
Learn how to set up a nativity scene
NATIVITY SCENE SET UP IDEAS & ORDER
Setting up a Nativity scene (also known as creche or manger scene) is a beloved Christmas tradition for everyone: Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without Nativity scenes in many Catholic households! Did you know that the first ever Nativity scene was created by none other than St. Francis of Assissi back in 1223, to celebrate the birth of Jesus?
Start your own family tradition, too! The whole process of setting up the Nativity scene will keep the kids entertained for at least a whole afternoon (even a day, if you take them to the Christmas market first). And it’ll become a day that your family will be looking forward to, as December approaches. In today’s post you’ll learn how to arrange your own on the right order, step by step.
Prepare to set up your Nativity scene
1
When to arrange it?
When should you set up your Nativity Scene? Families will set it up a few of weeks before Christmas: some will pair it with the beginning of Advent, some will do it for Saint Lucy’s day (December 13)… but most will schedule it for one of the first weekends of December, whenever it’s most convenient for them and probably they’ll be setting their Christmas decorations and the Christmas tree on the same day as well.
And when should you take it out? Nowadays most families will wait until the day after the Epiphany (that is, January 7th) to take it out. But traditionally it was to be taken out on Candlemass day, 40 days after Christmas – so February 2nd.
2
Go shopping
If you don't have your figurines yet, you'll need to get them first. Visit a local Christmas Market (the two best in Barcelona are in front of the Old Cathedral and in front of the Sagrada Familia church). You will need to buy a miniature stable, little figures of the baby Jesus on a manger, Mary, Joseph, the mule and the bull, at least one angel, a star, the Three Wise Men and their pages, and as many shepherds and other decoration stuff as you like.
Get also some starry-night paper, a couple of oak three trunks and some muss and other materials to create the landscape (see below for more ideas). Don’t have a Christmas market nearby? My favorite nativity scene makers are those from HolyArt (and you can get them from Amazon, like I did when my 4yo took our Virgin Mary without asking, because she wanted to show it to her classmates and… of course she lost it, oh mae). There are other Italian and American designers that do beautiful things as well.
3
Choose a place to set up your Nativity scene
Back home, pick a place of honor for your Christmas nativity scene. Make sure it is a place of passage in your house, well lit, and at a height where it’s comfortable to work setting it up as well as to watch it. If you are planning to add lights, you’ll need an electrical outlet nearby.
Here are some ideas:
- An auxiliary table against a wall
- A mid-height shelf
- The top of a chest of drawers
- The fireplace mantle
- Your entryway console
- Under the Christmas tree
Free the space from any objects that may be on top and cover it with some old newspapers to protect the surface.
Christmas nativity scene set up order
4
Arrange the setting: background and landscape
- Oak tree barks lying agains the wall make convincing “mountains”. But you can also use other types of wood that is available in your area, papier maché, foam rubber, rocks…
- Use some sawdust or fine sand or earth to create a path across the board leading to the stable.
- A line of aluminum foil or some blue crafts paper will be use to represent a water stream.
- Then cover the remaining surface with moss or lychen. Beware that they are protected species in many areas: do not remove it from the wild and purchase it only from authorized vendors.
- Use fir branches or thyme dry sprigs or other types of greenery in order to recreate trees.
- And give the final touch sprinkling some flour over your landscape to fake snow. For an even “snowfall” I put a handful of flour on a sieve and sift it as if I was sifting sugar on top of a cake.
At the Christmas market you can also find extra items such as a bridge for your river, a well, a haystack, a mill, a water spring, buildings, trees and other natural elements to make your Nativity scene livelier. Set them up now, so you can organize the rest of figurines around them later.
IDEA: Add some Christmas lights to brighten up your Nativity scene set up. If possible, choose blue hues for the areas near the starry night paper and the river, greens over the moss, warmer colors around the stable… Alternatively, a combination of bright colors scattered all around will also add a touch of fun.
5
Set up the Cave Scene
There is a traditional way to set up the characters inside the Cave (or stable or barn). The Baby Jesus always goes in the center, since we want him to be the center of attention. The Virgin Mary will be place to his right (your left), and maybe closer to the baby than Saint Joseph, who stands to its left (your right).
You’ll often see two animals inside the stable: a mule or donkey, lying behind Joseph, and an ox or bull behind Mary. They aren’t mentioned in the Gospels – actually only Luke’s Gospel says Jesus was born in a stable. But traditionally the donkey has symbolized the pagan people, and the ox the people of Israel and Christianity.
Complete your scene set up with the Angel Gabriel announcing the good tidings. It usully goes on the roof of the stable, or somewhere under the star.
IDEA: You may want to wait to add the Baby Jesus to the manger until December 25th, the actual day He was born.
6
Set up the shepherds
The shepherds were announced the good tiddings by Gabriel, and they went to the stable to offer Jesus their humble presents – mostly food and objects they made themselves. So do arrange some shepherd figurines in front of the Stable, worshiping the Baby Jesus. You can then display the rest along the path, as if they were on their way to the Stable. Extra points if you got little figures of animals such as sheep, poultry or cows to go with your shepherds.
If you also bought an Annunciation set (tree with angel, shepherds and bonfire), find a place for them over the moss not too close to the stable.
IDEA: If you won’t be displaying the Baby Jesus figurine until Christmas day, then don’t place the shepherds by the stable until then.
7
Arrange the 3 Wise Men
So the day you set up your Nativity scene, arrange the Wise Men with their camels and pages at the furthest end of the path you created with sawdust or sand. The correct order is first Melchior (the one with white hair), then Gaspar (the blond one), and Balthasar (the dark-skinned one) at the end. Then every day you must move them one step closer to the Stable, so that they arrive there precisely on January 6th.
IDEA: On a classic Nativity set up, once they reach the stable the three Wise Men are placed in front of it to the left, and the shepperds are arranged to the right.
AND BONUS! What about the Caganer? Can a Pooping Man really go in a Nativity scene?
8
The Caganer (Pooping Man)
Did you know that in the region of Spain called Catalonia (where Barcelona is) they add a special figurine called “Caganer” to their Nativities? It is a little figure of a farmer squatting and… pooping! Originally it started as a symbol of good luck and wealth (because it’s fertilizing the land for good crops). But nowadays it’s more of a kids game.
The Caganer is hidden somewhere within your Nativity scene: behind a rock or a tree, among the moss, under a bridge… Because of course it’s not going to be pooping in the middle of the way! Then when guests come visiting for Christmas, the kids of the household will challenge them to find it.
Mind you, it’s not considered disrespectful (despite fully displaying its butt and a large poop): it’s just a humorous tradition. But while it’s common in any Catalan family Nativity set, and not unusual in public Nativities either, you’ll rarely see it in churches or other religious buildings. So you may choose to add it to your own Nativity set depending on your own goals.
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Last update on 2025-02-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API