Flashback Friday - Starting the Advent with Your Kids

During the Christmas season many people celebrate Advent with their families.  The Advent celebration symbolizes Christ’s “coming” or birth and provides an opportunity for Christians to reflect on the true meaning of the Christmas holiday.  

Some of you may cringe at the thought of participating in Advent when painful childhood memories of stodgy, overly-formal church services come flooding back.  However, celebrating Advent can be a fun, at-home learning experience for the whole family.  For children, the story of Christ’s birth seems magical and taking part in an Advent devotional each Sunday night between Thanksgiving and Christmas can offer a poignant reminder of why we honor this holiday.  Typically, Advent begins on the Sunday closest to November 30th and continues each Sunday night through Christmas Eve with the lighting of a new candle on the Advent wreath.  The wreath symbolizes continuous life and each color candle – three purple, one pink and one white – represent different aspects of Christ’s ministry.  A brief devotional reading from the Bible focuses everyone on the topic of the night.  Feel free to cater the celebration to your family dynamic.  If you have little ones, keep the Bible reading or devotional story short and help them to understand what you are reading so they do not become bored or disengaged and start playing with the candle wax!

To help you get started with your family’s Advent celebration, below you will find a loose schedule, some suggested readings for each Sunday evening topic* and some fun ideas to get the kids involved in making your Advent ceremonies memorable.  

Light a purple candle
Say a prayer
Read one of the following passages from the Bible:
Isaiah 60:2-3, Isaiah 11:1-10, Luke: 1:26-38, Isaiah 7:10-14 or Matthew 1:18-24
Sing a Christmas song (suggested O Come, O Come, Emmanuel)

Second Sunday – Peace

Light two purple candles (Hope and Peace)
Say a prayer
Read one of the following passages from the Bible:
Mark 1:4, Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1-2, 9-11, Isaiah 2:1-5 or Matthew 3:1-6
Sing a Christmas song (suggested Hark, the Herald Angels Sing)

Third Sunday – Joy

Light the pink candle (Joy) and the two purple candles (Hope and Peace)
Say a Prayer
Read one of the following passages from the Bible:
Isaiah 35:10, Isaiah 9:6-7, John 1:19-34, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 or Philippians 2:1-11
Sing a Christmas song (suggested Joy to the World)

Fourth Sunday – Love

Light three purple candles (Hope, Peace and Love) and the pink candle (Joy)
Say a prayer
Read one of the following passages from the Bible:
Isaiah 9:6-7, Malachi 3:1-5, Romans 8:18-25, Isaiah 52:7-10 or Revelation 21:1-4
Sing a Christmas song (suggested Silent Night)

Christmas Eve – Christ’s Birth

Light all four previous candles and the white, center candle (Christ’s birth)
Say a prayer
Read one of these passages from the Bible:
Luke 1:68-79 and 2:1-20, Isaiah 9:1-6, John 1:1-18 or Titus 2:11-14
Sing a Christmas song (suggested What Child is This?)

Here are a few suggestions to help makes these devotions fun and memorable for everyone:

• If you choose to read portions of the Christmas story, have the children make the characters from the Nativity out of empty toilet paper rolls, clothes pins or sock puppets.  Allow the children to act out the story.
   
• Have the children make their own Advent wreath and keep it in their room as a decoration.  Using green construction paper, trace each child’s hand several times and then cut out the tracings.  Glue the green hands, fingers pointing out, into a circle to resemble a wreath.  Using approximately 8 x 2 inch rectangles of pink and purple construction paper, have each child roll up a piece into a tube, resembling a candle.  Tape the seam to hold it in place.  Continue with the paper tubes until you have three purple and one pink candle for each wreath.  Tape or help them glue the “candles” onto the wreath.  Using orange or yellow construction paper, color and cut out “flames” for the top of each candle.  Glue or tape the flame on the top of each candle.
   
• Buy a kid-friendly Nativity Scene for the kids to use to act out the stories.  Fisher Price now carries a Little People Nativity Set.
   
• Check out from the library different children’s books depicting the Nativity story and read a new one each night.
   
• Buy or make a daily Advent Calendar to help remind the children of the season.  If you are using a box calendar, place a small piece of candy, some stickers, ideas for fun activities or other small surprises inside each box.  Have the children take turns opening each day.  
   

Ideas for daily Advent activities:

• Do a craft

• Bake cookies

• Research different traditional Christmas foods from around the world and try making some of them.  You might find a new favorite!

• Drive around looking at lights

• Make homemade hot chocolate mix

• Throw a birthday party for Baby Jesus

• Make Christmas cards for a nursing home or deployed soldiers
    
• Take treats or homemade decorations to a nursing home (seniors love visiting with kids!)

• Watch a Christmas movie and eat popcorn before bed

• Make ornaments

• Purchase items for a local charity

• Adopt a family in need and buy them food or Christmas gifts – the pastor at your local church might have the names of area families who need a little extra help this season

• Join a Messiah Sing-a-long

• Attend a local performance of a Christmas show such as The Nutcracker or A Christmas Carol

• Grow a Christmas flower like Amaryllis or Narcissus (if you start from scratch, this one requires a little forethought since it takes at least eight weeks for the bulbs to bloom)

• Make homemade animal treats to donate to your local SPCA

• Have a gingerbread cookie decorating party

• