ctiv te special

kids’

edition

NOTE TO PARENTS

The wonderful Christmas season is always a special

time for families—a time of love, warmth, togetherness,

giving, caring—and lots and lots of fun! We hope that

you and your children will enjoy the stories and activities

featured in this special children’s edition of Activated. May

it contribute to a memorable and meaningful Christmas

season in your home. While the magazine is directed to

children, you may even enjoy having your whole family

read some of these heartwarming and character-

building stories together, celebrating the beauties and

joys of this special season that comes only once a year.

Merry Christmas!

Shannon Richards

For your Activated Family

Copyright © 2005 by Aurora Production AG, Switzerland.

All rights reserved. Printed in Thailand.

auroraproduction.com

ILLUSTRATIONS:

Agnes Lemaire, Kie Poole, Max Belmont, Jacques Elan

COLOR:

Agnes Lemaire, Kie Poole, Max Belmont, Doug Calder

DESIGN:

Giselle LeFavre

VOL 1, ISSUE 2, DECEMBER 2005

2

O

SPLAT! Spicy went headfi rst into the snow...

SNOWMA

SP IC Y

By Jasmine St.Clair and Kie Poole

Once upon a time in a

faraway land—a very

cold land—there lived a

snowman named Spicy. He was a special snowman, because

he could walk, and talk, and sing! And

sometimes … he could even jump!

Spicy loved to sing songs in the

moonlight. When the moon was full

and round in the dark night sky, he

would throw his head back and sing

happy snowman songs.

One special holiday season, Spicy

found a friend—a snow lady named

Lala. She was a beautiful snow lady,

and special like Spicy was. She had big

glittering eyes. She loved to sing, too.

Spicy decided he wanted

to give Lala a special present

for Christmas. Oh, what, oh

what, can I give to Lala for

Christmas? he wondered, as

he trudged through the snow.

It has to be something special …

something different … something

big! Something she has never received

before.

“Ouch!” Spicy yelped, as his big

snowy body tumbled into a heap.

“Oh no, I forgot about the frozen lake again.” He mumbled as

he picked himself up from the ground.

“Hey, wait a minute …”—he paused as an idea popped

into his head. “Spicy, you’re brilliant! Yes, that’s what you’ll do

for Lala. You’ll learn to ice skate to her favorite Christmas

carol, and you’ll be the greatest ice skater ever. She will be so

pleased. It will be her best Christmas present ever!”

3

Spicy laughed a happy snowman

laugh. He took a big step out onto

the ice. But his great big snowy body

slipped, and he fell down hard on the

ice.

search, Spicy slumped down against a tree. By now, the sun

was setting, and the beautiful moon was beginning to glow

brighter and brighter.

“Perhaps the candy canes weren’t such a good idea

after all,” Spicy concluded. “Anyway, it is almost time for my

moonlight song.”

Just as Spicy was taking a big breath to sing his song, a

little fi refl y landed on his long carrot nose, making it shine

a bright orange. Instead of singing his song, Spicy blew on

the fi refl y to make him fl y away. “Shoo, shoo, little fellow,” he

said, a little impatiently.

Then another idea came to him. “Yes, yes, that would do!

That would defi nitely do!” Quickly Spicy took off his black

hat and scooped the little fi refl y inside, covering the top

with his cold snowy hands.

“Oh dear, this is going to take some serious practicing,” he realized.

All day, Spicy tried his hardest

to balance on the ice. And at last,

he found himself standing up long

enough to manage one big slide

across the ice. “I’m doing it!” he

exclaimed as he slid quickly across the

lake. “I’m skaaaaa … UH-OH!!”

SPLAT! Spicy went headfi rst into

the snow on the other side of the

lake. “Oh my, in learning to skate I

forgot I also needed to learn to stop,”

he groaned, as he picked himself out

of the snow. “I don’t think ice skating

is for me. Besides, Lala probably

wouldn’t like that kind of a gift

anyway.”

He was rearranging the buttons

on his snowy chest when something

half-buried in the snow caught his

eye—something bright and red and

shaped like a “J”. A candy cane!

Spicy was delighted. Holding the

cane in his snow-packed hands, he

thought what a great gift a big bag

full of candy canes would be for

someone special like Lala. “I will make

the fullest bag of candy canes anyone

ever had—and surely Lala will love it.”

