Read Matthew 5:16. Say: “Jesus is the Light of the World, and He asks us to shine too. Let’s light up someone’s night!”
  3. Pick a neighbor, a widow, a new family, or someone who might be lonely at Christmas. Make a card with a big paper star or draw a candle on it.
  4. Deliver it together with a treat (ask about allergies first) or sing a Christmas song at their door.
  5. Scoot the wise men a little closer when you get home.
Talk about it
  • Who did we help shine for today?
  • How is serving someone like being one of the Christmas angels?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one be the sheep who says “Baa!” at the door and hands over the card.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Let your 10–13-year-old choose who to serve and plan the whole delivery, including what to say.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Let your teen plan the service, then raise the stakes: choose someone they don’t already know well, like an older neighbor or a new family, and have your teen be the one who talks at the door.
☕️ For grown-upsThe shepherds were ordinary workers on the night shift, and they heard first (Luke 2:8–11). The good news has always gone first to people who don’t seem important; notice who that might be on your street.

Sticker for today: 🕯️

Thursday · 10 min · Story

Christmas Eve Nativity

🌙 Day 4: Christmas Eve! Baby Jesus is born!Put on your costume.Act out the very first Christmas.Shh… now kneel by the manger.

📖 Read together: Luke 2:1–20 ↗

  1. Turn the lights down low and use flashlights or the Christmas tree lights. Hand out simple costumes: towels for shepherds, a blanket for Mary, a bathrobe for Joseph, tinsel for angels.
  2. Wrap a doll or a small blanket as Baby Jesus. Grown-ups, keep it ready for the manger moment.
  3. Open the story scenes and read Luke 2 together while your kids act it out, scene by scene.
  4. At the manger moment, have everyone kneel and get very quiet. Let one child gently lay Baby Jesus in the manger, and put the Baby Jesus piece in your Nativity stable too.
  5. Sing “Silent Night” or “Away in a Manger” softly together, and say a family prayer thanking Heavenly Father for sending His Son.

🎭 Play along: scenes 3–8 (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • If you were one of the shepherds, what would you have said when you saw Baby Jesus?
  • Why did Heavenly Father send Jesus to earth?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Your little one can be a sheep or a tiny angel, and help tuck the Baby Jesus doll into the manger.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Have your 10–13-year-old be the narrator and read Luke 2 aloud while the younger kids act.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Put your teen in charge of directing the Nativity: they assign roles and cue each scene. At the end, have them read Luke 2:19 and share one thing about Jesus that they, like Mary, keep and ponder in their heart.
☕️ For grown-upsLuke 2:19 says Mary “kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” In the noise of Christmas Eve, give yourself one quiet minute by the manger before bed to do the same.

Sticker for today: 👶

Friday · 6 min · Talk

The Greatest Gift

🎄 Day 5: Merry Christmas! What’s your gift for Jesus?Heavenly Father gave us Jesus.What will you give Him?

📖 Read together: John 3:16 ↗

  1. Before or after presents, gather everyone by the Nativity for a few quiet minutes.
  2. Read John 3:16 together. Say: “Heavenly Father gave the very best gift ever: His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior.”
  3. Hand each person a slip of paper to write or draw one gift they will give Jesus this year, like being kinder to a sibling, praying every night, or forgiving fast. Fold them up and put them in a small box by the stable.
  4. Scoot the wise men very close. Tonight, play Forehead Guess with the Nativity words when cousins or grandparents are around.

🤔 Play along: Forehead Guess (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • Why is Jesus the greatest gift of all?
  • What gift will you give Jesus this year?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Help your little one draw a heart for their gift and say, “I will love everyone.”
📚 Big kids (10–13)Invite your 10–13-year-old to share how Jesus has helped them this year, as their gift to the family.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Invite your teen to make their gift to Jesus specific and a little hard: a habit to break, a person to forgive, something to start. They can keep it private; just ask them to tell you in a month how it’s going.
☕️ For grown-upsJohn 3:16 begins, “For God so loved the world, that he gave.” Among the wrapping paper, remember that Heavenly Father is also a parent, who gave something unimaginably costly because He loves His children.

Sticker for today: 🎄

Saturday · 10 min · Game

The Wise Men Arrive!

🐪 Day 6: The wise men made it!Move them to Jesus!Hunt for Christmas symbols.Quiz time!

