My Wonder Studio

Tristan grabbed the crayon as Chantal was using it, and as he did, he accidentally drew a blue line across Chantal’s entire card.

“Look what you’ve done!” Chantal said, starting to cry.

“What’s the matter?” asked Grandpa Jake.

“Tristan ruined my card!” cried Chantal.

“It was her fault,” said Tristan. “She shouldn’t have taken my crayon.”

“I have an idea,” said Grandpa Jake. “What if I tell you a story about when Shallo and Clip had a problem? Maybe it will help you to understand each other better.”

“Let’s hang these Christmas decorations here,” said Goby.

Old Budder held one end of the colorful seaweed, and Goby held the other end as they put it in place.

“How do you think it looks, Camille?” Budder asked.

“Okay,” Camille replied with a glum look on her face.

“You don’t like it, do you?” Goby said with a worried look.

“It’s fine, really,” she answered.

“Is your tail hurting you?” Old Budder asked.

“Not really ... at least it doesn’t if I keep it still,” said Camille.

“Then what’s wrong?”

Camille sighed. “I wish I didn’t have to be in bed. I want to help decorate, and I want to have fun. But I can’t … because of my silly tail.”

Camille had hurt herself two days earlier while playing by the reef. A large piece of coral had fallen on her tail and injured it. Christmas was always a special time for Camille, but being in bed with a hurt tail wasn’t Camille’s idea of fun. Her friends had come to cheer her up, but she still seemed a little glum.

Suddenly, from out in the courtyard came a “CRASH!” followed by angry shouts.

“What’s happening?” Camille asked.

“It’s Shallo and Clip,” said Goby.

“Looks like they’re having a difficult time with each other,” Budder said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Clip and Shallo had been out collecting empty shells, coral pieces, and colorful sea plants that they would use to decorate Camille’s room. Excited by what they had found, Shallo was eager to show Camille. Meanwhile, Clip had been getting frustrated with Shallo.

“Look what I found!” Shallo had shouted, as they neared Camille’s home.

But as the seahorse took off to show Camille what they had collected, Clip grabbed his tail, which landed Shallo in a big heap. The things that he had been carrying were scattered all over the seabed.

“CLIP!!” Shallo shouted. “Look what you’ve done!”

“Serves you right!”

“Why would you do that?” Shallo was very upset.

“I’m tired of you taking the credit for everything,” Clip said. “Remember, we both collected them, not just you! All morning you’ve been going on about what you collected for Camille, even if I was the one who found it.”

“I have not!” Shallo argued back.

“Have too!” Clip replied.

The crab and seahorse started fighting, shoving and pushing each other.

“Clip! Shallo! That’s enough!” Old Budder said firmly.

Shallo let go of Clip and sat down in a huff. Clip crossed his claws and gave an angry grunt.

“It sounds like you two aren’t getting along so well today,” Old Budder said.

“It’s Clip’s fault,” said Shallo.

“No, it’s not!” Clip snapped back.

“I didn’t ask you whose fault it was,” said Old Budder. “Arguing about who did what wrong is not going to help. We need to find a solution to this problem without fighting or arguing. But to find a solution, you’re both going to have to take the time to listen to each other. Agreed?”

Shallo and Clip nodded their heads.

“Why don’t you explain your problem first, Clip,” suggested Old Budder. “What happened?”

“All morning long,” Clip began, “Shallo has been going on and on about what he’s going to get for Camille and how he’d find much prettier coral than me. I didn’t mind it at first. But then I’d go to collect something, and just as I was going to pick it up, Shallo would be there and grab it first. I asked him to not do it, but he didn’t listen.

“I probably shouldn’t have lost my temper,” Clip continued. “But I was so frustrated that I didn’t know what else to do.”

“I see,” said Old Budder. Turning to Shallo he added, “Did you realize that you were making Clip feel bad?”

Shallo shook his head. “I just wanted to do something nice for Camille,” he explained. “I wasn’t trying to make Clip angry … but I guess I did.”

“Well, this is good news!” Budder exclaimed.

Shallo and Clip both gave Old Budder a puzzled look.

“What do you mean?” asked Clip.

“Well,” began Old Budder, “now that you know why both of you were angry, it’s easier to make up.”