Spicy searched high. Spicy

searched low. But search as he did,

there were no more candy canes to

be found. Finally, tired from his long

“I will catch a whole hat full of you little

fellows and then set you on the tallest,

prettiest evergreen tree. I will make the best

Christmas tree anyone every saw!—And that

will be the perfect present for Lala.”

Another fl icker of light caught Spicy’s eye and he ran

after the next little fi refl y, scooping it up in his hat. Spicy

ran for a long time, chasing one fi refl y, then another. But

what poor Spicy didn’t realize was that whenever one fi refl y

was caught, one fi refl y would escape. When Spicy fi nally

stopped running to check how full his hat had become, he

was very disappointed to fi nd only one fi refl y inside.

Sadly, Spicy sat in the snow putting his hat beside him.

One icy tear trickled down his cheek. “I only wanted to give

Lala the best Christmas present ever,” he moaned. “But

tomorrow is

Christmas and I

still haven’t found

the perfect gift.”

Spicy covered

his black beady

eyes with his big

snowy hands and

let out a sob.

A pipsqueak

voice broke the

silence.

The perfect gift

doesn’t need to

be the biggest,

or the best,

or the most

amazing ever.

4

Surprised, Spicy looked up to see

the fi refl y slowly fl uttering away from

the hat. “Wait a minute! What did you

say?” he asked.

The fi refl y replied, “Sometimes the

best of presents are the smallest of

presents, if they come with love.”

Spicy thought about that for a

moment. Then he did what he should

have remembered to do all along. Spicy

folded his great big snowy hands, and

looked up into the night sky. “Dear

God,” he prayed, “I really like this snow

lady, Lala, and I really want to give her

a special Christmas present. It doesn’t

have to be big, but I do want it to be

special. Will You please show me what

I can give her?”

As he opened his eyes, he saw the

snow start to melt away in a little spot

on the ground in front of him. Then, a

beautiful blue fl ower blossomed right

before his eyes.

Wonderful! Spicy thought. He

reached down his snowy hand and

picked the pretty fl ower. “Thank You,

God, for showing me this wonderful

gift for Lala.”

Spicy was one happy snowman on

Christmas morning when he gave Lala

her special Christmas gift.

“Spicy, this is the best present ever!”

Lala exclaimed as she carefully placed

the pretty fl ower on her black hat.

Then she gave Spicy a cheery snow

lady hug and said, “And you are my best

friend ever!”

Then Spicy and Lala linked hands,

threw their heads back, and sang

great, ringing snowpeople songs as

they danced in the snow. As they sang,

big round snowfl akes fell from the sky,

covering the land in another blanket

of snow. For Spicy and Lala, it was the

perfect Christmas.

“Spicy, this is the

best present ever!”

5

Draw all the things that you would like to put on your Christmas tree.Then color the picture.

6

Each animal is missing one thing. Can you draw a line fromthe shapes in the boxes to the correct place in the picture?

7

Finish drawing the Christmas bauble,continuing with the patterns started in each row.

8

Help the little girl though the holly mazeto fi nish making her Christmas wreath.

Begin at the arrow.

9

Ml

A week went by. Toby and Mandy

had read the story of Jesus’ birth again

and again. In fact, they read it every

night with either their mom or dad

before going to bed. Their parents

were now also curious as to what

secret the children would fi nd, and

tried to help give suggestions as to

where to look. Each time, Toby would

only shake his head. He was sure that

when he discovered it, he would know.

One afternoon, he and Mandy were

talking with their dad.

“Dad, do you think that the Santa

Claus we met last week really knows

about a secret present and how I can

become a true Santa? He could have

been telling me a story.”

“I don’t think so. I think he had a

reason for telling you what he did. A

discovery is never easy. It can be a lot

SANTA’S SECRET

“Mom, when I grow up, do you know what I want

to be?”

“I have no idea, Toby. Tell me.”

“I want to be a Santa! I would have my own

workshop, fi lled with all the toys you could ever

imagine. I would have my own sled and reindeer,

and I would go whoooosh in the sky. Actually, I think

a jet would get me to all the houses faster than a

sled and reindeer, don’t you think, Mom? And Mandy

could be one of my elves.”

