The made-for-television version of Johanna Spyri's family classic Heidi (Jennifer Edwards), a young orphan girl, is sent to live with her grandfather (Michael Redgrave) in the beautiful Swiss Alps. The gruff and bitter old man views Heidi at first as an ill-mannered child and an unwanted responsibility, but he soon becomes quite attached to her.

With the children’s constant bickering, pretty packages and a sweet-smelling tree don’t come close to filling the McDonald home with the true spirit of the first Christmas. Then Mom remembers an old tradition of building a soft bed for Baby Jesus one straw at a time. Each time someone secretly does something nice for another family member, he or she gets to add a single straw to the manger. Soon the children's quarreling and negative feelings subside and the homemade crib is overflowing. But for one family member, a required act of kindness becomes more than he can take.