Shallo gave a sigh. “Clip, I’m sorry for the way I was behaving. I didn’t realize it was bothering you so much or else I wouldn’t have done it.”

“I’m sorry too,” said Clip. “I shouldn’t have gotten angry at you. Please forgive me.”

“Sure,” answered Shallo.

The two friends thanked Old Budder for his help.

“Well, let’s not keep Camille waiting any longer,” Old Budder said.

* * *

“You’re back!” Camille said happily.

“Clip and I found lots of cool things,” said Shallo.

The coral, shells, and colorful sea plants were dumped out on the bed, as the five friends studied each piece and decided where to place them in Camille’s room.

“Thank you so much,” Camille said. “You’re such wonderful friends. I thought that I was going to have a terribly boring Christmas because of my accident, but you’ve made it a lot of fun.”

“You’ve always been there to help us when we’ve had our not-so-good times,” said Shallo.

“Merry Christmas, Camille,” Clip said. “And Merry Christmas to all of you, my friends.”

“I shouldn’t have been so selfish,” said Tristan. “I didn’t really need the crayon right then. I could’ve shared it with you.”

“It wasn’t nice of me to grab it from you,” Chantal said. “I could have used a different color until you were done. I’m sorry.”

“You see,” said Grandpa Jake, “there are ways to work things out without getting upset and fighting.”

“Can we finish our cards now?” Tristan asked.

“Absolutely! And I have to say, your cards are beautiful. I’m sure they’ll make your families very happy.”

Moral: Arguing and fighting don’t solve problems, and they only make you angrier at each other. Try kindness instead, and you’ll see how much better things work.

The argument continued with the two boys getting angrier and angrier. Soon they were shouting and saying nasty things to each other.

“Boys, that's enough!” Grandpa Jake said, entering the room. “I was listening to you argue as I came down the hall. You need to work things out nicely. Arguing doesn't solve the problem and just makes you more upset with each other.”

Tristan and Derek looked at each other sadly.

“Did I tell you the story about the Christmas chest?” Grandpa Jake asked.

Both boys' faces brightened. “No,” they chorused. “Can you tell us?”

“Yes. I think it just might help you.”

Every Christmas, Dixie and Crispin's mother would pull out their family's Christmas chest. The Christmas chest was a large box with a lid, in which their mother would gather different items she found throughout the year. Dixie and Crispin could then use these items in their Christmas projects and decorations. This year, the box was exceptionally full with interesting bits and pieces.

Crispin and Dixie had invited their friends over, and each one gathered around as Crispin lifted the lid off. Dixie reached in and pulled out a colorful piece of ribbon.

“It's so pretty,” Suds said.

Soon all the friends were sorting through the items and talking about what they'd make with what they found.

“Look at that!” Wesley said, spotting a large shell.

“I found it first!” Milton said, and grabbed the shell.

“Oh no, you didn't,” Wesley replied, trying to grab it away from Milton.

Before long the others were also quarreling among themselves, each wanting what the other one had.

“This is my Christmas chest,” Crispin said, “and if you take the things I want, then you can't be here.”

“It's my Christmas chest too,” Dixie said. “It's both of ours.”

“That's not fair,” Wesley said.

“You're being very mean,” Milton said.

And on the arguing went.

“Everybody, stop!” Suds said in a loud voice.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her.

“Christmas is a time when we're all supposed to be extra loving and kind to each other,” Suds said.

“Suds is right,” Milton said. “I'm sorry for taking the shell away from you, Wesley. You can have it back.”

“I'm sorry too,” said Wesley.

“Me too,” said the others.

“I have an idea,” said Suds. “We could work together to use all the things in the chest to do nice things for other people.”

“We could use some of the stuff to decorate our classroom as a surprise for everyone,” Wesley suggested.

“And make a wreath for Mr. Nuggin,” said Bumble.

“We could also help decorate the classroom Christmas tree,” Crispin said.

“We could make presents for our friends,” Dixie added.

“Then we could use the wagons that Bumble and I have to take the gifts to everyone,” Milton said.

“These are all wonderful ideas,” Suds said, “and if we work on them together, we won't be worried about who gets what.”

Suds got a pen and paper, and together they decided who they would make gifts for.