“I don’t want to be an elf when I grow up, Toby. I want

to be a mother.”

“Today at Silver’s department store,” Toby went on, “I

told Santa I wanted to be like him when I grew up, and he

said that anyone could be a Santa Claus if they wanted to. I

asked him if even eight-year-old boys could. He said yes. He

said all it really takes is a good heart. He also said that there

is a secret present that children can receive. This present is

invisible until you discover a secret that makes it possible

for you to see it!”

“Really? Did you ask him for the secret present, Toby?”

asked Mandy.

“Yes, but he said he would only give me a clue to start

with, and that to become a true Santa, I would need to fi nd

this secret out for myself. So that’s what I plan to do. Do you

want to help me, Mandy?”

“Sure! I’ll help. I’m not sure how, though. I’m only six.”

“Well, you know the story of Jesus’ birth that we read

with Daddy last week, right? The Santa said that the clue

starts with that story.”

“We know that story very well, Toby,” said Mandy,

excitedly. “We could be very close to fi nding out this secret

already.”

By Toni Preston

10

of hard work. You may be very close to

it, but if you give up too soon, you could

miss ever fi nding it.”

“Yes, Toby, let’s not give up too easily,”

Mandy said. “Maybe there is something

else we should be doing, other than

reading the story. But what could it

be?”

Dad had an idea. “Even though Jesus

was born 2000 years ago, He is still here

with us today. That means that He

should be able to give us the next clue

to this secret of what makes a true

Santa. What do you think?”

Toby thought for a moment and

something told him that they were

getting warmer. They said a prayer and

asked Jesus if He would send them the

clue they needed.

/The next day, while Toby and Mandy

were playing in their front yard, they

heard their next-door neighbors’ car

pulling into the driveway next door.

Little Sammy Braxton was asking

his mom as he got out of the car,

“Why can’t we get that Lego castle set

with all those knights and horses and

carriages?”

His mom answered, “Honey, I

explained it to you already. I know

it’s diffi cult to understand, but we

won’t be able to get fancy new toys

this Christmas. We don’t have that

much money. We don’t know if we

will even be able to stay in this house.

Things have been very diffi cult for

your dad and me. Can you please try to

understand, sweetie?”

“Okay, Mommy,” mumbled Sammy.

They then went into their house.

Mandy shook her head. “That’s sad,

Toby. I didn’t know the Braxtons don’t

have enough money.”

“Yes, it is sad,” agreed Toby.

“Imagine not getting any special new toys at Christmas!

Every year we have something we want under our tree.”

“Mom always says Jesus gives us presents because He

wants us to be happy,” Toby said. “Mom also says that we

need to give gifts back to Jesus. I always forget about that.

What do you think are gifts that Jesus likes?”

“Well, I try to be a good girl, obey Mom and Dad, make

my bed in the morning, and keep the house tidy,” answered

Mandy.

“I do, too. Oh, Mandy! I have an idea. Do you think that

Jesus let us hear the Braxtons’ conversation to give us a clue

as to help us fi nd the secret present?”

“Yes! Maybe there is something we can do for Sammy

that will lead us to the secret present. Let’s think about it.”

eA few days before Christmas, Mom needed to go back to

Silver’s department store, and asked Toby if he wanted to

come along. She knew he wanted to meet the Santa again,

and to ask him some very important questions.

To Toby’s relief, the line to talk to Santa Claus wasn’t very

long. When he got his chance to go shake Santa’s hand, he

asked, “Do you remember me? You told me that anybody

11

could be a Santa Claus if they wanted

to. You also told me about a secret

present I could fi nd and gave me a clue

about how to discover it.”

“Ahh yes,” replied the Santa, “I

remember very well. I didn’t know

whether you would believe me or not.”

“Well, my sister and I think that

we’re very close to fi nding this present,

but we aren’t sure,” said Toby.

“Tell me what you’ve discovered,

and I’ll tell you if you’re getting close to

fi nding the present,” replied Santa.

“We overheard our neighbors

talking. Little Sammy Braxton won’t

have any new toys underneath the

Christmas tree this year. They don’t

have enough money. That made me

and my sister sad. We want to do

something for Sammy.”

