A variety of activities in PDF format focusing on the Feast of Saint Nicholas — celebrated in 2011 on Tuesday, December 6 — are now available on the web site of the Department of Christian Education of the Orthodox Church in America.
The following are featured in the lessons of the study unit, The Nativity Season, produced by the Department of Christian Education. If a teacher does not plan to use the full lessons, he or she can use these parts for the Feast.
Log on to dce.oca.org and click on the “Featured FOCUS Unit.” This will lead to The Nativity Season. Go to the parts of the lessons listed below, which will give you the story of the saint and activities written specifically for each of the five designated age levels.
Ages 4 to 6: Lesson 2, Procedure steps 3 and 4 have the story of Saint Nicholas plus review activity.
Ages 7 to 9: Lesson 2, Procedure steps 3 and 4 have the story plus review activity.
Ages 10 to 12: Lesson 2, Procedure steps 2, 3, 4, 5 have story plus activities.
Ages 13 to 17: Lesson 2, Procedure steps 3, 4, 5 have story plus activities.
Ages 18 and above: Lesson 2, Procedure steps 2 and 3 have story plus activities.
Also, click on the “Featured Resource” to find a group of plays. Among these are three new Advent/Christmas plays suitable for ages 10-14, written by Father Daniel Kovalak. Their titles are It’s Jesus’ Birthday, On the Bethlehem Road, and The Christmas Bus. In addition, look for The Christmas Shepherd, a rewritten version of an older play.