Happy Birthday Jesus Party-ages 2-12 years old   I wanted to throw a Christmas party for my children, nieces and neighborhood children, but wanted to bring in what is the the true meaning of Christmas for our family, which is the birth of Jesus Christ. Since I love throwing regular birthday parties for my children, I thought it would be fun to throw a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party.  I found all the "Happy Birthday Jesus" themed supplies from Oriental Trading. INVITATIONS: I used the themed invitation from Oriental Trading plus created a sheet, with nativity clipart, along with more party details to include with the invite. DECORATIONS: I purchased a Happy Birthday Jesus Pole banner and hung that from my house and my husband put up all our Christmas lights on the house, as well as, our blow up giant snowman.(The kids always love the snowman.) Inside the livingroom we put up our decorated Christmas tree and a large nativity set. In the family room, I set up two long tables and covered in white tablecloths, I hung two shades of blue(theme colors)streamers from my fan to all four corners of the room and hung Happy Birthday Jesus balloons from the middle. It looked just like a birthday party. I also set up a tent outside with some tables, they had a mini nativity set as the centerpiece. ACTIVITIES: As everyone arrived they placed a gift that they brought near the large nativity set. (In the spirit of giving, each family was asked to bring one toy which is being donated to the church ministry). Then everyone ate Pizza(everyone chipped in for the pizza) and then we sat all the kids(17 total) and I read them the Christmas story(birth of Jesus) to them from a coloring book that I had printed out from DLTK craft website. This was a great version because it was short but to the point and it was easy for the children to understand. They liked this story and were able to point out various characters. Then it was time for crafts. I purchased a cute cross door hanger kit from Oriental Trading, it was a cross with a angel and Mary,Joseph and Baby Jesus on it. I had pre-prepared most of the craft ahead of time for each child because it had many pieces to it(it took me 20 minutes per craft), so this made it easier on the smaller children. They all enjoyed making them. We then played Pin the Tail on the Reindeer. The deer had a wreath in it's mouth that said, "Jesus is Deer to Me". I split up the kids in two groups. The youngest group went first, then the older children. The winner from each group received a prize.(A Precious Moments coloring book for the young winner, and a Color My Own Mug for the older child). I gave all the other children a small novelty item that has Happy Birthday Jesus on it.(Kaleidescopes, coloring books, puzzles, pencils, etc) They all enjoyed getting a small prize. We then took out a large sheet cake that said Happy Birthday Jesus on it and all the kids sung "Happy Birthday to Jesus". We also had chips, dips and various Christmas cookies. I even made Baby Jesus cupcakes. (I purchased small favor babies from the craft section of Walmart, I wrapped and hot glued them in small pieces of camel colored felt to create a blanket and then crushed chex cereal up to resemble hay, and placed the baby Jesus on the frosted cupcake.) These turned out cute, but we did have to warn everyone that the baby Jesus was not edible)After cake and snacks, each child received a plastic cup that said Happy Birthday Jesus on it, with a Jesus stocking, faith candy canes, bible verse lollipops and Jesus is Deer to Me Fruit snacks. They also received a large themed goody bag to put all their items in to take home. All the goody bag items were purchased from Oriental Trading. As everyone left each child received a different age appropriate toy that I had purchased. Since they were generous to bring a needy child a toy, I wanted to show them an act of kindness.  (the older children played white elephant for their gift). In the end it was a great party that was truly meaningful. This was the first time anyone had thrown a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party in our area, so I was a wondering how everyone would like it. Well it was a success, the parents enjoyed it and thought it was a great idea. The kids all had a great time and we were able to donate 27 gifts to needy children. What a blessing indeed!!