It was show time for youngsters at three Leicestershire schools who were staging their seasonal winter productions this week.
Children at St John Fisher Catholic Primary, Wigston, Knighton's St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy and Humberstone Infants took to the stage to entertain family and friends.
At St John's, 60 Year 2 pupils performed two different Nativity plays yesterday.
Teacher Ruth Moloney said: "Our youngest children, aged as young as four, performed a Nativity play based around an accident-prone angel called 'Whoopsadaisy'.
"The second, for older children, was called Children of the World, where angels visit different parts of the world to bring children to the manger to meet baby Jesus.
"All the children did so well to remember all their parts and did brilliantly. It's been an enjoyable way to help them understand the Christmas message."
Humberstone Infant School, meanwhile, are performing three shows of their production of Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are.
Actors from the Sticky Fingers Children's Theatre Company prepared the pupils for their opening night last night which featured dry ice, mirror-balls, professional lighting and tailored costumes.
Head Mandy Fox said: "Our big focus is encouraging children's love of literature and rehearsals went really well.
"The idea is to involve as many children as possible and bring their individual talents to the fore."
St Thomas More Key Stage 1 pupils performed a Nativity in five "jigsaw" pieces – including scenes featuring the three wise men, Roman soldiers and angels – coming together for the finale manger scene, on Monday. Head Patricia Mason said: "They performed to a packed audience of mums, dads and grandparents.
"It was outstanding. The children were so proud of themselves and you could see how much they enjoyed it."
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