Just for Kids 19: 2006

By Patricia Kasten
Compass Associate Editor

It's all about the gift.

	"Just for Kids" Christmas Essays
	• Last year's essays

Christmas is the feast of the Incarnation - when God's own Son came into the world as a human being like us. God came to live with us. What a gift. And that was only the beginning since - at Easter - God gave us the gift of eternal life.

Our own gifts, especially at Christmas, mirror God's gift of love.

Each year, as Christmas nears, The Compass asks children, in fifth grade and under, to participate in our "Just for Kids" Christmas essay project. Every year, individual children, as well as students in Catholic school classes and religious education programs around the diocese, send in essays. Their perspectives add to our celebration of the Incarnation.

This year, our 19th annual "Just for Kids" asks children to write about a gift. Just one gift:

If you could give only one Christmas gift this year - to just one person - what would it be? Who would get it, and why?

Due to space limitations, please keep essays under 50 words. Children may include illustrations with their essays.

Each entry, from individuals or classes, should include each child's name, address, age, school, parish, and grade in school. (Class submissions should include the teacher's name and class, since we often receive several entries from one school and several classes.)

Send all entries to "Just for Kids," attn. Patricia Kasten, c/o The Compass, P.O. Box 23825, Green Bay, WI 54305-3825. All entries must be received by Dec. 1 to be in time for publication in the Christmas issue. (While we will edit for space, all essays will be posted on The Compass web site at www.thecompassnews.org during the holiday season.)

All entrants will also receive a prize from The Compass some time after the New Year.

Be creative. Have fun. We look forward to hearing from you.