December 2: The Census

*Wrap a package of Skittles for today's gift.

• Read Luke 2:1-4.

"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register. ⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David."

• Let your children unwrap the Skittles.

• Divide the candy so that each child has a handful. Make extra groupings if you are working with one or two children.

• Explain that Caesar Augustus, in the time of Jesus, wanted to have a "census" to simply count the people.

• Have each child count the pieces of candy in their own pile(s).

• Label your piles with names of cities if you like...giving one the name of "Bethlehem."

• Label each color of Skittles a city name as well, using the same city names given to the piles.

• Instruct all the green colored Skittles to travel to the city designated as "home" to the green candies. Separate all the colors, having them "travel" to their own cities until the candies are all separated into piles or "cities" of the same color.

• Now, count each pile again, noting how many more or less each "city" has.

• Explain that the census was Caesar Augustus' way of counting the people in his country. Also explain that this census played an important role in orchestrating the birth of Christ to take place in Bethlehem, as promised.

• Thank God for making special plans to keep His promise. Thank God for Joseph and Mary's safe trip to Bethlehem. Ask God to keep you safe as you travel over the holidays.