Here’s a fun youth group game called “The Human Christmas Tree”. This game is a perfect add on to an upcoming Christmas event or service.

In addition to having tons of fun the game includes a quick lesson, based on Psalm 150:1-6, driving home this point:

We should celebrate Jesus and all that He has done for us all year long, not just during Christmas!

Before you dive into the lesson below, I want to share with you a new Christmas tradition my family started last year (and challenge you to try something similar).

My wife and I wanted to counteract the “it’s all about me and what I want” attitude with our 3 kids during Christmas.

We already teach them the core message of Christmas – it’s all about Jesus, not the presents.

Furthermore, we usually support an organization of some kind as well during the holidays. This is typically an organization above and beyond the ones we support on a regular basis.

But we still felt that we wanted to do something else with our kids on Christmas morning to get their eyes focused on others.

So, we started a new tradition.

A few weeks before Christmas, each one of our kids pick the name of one of their siblings out of a hat. They are responsible for buying that sibling a Christmas gift WITH THEIR OWN MONEY.

We did this last year for the first time, and it was awesome.

Leading up to Christmas, our kids were way more focused on what they would get their brother or sister rather than what they wanted for Christmas.

They were so excited about how much their sibling would love their gift.

My son Ethan spent $150 of his own money buying Joey a PS3 controller, new PS3 game, and some other things (which escape my memory at the moment). The point is that he went all out to serve his brother. In fact, all 3 of them did.

Christmas day was beautiful.

Before we opened all our gifts, we took a moment to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas – Jesus.

Then, we opened our gifts.

For the first time ever in our family the kids were MORE EXCITED about giving their gift rather than receiving their gifts.

AND…

They received all their gifts (both from each other and us) with a grateful heart.

It was a really special moment on Christmas day for our family.

I encourage you to do something similar with your family, or maybe even your youth group.

Anyway, I hope you have an amazing Christmas.

Enjoy!

Nick Diliberto, Ministry to Youth

Looking for youth ministry curriculum? Check out the…

ONE YEAR PASS – For one year save 93% on $1,440 worth of youth group lessons, Bible studies, games, events & more. Only available through March 28!

CHRISTMAS YOUTH GROUP GAME: HUMAN CHRISTMAS TREE

DOWNLOAD PDF OF THIS GAME

Bible: Psalm 150:1-6

Topic: We should celebrate Jesus and all that He has done for us all year long, not just during Christmas!

As students rush to transform each other into human Christmas trees, they will learn that they should be celebrating God and all He has done for them on a daily basis, not just once a year. Just like we go out of our way to decorate and celebrate Christmas, we should take the time to celebrate Jesus and all He has done for us!

Supplies:

Garland, ornaments, wrapping paper, scissors, tape, cookies, and any other Christmas tree decorations you can think of.

HUMAN CHRISTMAS TREE

Separate the groups into teams of five. Choose one student from each group to be the Christmas tree.

Have the teams transform that student into a “human Christmas tree” with the supplies you’ve given them. Tell them that at the end of the game, the team who has the player that looks most like a Christmas tree wins.

Turn on some Christmas music and let them get to work! Once everyone is done, have the players who were made into the trees line up in front of everyone else. Ask the group which team they think did the best.

Tell them that you’re having a hard time deciding who should win, so there needs to be a tiebreaker. The first Christmas tree who can eat five cookies wins.

This will be interesting, since because the teams didn’t know about this part of the game, the players probably do not have access to their hands.

The first player to finish a plate of five cookies wins!

Ask:

Do you decorate a Christmas tree every year at your house?

Why do you think Christmas decorations are such a big deal?

TEACH

Say:

Some of my favorite things about this time of year are all the decorations you see everywhere you go. There are trees, lights, ornaments, snowflakes—it’s beautiful! Everywhere in town transforms into a little wonderland—the mall, the streets, even most houses!

I love seeing all the decorations because it’s so celebratory. People put out their decorations to celebrate and get into the spirit of this season!

Say:

Christmas is such a time of celebration. And we really go out of our way to celebrate. We decorate, sing, have parties, and buy gifts. We go crazy with the cookies and the movies and the shopping. And truly, it’s a time of year that represents something worth celebrating! 
But, if you’re celebrating Jesus…isn’t every time of year worth celebrating?

Ask:

Do you think you celebrate Jesus more at Christmastime than you do the rest of the year?

Do you think that you should celebrate what Christmas stands for more than just once a year?

