This DIY Christmas nativity stable is a fun Christmas craft for kids and adults made with popsicle sticks. Use this cute wooden nativity stable to make your own homemade Christmas nativity scene!
Learn how to make a wooden nativity stable with popsicle craft sticks for Christmas! A fun Christmas craft for kids and adults are sure to enjoy! Toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners will need help from a parent, caregiver, or teacher–while older children and teens might be able to complete this DIY Christmas Decor project from start to finish on their own. We use our DIY nativity stable as an element in our Simple Stone Advent Calendar, but it also makes a lovely wooden stable for a Christmas nativity scene.
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Homemade Wooden Nativity Stable
My preschool-aged daughter and I had a great time engineering this homemade wooden nativity stable with popsicle craft sticks for Christmas. It may seem not very easy, and there are quite a few steps involved, but it is super simple to make!
Would you mind looking through the step-by-step nativity stable directions before attempting to make this DIY Christmas nativity? It will be a lot easier to put together if you have a general idea of each step involved.
With that said, some of these Christmas nativity stable plans to make this wooden nativity stable craft will make a lot more sense when you are in the process of making it.
We have found that this handmade craft stick nativity stable is solid once you put it together. It may seem fragile but can last for several years if stored away correctly.
Related: Easy DIY Wooden Peg Doll Holy Family Nativity Scene
DIY Nativity Stable Craft Supplies
- Mini popsicle sticks for crafts
- Regular size popsicle sticks
- Jumbo colored craft sticks
- Pencil
- Glue gun and glue sticks, or, wood glue pen
- Wooden star (1.5 inches)
- Yellow acrylic paint
- Paintbrush
Safety Note: It is essential to provide supervision and instruct children how to use glue safely if you choose to use one to make this craft.
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How to Make a Nativity Stable with Popsicle Sticks
The irregularities of popsicle sticks can make building with them a tricky business. Do your best to select craft sticks that are as straight as possible. Too many crooked popsicle craft sticks can make this DIY Christmas nativity stable tough to complete.
It is also essential to construct the nativity stable as neatly as possible. Do your best to make the popsicle craft sticks line up correctly. Lining the popsicle sticks up can be challenging for different reasons depending on the type of glue that you use.
Take the nativity craft supplies that you choose to use into consideration as you work through the directions. You may decide to take a break after one or two steps and come back to work on your wooden Christmas stable at a later time.
We recommend taking frequent craft breaks if you choose to make this nativity craft with toddlers or preschoolers or use glue that takes time to dry.
Step 1 – Paint the wooden star yellow
- Use a paintbrush to apply yellow acrylic paint to a 1.5-inch wooden star.
to apply 
to a 1.5-inch wooden star.We recommend completing this step before beginning construction on the popsicle stick nativity stable. This way, it will be dry and ready to attach to the wooden Christmas stable once you build it.
Related: Walnut Shell Manger Christmas Ornament
2. Build the sidewalls of the nativity stable
Use a combination of regular and mini popsicle craft sticks to build each sidewall of the wooden nativity stable.
Craft supplies for each sidewall:
- 5 regular size popsicle sticks (2 more to use as guidelines-optional)
- 5 mini popsicle sticks
- Glue gun with glue sticks or wood glue pen
- Pencil
or 
How to build the sidewall of the popsicle stick nativity stable:
- Lay 5 mini craft sticks down horizontally. Place 2 regular-sized popsicle sticks vertically along the sides of the mini popsicle sticks to help line them up as straight as possible.
- Place a regular-sized craft stick on top of each side of the horizontally placed mini craft sticks. It will look like train tracks. (Use the 2 popsicle sticks that you placed along the sides, or, grab another 2 craft sticks while keeping the originals in place as guidelines as shown.)
- Use a pencil to place a dot over the point at which the vertically placed regular-sized popsicle sticks overlap the horizontal mini craft sticks.