“My boy, you are indeed on the

brink of discovering this secret. I am

sure that Jesus will show you what

you should do next,” said Santa with a

twinkle in his eye.

Toby was very happy. A big smile

spread across his face. His mom came

to pick him up just in time to see this

smile.

Before leaving, Toby asked Santa

one more question. “Do you like being

Santa? I mean, do you enjoy meeting

children and giving them gifts?”

“Why, yes I do! And my favorites of

all the gifts I like to give are the gifts

that Jesus brought down to Earth.

There are so many of these gifts to

give out. I try to help the children

receive these wonderful gifts, but

many children would rather receive

presents that they can play with or

show to their friends. They miss out

on some of the most special gifts of all.

You know what, Toby?”

“What?”

“I’m helping you to fi nd one of these secret gifts because

I know you’ll appreciate it. You can’t see this gift yet; it’s still

invisible. But if you can fi nd it, you’ll know that it was worth

all the work to fi nd it.”

hOn Christmas morning, Toby and Mandy were up before

the sun had a chance to rise. They knew it would be awhile

before they would open their Christmas gifts as a family, so

they sat together and discussed the secret gift. Toby said he

was pretty sure they would fi nd it under the Christmas tree.

“Toby, are you sure it will be there?”

“Yes, Mandy. We have been working very hard to fi nd out

what the secret is. We’ve followed the clues. Santa said I was

very close to fi nding it. I know we will get it today.”

“But Santa said that you were close when you said you

wanted to do something for Sammy—and we haven’t

actually done anything for him yet.”

“I know. We haven’t been able to think of anything to

do for him, but I’m sure that Jesus will help us to fi nd

something.”

When Mom and Dad were up and ready, they all

12

gathered around the Christmas tree to

open their presents.

Dad said, “Why don’t we say a prayer

and thank Jesus for giving these

presents to us?”

Toby prayed, “Jesus, thank You for

these Christmas presents. I am sure we

will really like our toys. I’m also really

looking forward to seeing the secret

gift that Santa told me about. He said

that the most special gifts come from

You, so thank You for giving it to me.

Amen.”

They all took turns opening their

presents. Toby wanted to keep his

biggest present until last. He thought

that must be the box with the secret

present Santa was talking about.

Finally, it came time for him to open it.

He tore at the paper and pulled all the

wrapping off with hasty excitement.

Toby’s eyes grew wider and wider

as he looked at it. Then he broke out

into a huge grin, and said, “Mom! Dad!

Mandy! I found the secret present!”

“I don’t see anything secret about

your present,” Mandy said. “It’s a box

with a Lego castle set.”

“Mandy, remember what Sammy said he really wanted,

but that his Mom and Dad couldn’t buy?”

“Ohhhh,” she said when she remembered. “Are you

thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Yes!” Toby turned to his parents and said, “Dad, Mom, I

know you chose this present for me, and I really do like it

and have wanted one of these. But Sammy won’t be able

to get any new toys at all this year. So I want to give this to

him.”

Dad and Mom were surprised, and so proud of Toby.

!The kids wrapped the present back up. Then they quietly

went over and put the box on the doorstep of the Braxtons’

house. They left a card on the top of the box with a note:

“To Samuel Braxton,

From Santa.”

They went back into the house happy and excited. “Mom,”

said Toby, “I think the gift Santa was talking about is the

gift of giving. I found my secret present—making someone

happy is a wonderful present! It makes me feel so glad!”

Mom gave Toby a hug. “I don’t think you will grow a beard

anytime soon, but you really have become a true Santa, and

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wiser little Santa.”

Would you like to have the best

Christmas present ever? If you ask

Jesus to come into your heart, He’ll

be your Best Friend forever, and He

has many wonderful things to give

you! You can say this little prayer:

Dear Jesus, please come into my

heart. Please help me to love You

and to be loving to others, like You

are. Please forgive me for the things

I’ve done wrong. Thank You that

You will be my Best Friend, and that

You will always love me and take

care of me. Amen.

13

Follow the dots to fi nish the picture.

14

Finish the right side of picture by copying exactly what’s on the left side.

15

Finish coloring the picture.

16

There are fi ve differences in these two pictures.Circle each place where something is missing.

