The Little Match Girl – A Christmas Play for Children.
Characters: Three narrators, Little Match Girl, the Little Match Girl’s father, Grandmother, Mother, Father, Boy, Girl, Stove, Christmas Tree, Shooting Star.
The Little Match Girl – A Christmas Play for Children.
Narrator 1: Long, long time ago, there lived a little girl who was very poor.
Narrator 2: She had to sell matches to make enough money to buy food.
Little Match Girl’s Father: Go out and sell these boxes of matches. We need the money. Don’t come back until you have sold the last box.
Narrator 3: It was winter and it was very cold.
Little match girl: (takes out matches) I’ve been trying to sell matches all day but no one will buy them. I’ve not earned a single penny to buy food.
Narrator 1: Day turned to night.
Narrator 2: She grew colder and hungrier by the hour.
Narrator 3: She looked longingly in the windows of the houses. In one window, she saw a family laughing and singing around a large table that was filled with Christmas food.
(Family is enjoying their meal while they are laughing and having fun by the fire.)
Little Match Girl: Oh, how I would love to be inside there with that family. They look so warm and they are having fun. I can’t go home because my father will be very angry that I haven’t sold one box of matches. (She shivers.) If I light one of my matches, it will warm me up.
Narrator 1: She took out her matches and struck one.
Narrator 2: She cupped the flame to keep her warm and suddenly a stove appeared in front of her.
Stove: Come here, Little Match Girl and warm yourself by my hearth. It is very cold this Christmas.
Little Match Girl: Thank you so much, stove.
Narrator 3: Then, suddenly the flame went out and stove disappeared into the darkness of the night.
Little Match Girl: It is getting colder and colder. I dare not light another match.
Narrator 2: She did not light a match for a long time but then she whispered to herself.
Little Match Girl: Just one more match. (Her teeth are chattering and she is shivering.)
Narrator 3: She lit the second match and she was transported to a warm room with a welcoming fire and a table laden with good food.
Mother: Come in and sit down by dear.
Father: Warm yourself by the fire.
Girl: Have some of our food.
Boy: Then you can play with us.
Narrator 1: Just as she was about to eat the food, the match died and the magical room disappeared before her very eyes.
Little Match Girl: I’m so sad, cold and hungry. I will light just one more match.
Narrator 2: A magnificent Christmas tree appeared before her very eyes.
Christmas Tree: Come and sit under my branches.
Narrator 3: There were hundreds of candles burning on the tree.
Little match girl: Oh, what beautiful candles. (She stretches out her hand to touch the candles.)
Narrator 1: Suddenly the match went out and she scorched her fingers.
Little Match Girl: Ouch. I’m alone in the dark and cold again.
Shooting star: Whooosh. (Flies across the stage.)
Little Match Girl: There is a shooting star. My grandmother always told me that if you saw a shooting star in the sky, someone somewhere was dying. I will light one more match.
Narrator 2: Her grandmother appeared.
Grandmother: There you are. At last. I’ve been waiting a long time for you.
Little Match Girl: Please don’t go. I know you will disappear like the stove, the family and the Christmas tree. (She frantically lights one match after another.) Please take me with you.
Grandmother: Come with me to heaven. There will be no hunger or cold, only joy and happiness.
Narrator 1: The next morning the family was on its way to Christmas morning mass when they saw something in the snow.
Boy: Look, there is a little girl in the snow.
Girl: She is not moving.
Boy: She is surrounded by all these burnt matches.
Mother: She has no need for matches where she is going.
Children: Where has she gone?
Father: She is gone to a place without cold, hunger or pain. Just warmth and happiness.
Christmas drama games for children.