Hosting a carol service at your school or church is a great way to get everyone in the Christmas spirit and remind them why we celebrate this special time of year. You might even take the opportunity to raise awareness and funds for less fortunate children around the world. This article explains how to host a carol service for children, helping you make sure the day is a success.

Organize a Christmas carol service

Before doing anything else, inform the school principal or church pastor that you are considering organizing a carol service for children. Once you have their permission, reserve a place (for example, your school room or local church) at a date and time that make it easy for children and their parents to attend.

This is what you will need:

• Service order
• Welcome speech, prepared by yourself / director / boy and girl / church pastor
• Good selection of Christmas songs for children.. Give the carol service a festive yet heartwarming vibe with a mix of fun, contemporary Christmas songs and more heartwarming traditional songs. Ask a pianist or band to play the accompaniment, or if you’re short on time, use an audio CD with backing tracks.
• Readings. The readings should also be varied, with a good mix of biblical messages and current stories. Speakers can include anyone from children to esteemed church members. The more mix you have, the more varied and interesting the carol service will be.
• Fundraising ideas. Hosting a carol service for children is also a great opportunity to raise money for charity and in doing so teach them valuable lessons about caring for others. Organize a collection at the beginning and / or end of the service and include a reading about your chosen charity. You could even incorporate a holiday bake sale or ask kids to bring in unwanted items to send to underprivileged kids.
• Christmas blessing / take-home message, prepared by yourself, the director or the pastor of the church. This should consolidate the lessons learned throughout the service.

Once you have found willing volunteers for the welcome speech, musical accompaniments, readings, etc., organize a meeting so that everyone can discuss their ideas and combine them to create a coherent carol service with a coherent message.

Allot a specific amount of time for each speaker (for example, 3-5 minutes per reading) and let them go and plan their individual readings. If you are concerned about the running of the service that day, get everyone together beforehand for a quick rehearsal.

Now that you have a better idea of ​​how to organize a carol service for children, you should feel much more confident. For more fundraising ideas, visit the websites of charities like The Children’s Society, which offers great advice.