AnonyMouse_39602 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Well today was the day , despite most of the children dropping like flies at the end of last week and myself feeling rougher than a cats tongue , they were so Sparkly Knickers! Ok so a few did not want to get dressed , one was too ill to attend and one of the shepherds bowed out altogether but hey it's a nativity and getting up on stage is an achievement in itself. From 2 years to 4 years , the kings excelled and they all gave a fab performance of our rewritten version of Father Christmas needs a wee ' with over 50 guests plus school children , the vicar and others we had a blast. Raised lots of funds with the raffle and games and had our official door opening ( our new doors since Sept , that lead directly into our garden) The only downer was that one of our parents turned up an hour late and burst into tears , thankfully we took a video but that was sad, maybe if I had been feeling 100% I may have noticed they were'nt there. How are yours going ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_31953 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Sad to say my staff cannot be motivated to do a nativity anymore...all too busy ....I feel very sad,but if most staff not up for it it is a non -starter...but glad yours went well x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_19920 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 we don't do nativity plays either - we have 90 children on role doing different sessions and days and it would be just too hard to sort so we invite the parents to come in at the end of the childrens party to listen to / join in with our christmas song time - it means everyone is invited and it is easier to do. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_5664 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Ours is tomorrow! Dress rehearsal today. Oh my goodness. 50 children. 2 sessions and today was the first time they had been together. A few tantrums, one major, a few Angels who spontaneously promoted themselves to the role of the leading lady, a sheep who was shuffling around on his tummy, a king who fell off the bench when he was laughing, the donkey who literally ruins down the middle of the audience with excitement, a fight between Mary and Joseph over who was going to put baby Jesus in to the manger...etc..etc..etc. oh, and Mary was sick in the middle. Bring on the performance tomorrow, in front of a forest of giant adults!!!!!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_11396 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Well there you go Dreamgirl all your hiccups out of the way, hope it's a great one tomorrow. :)Fx 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_39602 Posted December 9, 2014 Author Share Posted December 9, 2014 Yes dream girl , having a drama background , if the dress rehearsal ever went ok , it meant the real thing would be awful! Hope all goes well tomorrow x 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_39602 Posted December 9, 2014 Author Share Posted December 9, 2014 Sad to say my staff cannot be motivated to do a nativity anymore...all too busy ....I feel very sad,but if most staff not up for it it is a non -starter...but glad yours went well x Staff not motivated to do a nativity ? Should they have a choice , sorry but I think it is important to say that you are doing it and it's part of the job! We don't rehearse forever and it's very relaxed approach, keep it simple and fun and reap the rewards from both children and parents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_30128 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 we have been and done ours...:LOVELY!! One of the kings flatly refused to do it and my very youngest decided no...but otherwise all 52 on stage ....including ALL my sen and eal....very proud of them all. One rather quiet little girl was the star of the show ...shouted the words to all the songs from the back of the stage much to the amazement of her mother and the amusement of the rest of us! we did a version of the wheels on the bus....with christmas words! The best bit was we had been warned about a couple of the children not liking father christmas so with parents permission we had a chat before hand and said that this one was just a friend of father christmas and was just a grandad. They both got up and took their present from him with no problem...two Mums in tears and very grateful! the next day we read a story about FC and a little girl who was afraid of him one of these little ones announced she was no longer worried....haha job done!!! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_5664 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Yes dream girl , having a drama background , if the dress rehearsal ever went ok , it meant the real thing would be awful! Hope all goes well tomorrow x Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_5664 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Well there you go Dreamgirl all your hiccups out of the way, hope it's a great one tomorrow. :)Fx Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_14268 Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 (edited) Ours is not until Saturday 20th. We did go to church yesterday to see the schools nativity dress rehearsals which was brilliant.(I have never seen aliens in the nativity story.) I dread the nativity every year as I hate public speaking but it always turns out really well and let's face it everyone's hearts melt when they see the children dressed up. Edited December 10, 2014 by zigzag 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_31953 Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 we don't do nativity plays either - we have 90 children on role doing different sessions and days and it would be just too hard to sort so we invite the parents to come in at the end of the childrens party to listen to / join in with our christmas song time - it means everyone is invited and it is easier to do. Our problem too....full daycare means they do all different times,days,school runs....so prob why staff are reluctant....and where would we would seat all our 130 parents.In our early days with fewer children and cosy hall in the village was open...we used to have a Nativity...but as numbers increased to full capacity and parent partnership.....it means children arriving all different times of the day .Good idea with the song time....our party last sunday.....could incorporate that into ours at the end as held at local play centre,,,thanks x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_39602 Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 So dreamgirl how did it go ? Bet it was fab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_5664 Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Well, it wend ok! I introduced it to a packed hall....my usual of don't worry if they wriggle about or forget to stand up etc etc. then, because I had a microphone, I started to freestyle and talked to parents about really valuing this experience as many children in the world aren't lucky enough to even go to school and are having very hard lives. At this point I could hardly speak through crying and was emitting rather