What are some ways you could celebrate Jesus once Christmas is over?

Read: Psalm 150:1-6

Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens. Praise Him for His acts of power; praise Him for His surpassing greatness. Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise Him with the harp and lyre, praise Him with timbrel and dancing, praise Him with the strings and pipe, praise Him with the clash of cymbals, praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.

Ask:

What does that sound like to you? If you went outside right now and saw this scene, what would you think was happening?

Say:

That’s a lot of instruments and a lot of music making and dancing!

If I saw this, I’d probably think there was some huge parade happening. I’d think it was a special event or a big party or something. Whatever it was, I’d know right away that they were celebrating something.

And that’s exactly what this verse is saying to do. To celebrate.

But it’s not saying to celebrate a rare special occasion or a big party. No, it’s talking about celebrating something that is incredibly worth celebrating.

To celebrate God!

God is worth praising, right? I think we could all agree with that. But how often do we just go all out and celebrate God?

If we saw the scene being described in this verse happening around Christmas, we probably wouldn’t think too much about it because Christmas is a time of celebration! But what about after Christmas? What about when the trees and the lights and all of the decorations come down? Should the celebration also stop?

Of course not!

Jesus wasn’t just born for Christmas. He didn’t just die for you for Christmas. He was born and died so that He could save you, so that you could be with Him forever. That fact isn’t only true around Christmas; it’s something that’s true every single day of the whole entire year.

Ask:

When was the last time you celebrated God?

Do you think that the things God has done for you are worth celebrating?

How do you think your life would look if you took the time to celebrate God and all He has done for you every day?

WRAP UP

Celebrating at Christmastime is wonderful. It serves as a reminder of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. But if that’s the only time we celebrate, isn’t that kind of lame?

Think about this—Jesus was born so we could have eternal life with Him. That is a big deal! It’s worth way more than just a day or a week or a month of celebrating. It’s worth a whole year of celebrating!

I don’t expect you to go gather your instruments and start parading through the streets celebrating all God has done for you—although that would be pretty awesome! But even if you don’t do that, you can still celebrate. You can do it every day.

Celebrate by remembering all God has done for you, and taking the time to thank Him for it. Celebrate by letting that spirit of thankfulness flow over into the rest of your day, bringing a good attitude along with it. Celebrate by telling others why you’re so happy and about all that God has done for you.

This year, don’t let your celebration end with Christmas. Carry it with you all year long.

DOWNLOAD PDF OF THIS GAME

End Lesson.

Looking for youth ministry curriculum? Check out the…

ONE YEAR PASS – For one year save 93% on $1,440 worth of youth group lessons, Bible studies, games, events & more. Only available through March 28!

9 Replies to “Christmas Youth Group Game: The Human Christmas Tree”

  1. Czarina Reyes
    • December 15, 2015

    Thank you very much for this! I would like to use the topic for our youth gathering. God bless!

    Reply 1 Response
    1. Nick Diliberto
      • December 16, 2015

      You’re welcome! Enjoy 🙂

      Reply
  2. nweedman
    • December 30, 2015

    We did this activity tonight. I was a huge success!! All children were engaged and it clearly delivered the message!!! Thanks!

    Reply 1 Response
    1. Nick Diliberto
      • December 31, 2015

      That’s soooo cool 🙂 Thanks for sharing!!

      Reply
  3. Helen
    • December 1, 2016

    This is such a brill way to illustrate Christmas…ill be trying it in 2 weeks with my youth group! You have an awesome gift for inspiring kids Nick…CELEBRATE!

    Reply 1 Response
    1. Nick Diliberto
      • December 1, 2016

      Thanks Helem, glad you like this lesson! I appreciate all the kind words!

      Reply
  4. Rish
    • December 14, 2016

    Thank you so much for this.
    I’ll be using this game/lesson for my youth group.
    God bless you !

    Reply
  5. Pablo Urrabazo
    • December 12, 2017

    I really appreciate you. I feel so at peace when I am out in the culture evangelizing leading outreach ministry and hearing Holy Spirit direct us. Even ministering to others about marriage and connection. However youth has been very stretching for me. My son is 15 and I feel like he is connected through how we have empowered him to embrace his identity and choose Jesus. Now that we are youth Pastors I truly am praying for clarity to reach our amazing teens…this is a blessing.

    Reply 1 Response
    1. Becky Forkel
      • December 16, 2017

      Thanks for sharing Pablo!

      Reply

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