- Place a dot of glue where you have made each pencil mark, turn it over, and attach it to the top of the horizontally arranged mini craft sticks. Do your best to keep the craft sticks straight and flush. Do not allow any of the popsicle sticks to extend out beyond the overlapped craft stick. Repeat this step on the other side.
- Flip over your little train track and repeat with 2 more craft sticks on the other side.
- Place a bead of glue along the edge of another popsicle craft stick and attach it to one side of your sidewall. Leave the other side of the sidewall as is. Do not glue another craft stick to it because it will be glued to the back wall of the nativity stable in a later step.
- Repeat steps 1 through 6 to create a second sidewall.
We have included a photo tutorial to complement the written instructions listed above.
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3. Build the back wall of the nativity stable
A total of 22 popsicle craft sticks are needed to construct the back wall of the wooden Christmas stable.
How to build the back wall of the nativity stable with popsicle sticks
- Lay two craft sticks down horizontally tip to tip.
- Place a line of glue along the top of another craft stick, turn it over, and lay it on top of the 2 craft sticks laying horizontally in order to attach them. Repeat this step 5 times to make a total of 5 extra long craft sticks for the back wall of the nativity.
- Line the completed craft stick backboards up horizontally. Place 2 more regularly-sized popsicle sticks on top of the far left, and, far right sides of the horizontally placed extra long popsicle sticks. Do your best to make sure that they as evenly spaced as possible.
- Use a pencil to place a dot on top of the verticle popsicle stick where the craft sticks overlap.
- Place a dot of glue where you have made each pencil mark. Turn the wooden stick over and glue it to the top of the horizontally arranged extra long craft sticks. Once again, do your best to keep them flush. Do not allow any of the horizontal craft sticks to extend out beyond the verticle craft stick on either side.
- Flip the back wall over and repeat this step with 2 more regularly sized popsicle sticks on the other side.
- Keep the back wall turned over and put a dot of glue where each pair of craft sticks touches in the middle. Place a regular craft stick vertically over the dots of glue in the middle of the back wall to attach it. This will both cover the point where the craft sticks meet and make the back wall of the popsicle stick stable stronger.
- Use a glue gun to place a bead of glue along the edge of another regular craft stick. Attach it to one side of the back wall to cap the edge. Repeat on the other side.
Related: Angel Peg Doll Christmas Ornament
Step 4 – Attach the sidewalls to the back wall of the popsicle stick stable
- Lay down the back wall so that the vertical craft stick I-beam down the middle is on top.
- Place bead of glue along the upper edge of one side.
- Attach the sidewall with the exposed side down and the capped side up.
- Repeat this step on the other side of the stable.
Step 5 – Build the roof of the nativity stable
You will need three jumbo craft sticks and two mini craft sticks for each side of the roof.
- Put 3 jumbo craft sticks side by side.
- Place a bead of glue along the edge of a mini craft stick, turn it over, and attach it horizontally about 1 inch from the end of the red jumbo craft sticks. Glue the second mini craft stick to the other side of the jumbo craft sticks.
- Repeat the steps above to make the other side of the pitched roof.
Note: Do not place the mini craft sticks too far from the end of the red jumbo popsicle sticks. The position of the craft sticks will ultimately affect the pitch of the roof.
Related: Craft Stick Peg Doll Boat for Kids
Step 6 – Attach the roof to the frame of the Christmas stable
My daughter and I made a total of 3 of these wooden nativity stable crafts together, and we never attached the roof of it the same way twice.
How you construct the stable structure will affect how your roof will fit and what you need to do to make it work. Call it a STEAM challenge and set the kids to work at home or in the classroom to figure it out.
- Play with both sides of the roof turned each way on both the left and right sides before you decide how to glue it. Move them around to find which way they fit best.
- Lean the mini stick on one side of the roof into the cradle on the top of the sidewall. Find the way that it sits the best and glue it there. We used a glue gun with glue sticks to attach the roof. Repeat on the other side. (See the top two pictures in the photo collage below.)
