Christmas Tree Puppet Show
By Deb Brammer
(This is taken from my How Lovely Are Your Branches Christmas program. This script has been altered for use without the larger program. It uses six puppets which are ornaments on a tree: Gold Ball, Candy Cane, Light, Bell, Angel, and Star. See instructions for making these puppets. In the beginning have a group of children sing the traditional song O Christmas Tree to the tree.)
Songs are traditional tunes in public domain: O Christmas Tree, Jingle Bells, We Three Kings.)
(Kids sing O Christmas Tree to the tree.)
Gold Ball: Doesn’t it do your heart good to hear the sweet voices of children sing about how beautiful we are?
Candy Cane: I thought they were singing about the Christmas tree.
Gold Ball: They were singing about how beautiful the tree is, but they forget that the ornaments are what make the tree beautiful. Without us the tree would be stark naked! Beautiful ornaments like me make a tree worth singing about.
Light: What are you going on about? You think you’re so great. You don’t even do anything. I, however, light up the whole tree.
Candy Cane: Pardon me, Mr. Bright Light, but you seem to forget that you are purely ornamental, just like Mr. Gold Ball. I, on the other hand, am the sweetest thing on the tree. I not only look good, I taste good, too.
Bell: Ding, dong. Ding, dong. Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without music. (sings) “Jingle bells. Jingle bells. Jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to ride on a one horse open sleigh.”
Star: (offended) Hello! Has everyone forgotten who the real star of the show is? (sings chorus of We Three Kings) “Star of wonder, star of night. Star with royal beauty bright.” I think the star is the most important. In fact, I often get put on the top of the tree. I don’t know what that angel is doing up there.
Angel: Who me? I’m just thinking. Maybe the Christmas tree is supposed to stand straight and tall and point people to heaven.
Star: What you’re saying doesn’t make any sense at all. A Christmas tree is supposed to look pretty and the ornaments are the prettiest part. Look, I may not be at the top of the tree, but at least I know how to get to the point. In fact, I have five points. So could we get to the point?
Angel: Well, I was thinking about the angels who sang that first Christmas night. They must have been beautiful and had beautiful voices. But they didn’t sing about themselves. They sang “Glory to God in the highest.” So maybe we, the ornaments, are supposed to help the Christmas tree point people to heaven. You know. Point to God instead of ourselves.
Light: Isn’t that angel just the sweetest thing?
Candy Cane: Actually, I’m the sweetest.
Light: Didn’t you hear a word the angel said? I light up the Christmas tree‑ but my real job is to remind everyone of Jesus. He is the True Light of the World. People who follow Him “shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
Star: You’re right, Mr. Bright Light. I’m not the star of the show. Jesus is. I’m supposed to point the way to Him, just like the Christmas star that showed the wise men the way to Jesus.
Bell: Ding, dong. Ding, dong. I’ve been a real “ding‑dong.” Here I am ringing my own tune when I’m supposed to be announcing the good news of Jesus. (sings to the tune of “Jingle Bells.”) “Ring the bells, ring the bells, tell how Jesus came. You can have eternal life if you trust in His name.”
Candy Cane: I know how I can point to Jesus. I may be sweet, but the sweetest name in the whole world is Jesus. And I’m shaped just like a shepherd’s crook and the shepherds were the first ones to hear the good news about Jesus.
Gold Ball: What can I do? All of you can point the way to Jesus, but all I do is hang there and look pretty.
Angel: Wait a minute Mr. Gold Ball. Your gold color can remind people of the beautiful streets of gold in heaven. If I was a real angel, I would have walked on them.
Bell: Ding, dong. Ding, dong. I hate to have to announce bad news, angel, but people have sin. That means they can’t go to heaven.
Candy Cane: If you think that, you haven’t heard the end of the story. Jesus’ blood can wash us white as snow. My red and white colors remind us of that. Then we can go to heaven where the streets are gold like Mr. Gold Ball.
Light: Well, if our whole reason for living was decorating the tree, I’d say we’ve done our job. But so far this season, I don’t think we’ve worked very hard at pointing people to Jesus.
Bell: Candy Cane is right. If we’re going to point people to Jesus, we’re going to have to ring out a new tune. Now if the pianist will give us a middle C(or give us an introduction), we’ll sing you a new song.
(The six ornaments sing the following song to the tune of “O Christmas Tree.”)
The Christmas Tree Song
by Deb Brammer
All: 0 Christmas tree, 0 Christmas tree, You point the way to Jesus. 0 Christmas tree, 0 Christmas tree, You point the way to Jesus.
Light and Star: The two of us, we twinkle bright, to tell of Jesus the True Light.
All: 0 Christmas tree, 0 Christmas tree,
Light and Star: We help you point to Jesus.
Bell: I ring the news.
Angel: I sing the news.
Bell and Angel: We tell the birth of Jesus. He came to earth, King of the Jews, and then He died to save us.
Gold Ball: He came from heaven long ago.
Candy Cane: His blood can wash us white as snow.
All: We all help decorate the tree, and point the way to Jesus.