Tell pupils the story of the birth of Jesus up to the journey to Bethlehem, showing illustrations from the book. What do families collect to prepare for the birth of a baby? What made it different in the story for Mary to do these things? Talk about the feelings of characters in the story so far – add Mary, Joseph & donkey characters to display. Write labels for the display explaining the characters’ feelings. Explain how people use Advent calendars to count the days up to Christmas Day and that this helps people to remember Mary waiting for her baby to be born. Make pictures to go behind doors of a class Advent Calendar.