- Attach craft stick crossbars in back from one side of the back wall to the opposite roof in whatever way works. Use the popsicle stick crossbars and glue to help support and move the roof correctly into place.
The photos below show a few different ways to use popsicle craft sticks to make the crossbars that attach the roof of the nativity stable to the back wall.
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Step 7 – Attach the yellow wooden star to the roof of the nativity stable
- Place a dot of glue on the two arms of your star that touch the roof in order to attach it. This will both help stabilize the roof and give it a little more structural integrity.
This DIY craft stick nativity stable looks lovely displayed in Christmas nativity scenes as home decor and makes a great gift idea for the holidays.
DIY Wooden Christmas Stable
We are using our DIY craft stick stable as an element in our simple stone advent. To learn how to make our easy DIY wooden peg doll holy family click HERE.
We have found that this handmade craft stick nativity stable is solid once you put it together. It may seem fragile but can last for several years if stored away correctly.
Don’t forget to pop over to check out 33 Christmas Traditions for a Magical Holiday and our Winter Bucket List filled with Fun Activities.
You may also like these round-ups of Christmas gifts and Christmas ornaments that kids can make.
Learn more about Rhythms of Play HERE!
More Christmas Ideas
- 33 Christmas Traditions for a Magical Holiday
- Christmas Art Projects
- Beaded Snowflake Christmas Ornaments
- Christmas Handprint, Footprint, and Fingerprint Card Crafts
- Angel Christmas Ornament
- Walnut Shell Baby Jesus Ornament
This is so beautiful! Love it!
Thanks, Karyn! So glad you like it! I have many more fun craft stick structures planned now that my daughter and I have mastered engineering them. I will be sharing more fun craft stick DIY’s in the new year!
I’m making this with my kids at daycare and I’m wondering what size star you used.
Thank you
Hi Rene!
I’m so glad you will be making this with your class! I used the 1.5-inch wooden star for this project. Enjoy!
Each store seems to have different dimensions for the mini craft, craft and jumbo craft sticks. Could you provide the dimensions? Thanks
I’m so sorry I missed your comment Diane! My family was on vacation for the holidays. I hope you were able to make it. For future reference, I don’t think it matters which mini, standard, and jumbo craft sticks you use. The roof may have a bit more or less pitch, and it might be a slightly different size when finished, but it should work just fine.
Hi,Seeing your share on the website gives me a lot of inspiration. It’s really great!
I’m so glad you like it and that it gives you inspiration, Helen! There are a lot of steps, but it is quite simple to make. 🙂
I was wondering if you could explain a little bit more about how you got the roof on. Mine isn’t coming on at all.
Hi Noah, I’m sorry that you are having trouble. The roof needs to be held in position while it is glued. It will not sit and stay until you glue it together. Its a bit challenging to figure out how to lean it just right, but I have confidence that you can do it.
I love this. Thanks so much! What dimensions would you recommend for the peg dolls, please? Thank you!
Thank you, Elizbeth!
My daughter and I had a lot of fun putting it together. The peg dolls that we used are in “Holy Family Nativity Scene” which you can find if you click the link. I will update this post to include them as well. Thanks again!
Planning to make this with my Sunday school kids, they are middle school age. I made one today to gauge how long it will take. Took roughly 45 minutes without painting. I’m going to make some of the pieces ahead of time just to help the process! Thanks for sharing this. My kids helped me pick it out themselves. They are very excited. I think I’m going to apply the same idea as the back wall to make a “floor” though. Just make the sticks touch instead of spaced.
Hello Nikki,
I’m so happy to hear that you are making this nativity craft with your Sunday school kids and that they helped you pick it out. I’m delighted you all like it–you are very welcome!
My daughter and I have made several popsicle stick nativity stables over the years, and they always turn out lovely. You will notice that they are a lot quicker and easier to make once you have made one. I like the idea of making the back wall with the popsicle sticks closer together–we may give that a try, too! Thanks for the great suggestion. 🙂
Nell