Stars Award for Little Lambs

I love to teach the Stars award (or the Stars star as we fondly call it in North America!) in December. It feels like such a nice one to use to focus on Christmas and on Christ’s birth. That said, focusing on Christ’s birth is always in season no matter the time of year.

Opening Circle Time

Story: Star of Wonder

As always, I encourage you to look around at the books you have available to you. Check your library and your church library. Star of Wonder, illustrated by Dan Crisp, is a favorite of my kids when they are little. It tells the Christmas story while following the star. Sadly, this book appears to be challenging to track down now. A book about the Wiseman following the star, or any picture book about stars would be a great replacement.

Craft: Button Star Ornaments

As my helping hands would be making a Christmas ornament during this meeting, I really wanted a star themed ornament for the Little Lambs. I love Melissa’s Button Star Ornament. However, I was a little concerned about the mod podge and preschoolers, but everything worked out great. The parents were tasked with the job of painting the front of the star with mod podge, and the kids added the buttons and beads. Melissa has done a great job explaining how to make this craft, so I recommend you check out her site for directions. I used her supply list, however, the link for the stars no longer worked. I used these stars.

The Little Lambs did their craft near the beginning of the meeting, and the mod podge was mostly dry before they left. They were able to hold them (vertically), so I could take a picture of them with their star, and were able to take them home. We used baking trays to keep the buttons and beads contained and lower the risk of a mess. (Dollar store ones are great for crafting.)

More Star Craft Ideas!

In previous years, my Little Lambs used stencil stars on dark paper to make a bright night sky. The sorting stars printed on cardstock should work nicely as stencils. I used Chelsey’s tutorial for Christmas Light Chalk Stencil Art for Kids. After the kids finished, an adult took the artwork outside and sprayed them with a fixatif spray. Although this is an optional step, it is helpful to keep the chalk from smearing.

I found more great star craft ideas while I was planning this award. You can find them on my Pinterest board.

Preschool Skills: Sorting Stars (Sizes)

In previous years, I have hidden the stars around the room and the kids have found them and sorted them into three sizes. I’ve done so many hide and seek games this year, I thought the lambs might be tiring of them, so I gave them each a bag of stars to sort on a communal mat. Although I’ve always had the kids sort the stars together, I’ve never used a mat before.

According to reports from the teacher and parents, the kids are not tired of finding games (yay! I love hiding themed objects around the room!), but they did struggle with sharing the mat. I’m not sure why. Maybe one kid was having an off-day. Maybe the finding and sorting game is more working-together friendly? I think there a multiple ways to do this activity, and I’d recommend you don’t overthink it.

Play: Follow the Star

This is follow the leader. The leader gets to hold the star. I enjoyed hearing the kids and parents hopping down the hall!

Star Christmas Cards

I love giving the kids an opportunity to serve the community. The cards they made were sent to our church’s home-bound members to give them a little extra cheer. These cards are super easy to make and I think they turned out so cute! They are assembled in the same way as the Christmas cards here. We used Avery star stickers, and the we used the religious Christmas inserts for the inside. The printable with the card front is at the end of this post.

Extra Time:

What do you do when the kids finish everything early? I like this time to repeat whatever activity the kids really loved. But, I’ve also started including another activity just in case the kids aren’t begging to play Follow the Star again. (Or the parents are still tired from the first round!) I used the stars award coloring sheet from the Little Lambs workbook. It’s available from AdventSource (and possibly your local conference) and it’s also a free pdf download at clubministries.org

Closing Circle Time

Story: The Tiny Star

The Tiny Star by Arthur Ginolfi is a sweet Christmas book written from the perspective a very tiny star who meets Baby Jesus. I love this sweet book, and my kids all loved it as preschoolers. However, I must warn those of you in conservative churches. This is a fictitious story – stars, obviously, don’t fall to earth to safely warm infants. If your families hate talking animals, they are likely to have an issue with this story too. But, if your families love to be imaginative, it’s a fun twist on the Christmas story. And it’s a lovely way to remind our little ones that even little ones can make a difference.

Song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

This is the classic song that most everyone knows.

If You’re Happy and You Know It

My Little Lambs co-teacher many years ago insisted that we end Little Lambs with If You’re Happy and You Know It. And ever since, it’s always seemed like the right way to close a meeting.

Prayer

We finish each Little Lambs meeting with an abbreviated version of the Lord’s Prayer.

Reminder

I chose these activities to fit my club’s meeting length and needs. Your club is different than mine! I have more activities here than are required to complete the award. If you have less time, prioritize a book, a game, and a craft. Add more activities in to fit your time constraints. If you have extra time, you could repeat a fun activity or add in other lamb-related activities. Pinterest is a great resource! Your Little Lambs Leader’s Guide will also have ideas for you.

What books do you like to use to teach the Stars Award? Please share with us in the comments!