Have you seen this toy? The star on the stable lights up, and plays “Away in a Manger ''. The 18 pieces include Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, 3 Wise Men and stable animals. I love that all the pieces are there so kids can act out the story of Christ’s birth.
Growing up in the 70’s I was very familiar with Little People. We had the bus, house, the farm, the parking garage, all the cars and so many accessories that my dad got us a mini trash can to store them in. We played with our Little People for hours, days and weeks at a time. These toys were by far our favorite.
Now that our grandson is interacting with his toys, the Nativity has become a favorite of his. He loves to chew on them, bang them on the floor, toss them or knock them over as I set them up. I have personal memories of playing with Little People. I have memories of our kids playing with their Little People and now I am building memories of my grandchildren playing with them.
Having a nativity set just for him at this age was important. I wanted to invite the true spirit of Christmas into our home and our play this time of year. I can’t wait to see how he interacts with this next year.
My son in-laws' mom had a similar idea of giving a nativity to our growing family, 25 Days of Christ. I love this nativity set just as much, but for different reasons. This nativity set draws the family closer to Christ by studying his life and teachings. I think this set could be a great addition to our Easter traditions or be pulled out and used any time during the year.
These two nativity sets brought me to a crossroads of sorts. How do I incorporate our Christmas traditions, with our daughters and include what she and her husband have brought from his family, plus what they have created as a little family? I didn’t want to abandon what Sean and I have created or what I have known my whole life, but I wanted to make sure our grandson and family had the best of all four worlds.
This transition wasn’t easy. I wasn’t sure where to put our things, how to decorate or where to hang our ornaments. The night we decorated the tree I started to pull out our ornaments and then stopped. I couldn’t see where to hang them. I sat on the floor and encouraged Holly and Dreyton to hang theirs. Slowly the tree started to take shape and I was able to see where ours would fit in. The best part of the evening was Holly. She was so excited to be home for Christmas and to have a tree that we decorated together. She reminded me that it is all about being together.
I’ve included links if you are curious and want to check it out either nativity set.
Fisher-Price Little People Nativity
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