The Interactive Table Nativity - A Nativity for Large Groups

I would like to share with you my script for the Interactive Table Nativity that I created for a Ward Party. I think it'd be super fun to do for any Christmas nativity with a large group! 

Here's how it works:

This is a really engaging and lighthearted nativity that narrates the account of Christ's birth. All the characters excluding Mary, Joseph, and Jesus are tables. Each table is decorated as its character and then the people sitting at that table participate when their table's word is said. 

For example every time the narrator says "Gabriel" the Gabriel table makes an angelic noise. When the narrator says "star" the Star table rings their bells. When the narrator says "Wisemen" they drum on the table. 

There are 12 characters total but you can have multiple tables of any character you'd like if you have more than 14 tables. 

The characters are: Gabriel, Bethlehem, Caesar, Angel, Animal (stable), Herod, Scribes, Wisemen, Shepherd, The Inn, Star, and Gold Frankincense & Myrrh. 

Mary and Joseph were the only characters that weren't tables. They dressed in character and stood by the Gabriel table and then walked passed the Bethlehem and Inn tables to get the a stable we had set up. They kneeled by the manger for the rest of the program. 

This was such a huge hit and everyone had a lot of fun. It's great because it makes everyone participate without putting anyone on the spot. It also makes everyone pay attention because they have to listen in order to participate at the right parts. And we closed by having the primary sing a musical number and the spirit was so strong! I had several people come up to me and ask for the script so they recreate it. So here it is! 


Click HERE to download the scripts.

When you click the link you'll find 3 documents
1- The Main Script. This is just for the narrator's use. 
2- Table Scripts. There is a different script for each table.
2- Songs. This is for the pianist. 


Additional Resources:
Click HERE for What Child Is This - sheet music
Click HERE for If I Were a Shepherd - sheet music (we had the primary sing this for our closing musical number)


Things you'll need to bring or set up. Please know that all of these are optional!
- Decorate each table in it's character's theme. (examples below)
- A Stable or some sort of center focus backdrop
- Notecards and pens (for each table to write down their gift to the Savior)
- A Gift box (to place in front of the manger for people to put their notecards in)
- Costumes for Mary & Joseph
- A Manger and a baby doll

Hopefully that's enough instruction to make it easy to recreate! If you have any questions let me know and I can add more detail or clarity anything. 

If you use my script I'd LOVE to hear how it went! 
Thanks for stopping by and Merry Christmas!

- Kate


Here are some examples of how my friend Cheryl Gibbons decorated the table. Not all of them were finished when I snapped these images, but I'll give you a good idea of what she did. She got a lot of items at Hobby Lobby, Walmart, and Amazon.