PJ Christmas Party

What do you do with 140 kids while their parents are Christmas shopping?

Hold a PJ party, of course!

That's exactly what the children's ministry of St. Barnabas United Methodist Church in Arlington, TX did this past Friday. The kiddos, clad in pajamas and slippers, fueled up with pizza, then had pillow fights, fashioned Christmas crafts and watched a movie.

As the Almost Amazing Marko, I visited the preschoolers first. I entertained two groups with my Drooping Flower routine (which became a poinsettia because of the holiday season). I also performed the Wordless Book--in the shape of a bag. The Wordless Book has been around for quite some time, telling the Gospel through colored pages. In the case of my "magical" bag, I keep turning it inside out to reveal a new color, which advances the story (brown for the manger, green for Jesus growing, red for His blood shed on the Cross, etc). After the illusions, I handed out JESUS ♥ ME stickers, always a big hit with kids!

After the preschool shows, it was time for the main event in the Family Life Center. The grade-schoolers sat on the floor with their pillows as I searched for the perfect Christmas. I pulled tinsel out of an empty tube, made flutterfetti snow from water, twisted a balloon reindeer for a little girl, magically transformed a bare Christmas tree picture and did the Hippity Hop Santa trick. There was a running gag through the show as I kept opening a candy box with no candy in it. I also told some really lame jokes in the process ("Why was the naughty candy cane afraid to go home after school?" "He was afraid he would get a licking!")

Finally, at the end of the show, I found the Color-Changing Bag with a gift tag attached to it. The tag read TO: EVERYONE FROM: GOD (YOU CAN OPEN BEFORE CHRISTMAS). Using the bag, I told the story of Jesus and then brought out a baby doll as we all sang "Away In A Manger."

I gave the candy box one more try, with some magical words and motions from the crowd. Voila! The empty box was suddenly full of tasty candy canes, which I handed out at the end of the show. Several kids hugged me, one wanted a picture with me, and a girl asked me if I would come to her birthday party next year.

A great night!

Want to book the Almost Amazing Marko? Call 817-281-2730 or send an email to info@onemanshow.org.