Engaging your child in their Nativity play - even if they’re first lobster!

School nativity plays can include all sorts of characters that were not at Jesus’ birth but, says Ruth Evans, we should still engage positively with the versions our children find themselves in

“Karen: So what’s this big news, then?

Daisy: [excited] We’ve been given our parts in the nativity play. And I’m the lobster.

Karen: The lobster?

Daisy: Yeah!

Karen: In the nativity play?

Daisy: [beaming] Yeah, *first* lobster.

Karen: There was more than one lobster present at the birth of Jesus?

Daisy: Duh.”

I love this scene from the film Love Actually; daughter thrilled about her part in the Nativity play, mum considerably confused about said part but also doesn’t destroy her daughter’s joy in the moment, just clarifies the situation!

I wonder if you, like Karen in the film, have found yourself contemplating the legitimacy of your child’s character in their school Nativity play? We expect the usuals; Mary, Joseph, some angels, shepherds and wise men, maybe a King Herod and probably an inn-keeper or three. Throw in some animals of course; sheep, probably a donkey and some cows. But then what about mice (I mean, they probably lived in a barn, okay, we’ll let them stay), penguins (in Bethlehem?! Really?), a spaceman, aliens, Santa himself, Bruce Forsyth… the list can go on, it feels like ……