17

Draw a line to match the shapes in the ovalto where they belong on the characters in the picture.

18

iCHRISTMAS EVECHRISTMAS EVE

AT THE AIRPORTAT THE AIRPORTIt was December 24th, and five-year-old Philip was anxiously

looking forward to opening all his presents later that evening.

He and his parents were driving to the airport, where they

would catch a short flight to the town where his grandparents

lived, and they would then celebrate Christmas there with all

their relatives. Philip’s dad had just finished some urgent work,

so they were starting their trip pretty late. Philip didn’t mind.

He looked out of the car window at the snow that was steadily

falling, and watched the colorful lights blinking in the store

windows.

Philip and his mom walked over to look at the big Christmas

tree set up in the corner, while his dad went for the tickets.

By Ronan Keane

19

“Okay, we’re all set,” his dad said, re-

turning from the ticket counter. “I got

our three tickets for flight 1291, and

the plane is leaving in about an hour.”

Philip’s eyes sparkled with excite-

ment. This is going to be a great Christ-

mas, he thought.

They passed the metal detectors,

and picked up their carry-on bags

from the x-ray machine’s belt, then

started walking towards their gate,

which seemed quite far away. The

loudspeakers were playing Christmas

songs. As he listened to “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,”

Philip smiled to himself. Christmas is such an exciting time!

In the waiting room, Philip looked out the tall windows

at the runways outside. There was a lot of interesting activ-

ity to watch. He could see the blinking lights of the snow-

plows and the maintenance vehicles racing along the run-

ways. He watched the men in the transport vehicles drive

up to the planes and load up the luggage, food, and other

things. Meanwhile, the waiting room started to fi ll with

more people, including some other families with children.

After what seemed to Philip to be quite a long time, a

few members of the airline crew came into the room, and

one of them picked up a microphone.

20

“Ladies and gentlemen,” she began. “It seems that fl ight

1291 is delayed because of the snow. The weather reports say

that there’s a storm moving towards us, and most fl ights

are already a couple of hours behind schedule. We’re sorry

for the inconvenience, and we’ll let you know how things

develop.”

Some of the people in the waiting room seemed to be

quite upset.

“Does that mean that we can’t go?” Philip asked his mom

worriedly.

“Well, it seems that we’re at least going to be delayed for

a while.”

“But why?”

“Well, Honey, one reason is that if there’s a lot of snow

and ice on the runways, it’s not safe for the plane to take

off. Do you see all that snow outside? They’re working on

clearing it, but as long as it keeps falling, they lose more and

more time in between each fl ight, clearing and checking

the runways to make sure that it’s safe for the next plane to

take off.”

“So what are we going to do?” Philip asked.

“We’ll just need to wait,” his dad answered. “They’ll let us

know when it’s safe to go, and we’ll board the plane then.”

Waiting didn’t seem too bad to Philip. Although he really

wanted to get on the plane and take off, at least there was a

lot of stuff to look at. But as the hours passed, he started to

worry.

“Do you think we’ll even get there in time for Christmas

Eve dinner?” he asked his mom.

“I don’t know yet what time we’ll get there, honey,” his

mom replied, trying to stay patient herself, “but let’s hope it

won’t be too much longer before we leave.” Some air host-

esses had come into the room a few more times to explain

the situation to the passengers, but by now, they seemed to

have no idea when they would fi nally be able to leave. The

snow hadn’t let up, and a lot of fl ights had been cancelled or

were further delayed.

Philip looked around. Most of the people in the wait-

ing room just sat there, looking bored. Some were reading,

some slept, and others were walking around, obviously

anxious to get wherever they were going so that they could

celebrate Christmas properly. Nobody looked happy.

“It’s not fair,” Philip moaned. “When are we going to go?”

“I still don’t know, honey,” his mom replied. “I just called

Grandma and told her that we’d be

quite late,” his mom said. “I’m not sure

they’ll wait for us to have dinner.”

This sounded pretty bad to Philip.

He’d been looking forward to a whole

evening of fun and games. His cousins

were going to be there, and they were

going to open their presents all togeth-

er. There would be good food, yummy

desserts and chocolates, and they’d be

allowed to stay up late and play with

their new toys while the adults sat and

talked. Now, he didn’t even know if he’d

get there at all.