They decided that Crispin and Bumble would make the wreath for Mr. Nuggin while Dixie and Wesley decorated the classroom. Milton and Suds teamed up to help decorate the school’s Christmas tree. If they were done with that and still had time, they would decide who else to make gifts for.

“We can use this string of lights for the classroom,” Wesley said.

“Oh, but we were planning on using it for Mr. Nuggin's wreath,” Crispin said, and reached over to take the lights.

“But they're too long for the wreath,” Dixie added, “and they'd look much nicer in the classroom.”

“Dixie…!” Crispin exclaimed, feeling a little angry. Then he stopped for a moment. “Oh dear, I almost got angry at you again, but that's not good. Why don't you take them? They really are too long for the wreath, and we can use something else instead.”

“Thank you, Crispin,” said Dixie. “You can have these little bells for the wreath instead.”

“They're perfect!” Crispin said. “And they'll look much better on the wreath than the lights would have.”

Over the weeks leading up to Christmas, the friends busied themselves in their free time, making gifts and decorations for their family and friends.

They happily worked on their projects until they had completed all of them. They had used up all the bits and pieces in the Christmas chest.

The presents were loaded up on Bumble and Milton's wagon and distributed to their friends and family. Everyone was so happy, and it was by far the happiest Christmas the friends had shared because they had all thought about others instead of themselves.

“Grandpa, why do people always say that Christmas is about giving?” Tristan asked.

“Aha! Good question,” said Grandpa Jake. “That's because God gave us a very special gift many, many Christmases ago. Do you know what it was?”

Tristan thought for a moment, and then his face lit up. “Jesus!”

“That's right. God sent Jesus to Earth for each one of us. He was God's Christmas present to each one of us. And when we have Jesus in our lives, we are so much happier, and our lives are filled with more joy!”

“But why do we give presents?”

“When we give things to other people, it makes them happy, and it shows them that we love and think about them.”

“I like to make people happy by doing nice things for them,” Tristan said.

“Thank you for telling us that story, Grandpa! It was a wonderful Christmas story.”

“My pleasure,” answered Grandpa Jake.

Moral: Show kindness to others and take time to work out your differences with love. Then you'll get along well with others and spread happiness all around.

You will need:

• Cardstock
• Scissors
• Tape or glue
• 20–25 6-inch wooden dowel rods
• Colored pencils, markers, or crayons
• Green and blue colored paper for the backgrounds

Instructions:

Print pages 3–17 on cardstock if using the colored version. If you plan to color the pieces yourself, print out pages 18–32. Cut out the pieces. Glue or tape 6- to 8-inch dowel rods to the back of each figure. The scenery pieces (such as the houses or the tree) can be used for backdrop scenery on a bigger piece of paper. Use these paper puppet pieces to retell the story of the first Christmas as told in Luke 2:1–20. (Optional: For durability, cover the front with clear contact paper before cutting out the individual pieces.)

You can also use these figures for other activities, such as a Christmas mural, coloring pages, or flannelgraph pieces for storytelling, Christmas cards, baubles for the tree, etc.

Sample Scenes

Here are some scene ideas you can use to tell the story in your own words or to use to help illustrate the reading of the story.

Scene 1: Meet Joseph and Mary.

Scene 2: An angel visits Mary.

Scene 3: Meet Zacharias and Elizabeth.

Scene 4: Elizabeth and Mary are both expecting special babies.

Scene 5: Everyone must return to their place of birth.

Scene 6: Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem.

Scene 7: The only place to stay in Bethlehem is a stable for animals.

Scene 8: Jesus is born. Shepherds come to visit.

Scene 9: Wise men from the East follow a star. King Herod is not happy.

Scene 10: The wise men find Jesus and bring Him gifts.

Scene 11: Joseph, Mary, and Jesus flee to Egypt to be safe.

Scene 12: Merry Christmas!

You never ever will be alone
If you’re out, about, or at home.
’Cuz you will find He’s always there, you don’t have to be scared.

He made us all a heavenly place
Where we will see Him again face to face,
And He will always have a place there for you and me.

Tell the mommies and daddies, the brothers and sisters,
The lasses and laddies, the ladies and misters,
The rich and the poor, tell the lonely and sad,
The news that will make them all glad:

“Jesus is born.
Jesus is born.”
Tell the whole world,
“Jesus is born.”