loud strangulated sobs. Attractive. As soon as the first Angels walked in, started crying again. The children were great. There was just the right amount of mistakes and individual scripts going on to make it funny. One musician was away so the other one couldn't really handle that and leant on his tall drum with chin resting on his hand looking extremely bored. When whoops a daisy angel brought him baby Jesus to kiss, he completely blanked he, starting in to space, whilst WAD valiently tried to shove doll right in his face. Cue parents laughing. One TA decided to rewrite her part and got the shepherds on to the hill/ stage a whole song too early. Resulted in Les Dawson style plonking on piano by the TA playing for us who was completely thrown. One angel at the front had an entire conversation from the front of her mat with her mum who was 2 rows behind, oblivious of fact she was in the middle of her acting debut. Cue laughing. Shepherd on stage nearly started a fight by licking his fellow shepherd's ear. Donkey arrived from Bethlehem, running down the aisle at warp factor speed, knocking ove 2 chairs en route. Cue laughing. Honestly, I could go on!!! By the end my face was the colour of a tomato, but it actually went really well and we were all very proud. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueFinanceManager Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Oh dreamgirl that made me smile. I was in the doctors the other evening (daughter appointment not me) and there was a mum and little one waiting and to pass the time mum was getting the little one to practice her songs for the nativity.....I am gong to be Mary she told me when she caught me smiling at her.....Oh I said that will be nice ......Not really she replied, Joseph doesn't like me!!!! Made me chuckle. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_39602 Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 (edited) Dreamgirl sounds like it was a hit ! So funny and just how it should be x I never did a speech this year as I usually get too emotional and especially as I'm suffering with a flu bug! Your description of the event made me laugh out loud so thank you and well done to you all. I think it's an achievement for anyone to get up on stage whether they perform or not and ad libbing is just the best x Edited December 11, 2014 by lashes2508 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_26037 Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 We had our second performance this afternoon - 1 more to go tonight. I spent the entire thing with a sad sheep sat on my knee - her mummy saw it yesterday so wasn't there today. My head got banged twice by the Y6 who were stood behind me - one was just an elbow, the other was a bottom as the child in question 'swung her hips round to the beat' very vigorously to accompany one song! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_51737 Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 (edited) We had our performance today and I must say it's such a fabulous experience and I love being apart of it, all the children did us so proud only one child got stage fright and one went to his mum at very start other than that they all did it! In front of the biggest audience I've ever produced it too. Our slideshow went down well again however I'm sooooooo glad it's over with normal stress levels may resume Edited December 12, 2014 by Foreveryoung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 After doing them for 2 years, we as a staff decided to change it to a christmas singalong in the christmas party instead as they were uber stressful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_39602 Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 (edited) That's a shame Harmony , nativity should not be stressful at least not at preschool level , we are expected to be mutilcultural and explore other religions, festivals etc and yet we do all the Christmas stuff without exploring the true meaning of Christmas with the children which I find rather sad. This is important to parents and the children too especially when we live in such a materialistic world. Whether people are practising Christians, Catholics etc or non practising , everyone loves a nativity possibly because it reminds of our own child hoods and want to see our little ones performing , maybe we should remember that fluffy duck syndrome should not apply to performances either. Edited December 14, 2014 by lashes2508 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 That's a shame Harmony , nativity should not be stressful at least not at preschool level , we are expected to be mutilcultural and explore other religions, festivals etc and yet we do all the Christmas stuff without exploring the true meaning of Christmas with the children which I find rather sad. This is important to parents and the children too especially when we live in such a materialistic world. Whether people are practising Christians, Catholics etc or non practising , everyone loves a nativity possibly because it reminds of our own child hoods and want to see our little ones performing , maybe we should remember that fluffy duck syndrome should not apply to performances either. We're not just pre-school, we're full daycare. It was too much for the babies to cope with and our 2 year olds struggled too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_22029 Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 We had a brilliant nativity on Friday. Some shop bought costumed some home made. I narrated story children just had to walk on, then as group sing some songs. We started gentle rehearsals after half term. Would honestly say I have slept well and enjoyed every minute.on the day Mary had tantrum and was bribed to go on with promise of keeping the silver cord that adourned her costume. One of the wise men refused to mount his camel and one innkeeper also found that his mums hand was more comfortable than standing infront of lots people. But my final sight was of the entire preschool on the stage together singing and looking confident. I was so proud of them and so proud of my staff for getting the children through. I have started the Christmas feeling!!! Can't wait for next year! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest youngrisers Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 We do a Christmas winter songs festival where we get the rest of the infant department to join in less strain on our voices and more for the parents to enjoy works a treat every year happy Christmas x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_39602 Posted December 16, 2014 Author Share Posted December 16, 2014 We're not just pre-school, we're full daycare. It was too much for the babies to cope with and our 2 year olds struggled too. Ah that makes sense , I assume parents don't expect it from full day nurseries or childminders but preschool and schools , mind you you would not be stuck for any baby Jesus's ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Nativity done and dusted today much to everyone's relief! Lots of stand-ins due to flu so I was especially proud of them. Phew! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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