Nativity plays gone wrong

If you're a teacher or work in an education environment, the festive season can be one of the most stressful times of the year. Though to delighted students, it means the opportunity to make some fun crafts, sing in a play and enjoy a great break off, for those behind the scenes there's a little bit more going on. And, of course, one of the biggest culprits of teacher pulling her hair out is the annual nativity play. Here are some situations to keep your eyes open for when the festive season approaches:

The Improvised Birth of Jesus

A fantastic Christmas tale finds the writer's poor teacher friend stuck with a nativity play that has been decided will be improvised. As you can imagine, for the average primary school age child, when given free reign of the stage the nativity was likely to end in disaster.

And in fact, it leads to Mary, mother of Jesus, questioning the gender of Jesus himself before deciding his name should, in fact, be Gavin. Luckily for those more devout in the audience, the angel informs Mary that the baby has to be called Jesus or she 'won't get him'. Not quite how we remember it going down in our primary school days!

The Crocodile of Bethlehem

According to a feature on the Daily Mail, Jesus wasn't only born in the company of farm animals - in fact, according to Matthew of Merchant Taylors "There were sheep, horses and a crocodile outside the stable". Quite the zoo, and an interesting setpiece to liven up any nativity.

The Runaway Donkey

Both causing a divine disaster and embarrassing his parents in one fell swoop, this Mumsnet mum recalls the time her son, playing the innkeeper, decided to kick the wheeled donkey across the stage, resulting in a damaged donkey and nothing for Mary to ride on. Not quite following the message of the Bible, but it certainly added some drama to the show - and at least the other parents found it funny!

Of course, if you're looking for an effective way to prevent disaster at your school's nativity, a little preparation never goes amiss. Why not try our paper supplies for some beautiful nativity decorations (after all, Jesus wasn't born in a school hall - it's important to set the mood!), or our notebooks to keep track of everyone's lines and the order of songs? See our full range of stationary here.