📖 Read together: Matthew 2:9–11 ↗

  1. Read Matthew 2:9–11 together. Say: “The wise men found Jesus as a young child in a house, some time after He was born. Their long journey is finally over!”
  2. Let your kids move the wise men all the way to the Nativity. Cheer!
  3. Go on a Christmas symbol hunt around the house. Find a star (it led people to Jesus), lights (Jesus is the Light of the World), an evergreen tree (He gives everlasting life), a gift (He is God’s gift), and anything shaped like a shepherd’s crook (Jesus is the Good Shepherd).
  4. Play the quiz together to get ready for Primary tomorrow.
  5. Lay out Sunday clothes together.

🏆 Play along: Scripture Showdown (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • Which Christmas decoration reminds you most of Jesus?
  • The wise men traveled far to find Jesus. How can we seek Him every day?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one be the one who sets the wise men down by the stable and finds the star on the hunt.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Have your 10–13-year-old find a Christmas symbol nobody else thought of and explain how it points to Jesus.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Have your teen read Matthew 2:1–12 and notice that the wise men “departed into their own country another way” (verse 12). Ask: after really meeting Jesus, what would going home another way look like for you next year?
☕️ For grown-upsThe wise men traveled a long way on the strength of a sign and found Jesus not in the manger but as a young child in a house (Matthew 2:11). If your spiritual life feels late or slow, they’re a reminder that coming to Christ late is still coming to Christ.

Sticker for today: 🐪

Sunday · 7 min · Sabbath

A Name for the New Year

✨ Day 7: Our Nativity is complete!What did you learn in Primary?Pick a name of Jesus for next year.

📖 Read together: Isaiah 9:6 ↗

  1. Ask: “What did you learn in Primary today? What gift did you choose to give Jesus?”
  2. Look at your finished Nativity together. Retell the week in one minute: stable and star, Mary and Joseph, shepherds and angels, Baby Jesus, wise men.
  3. Read Isaiah 9:6 again. Have each person choose one name of Jesus to think about all next year, and write it on a card to keep.
  4. SAY“Tomorrow we start the New Testament, where we’ll follow Jesus through His whole life!”
  5. End quietly: share your testimony that Jesus is the promised Savior, and invite anyone who wants to share too.
Talk about it
  • What did you learn in Primary today?
  • Which name of Jesus did you choose, and why?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one point to each piece of the Nativity and say who it is as you retell the week.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Ask your 10–13-year-old to set one scripture goal for the New Testament year and share it with the family.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Invite your teen to choose their name of Christ for the new year and set a specific New Testament goal, like reading the Gospel of Mark by the end of January. Offer to read it alongside them.
☕️ For grown-upsTomorrow the New Testament begins. Before it does, look back: what did the Old Testament teach you about Jesus Christ this year that you hadn’t seen before? Tell your kids.

Sticker for today: 🌟

Family challenge

Shine Every Day

Every day this week, each person does one small thing to shine Jesus’s light: a kind note, a helping hand, a phone call to someone lonely. Each night, add a paper star around your Nativity for every light your family shared.

Parent Corner

The Old Testament ends not with a conclusion but with a longing. From the promise in Eden that the woman’s seed would bruise the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15), to Isaiah’s child whose name is Wonderful (Isaiah 9:6), to Micah’s ruler from little Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), generation after generation lived on a promise they never saw kept. Christmas is the moment the waiting ends: the Jehovah of the Old Testament comes as a baby, laid in a manger because there was no room in the inn (Luke 2:7). That changes how an adult can read the whole year of study behind us. The Passover lamb, the water from the rock, the shepherd of Psalm 23, the suffering servant of Isaiah 53: all of it was pointing to Him. And the same Lord who kept those ancient promises is keeping the ones He has made to you.

  • Ponder: Which promise from the Lord are you still waiting on, and what has the long wait of the Old Testament believers taught you about how to wait well?
  • Try this: On Christmas night or the day after, spend 20 minutes alone with Isaiah 53 and Luke 2 side by side. Then write a short testimony of Jesus Christ to tuck into your scriptures or give to one of your children.

From general conference

“His life and atoning mission are the true source of peace. He is the Prince of Peace.”

— Elder Quentin L. Cook, “Personal Peace in Challenging Times,” October 2021

For parents on Tuesday with Isaiah 9:6, or on Sunday as your family chooses a name of Christ for the new year.

Read the talk ↗

Dinner-table questions

  • If you were a shepherd that night, what would you have done first?
  • What’s your favorite Christmas tradition, and how could it point to Jesus?
  • What do you think Mary was thinking while she held Baby Jesus?
  • Which prophecy about Jesus is the most amazing to you?
  • Who could use some of Jesus’s light from our family this week?
  • What gift do you think Jesus would want most from you?

Sources

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, the Bible used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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