He was wandering back to the big

tall windows to look around some

more when he passed by an elderly

man softly singing to a little girl about

Philip’s age. It sounded like he was try-

ing to teach her the words to a song.

Philip stopped and watched them for a

little while.

“Hello,” he said, approaching them. “I

know that song too.”

“You do?” asked the old man, acting

surprised. “Well, that’s wonderful. How

about you sing it for Eva?”

“I know it now too, Grandpa. I can

sing it with him,” the girl said.

“Well, go ahead. Let’s hear you two

do it.”

The two voices rang out, rather

more loudly than anyone around

would have expected.

Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the

Feast of Stephen,

When the snow lay round about, deep

and crisp and even.

Brightly shone the moon that night,

though the frost was cruel,

When a poor man came in sight,

gathering winter fuel.

…

21

As they finished their rendition,

they looked around, a bit embar-

rassed, as people clapped and smiled

at them. Then Eva said, “Shall we sing

another song? Do you know ‘Jingle

Bells’?” Philip nodded and they started

together,

Jingle bells, Jingle bells

Jingle all the way

Oh, what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh

…

Somewhere during the song,

someone started accompanying on an

instrument. As he continued singing,

Philip saw a man over in the far corner

of the waiting room blowing into a

trombone. He and Eva sang with all the

more gusto.

When they’d fi nished, the man

didn’t stop playing his trombone. He

launched into “God Rest Ye Merry,

Gentlemen,” and Eva’s grandfather

started singing along. He had a won-

derful baritone voice which seemed

to fi ll the entire room. But that didn’t

mean he sang alone. Slowly, people started to join in. Some

sang loudly and confi dently, while others mumbled the

words under their breath, but eventually almost everyone

was singing. “We Three Kings” and “Deck the Halls” followed,

and by then, when Philip looked around, all he could see

were happy smiling faces.

Something marvelous had taken place in the room.

Even though it was Christmas Eve and they were all far

away from their families and homes, the special joy of

Christmas was still present. People started up conversa-

tions with those sitting next to them, and started to make

new friends. Children played together, while their parents

laughed and talked. No one looked bored, lonely, or sad any

more.

Not long afterwards the storm was over, and Philip and

his parents were fi nally able to board their plane. It was late,

and they wouldn’t make it in time for Christmas dinner, but

Philip realized that that was not the most important thing

after all.

Christmas dinners, Christmas presents, and Christmas

playtime are not what make Christmas such a wonderful

time of year. What really makes Christmas special and sets

it apart from any other time of the year is something inside

people’s hearts.

It’s a time when amazing things can happen because

people are kind to one another and try to make others

happy. It’s a special time because of the Baby Whose birth-

day we celebrate. Christmas can happen anywhere!

22

If Jesus got a Christmas stocking for His birthday, what would you put in it? Can you draw it? Then color the picture.

To: JesusFrom:

23

Did you know that Christmas is My birthday, and that you can give Me gifts on My birthday? I know that getting gifts at Christmas is important to you. What you might not know is that it’s important to Me to get gifts at Christmas too. It makes Me very happy!

You’re probably wondering, “What kinds of gifts does Jesus want?” That’s a very good question. I’m not interested in material things—toys, clothes, video games, and stuff like that. There are some things you can do, though, that make Me happy, and when you do those things it’s like giving Me a special gift.

Here are some of the things I like you to do:*Take time with Me. Just like you enjoy playing with your friends and

doing things with your parents, I like to do things with you, because you’re My friends. When you pray, or read Bible stories, I come and join you. This makes Me happy!

*Do kind things for others. When you try your best to be kind to your parents by listening to them and obeying them, or when you share your toys with your brother or sister, or let your friend choose what game you’ll play, you’re also making Me happy.

*Telling others about Me. If you have friends who don’t know Me yet, you can tell them about Me, and teach them how they can pray and receive Me in their heart. Then I can be their friend too, and I really like that.

If you want to do something special for Me during this Christmas season, why not try these? I’ll say “thank you” by making you feel happy inside, and helping you to have lots of fun this Christmas.

Much love, Jesus

FROM JESUS WITH LOVE