Wednesday, December 3, 2014

The Very First Noel and a Perler© Bead Nativity



We started off our day, yesterday, with my favorite of the children's Christmas movies - Exclaim Entertainment's The Very First Noel.



It's a great story, the Nativity, told from the point of view of the wise men, and narrated by Andy Griffith.  Although, it borrows from extra Biblical tradition to give names and nationalities to the wise men (three of them), and it has them arriving in Bethlehem at about the same time as the shepherds, it does stay very true to the much of the Bible account.  And, what I love most, is that it centers on Jesus, His birth, and the excitement of that Good News.

The soundtrack is festive and peppy, the writing, incorporating Christmas carols into the dialogue, is clever, and the animation adorable.

If you can't find it on DVD (it's only eight years old, but it's already nearly impossible to buy), it is streaming, for now, on YouTube (here).

We followed the movie with a Perler© Bead, Nativity craft (click the link to go to the Perler© pattern) ***This link appears to be broken, I'm not sure for how long.  Until I can find an alternate link, or this one is restored, there is a scanned copy of the printout out we used originally at the bottom of this post, to use as a pattern***


It's a big project, with a lot of tiny piece-work.  The children worked on an off throughout the morning, calling me to handle the iron, whenever they had another figure ready.  In the end, I think my youngest two did most of the work.  But, everyone took a turn placing at least a few beads into the pattern - for a fun, family, craft time.



The pattern:






13 comments:

Die fantastischen 5 said...

I love your nativity! The children saw the photos and want to print the pattern immediately.

Ticia said...

That nativity is awesome! I love it. Now to dig up our perler beads and such....

Hwee said...

The beads nativity scene is fantastic! I never thought to do one so thanks for sharing. :-)

Dawn said...

What a wonderful activity. Thanks for the tip on the movie. That sound just perfect for one our activities tomorrow.
Blessings, Dawn

kariwhite said...

My girls love working with the Perler beads. I wonder why I had no idea that patterns were available! Thanks so much for this post. We have a whole 'nother stream of activities for them now. :)

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

So cool! With my one this Nativity scene would have never been finished :D

MaryAnne said...

This is really cool! Thanks for linking over to that template.

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Natalie - With one, you'd have to do this like an advent activity, and make one figure a day.

Sam said...

Just what I'm looking for! Any chance you have the download? The link no longer works. :( kuroanders@yahoo.com

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Sam - They must have just removed that download, because I checked it earlier this month and it was working. I think I have a printed copy. I'll go look for it, and will try to scan and email it to you :)

Allie said...

Hi! I LOVE the idea of a Perler nativity, but I can't find the pdf for the pattern. Is there any way you can email it to me? allie8302 at yahoo.com. That would be SO amazing!

VJ said...

Here's a new link to the Nativity template - thanks for the idea!
https://www.perler.com/globalassets/catalogs/perler/prproj-27566/nativity

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Thanks! When I get a chance, I'll add that back into the post above!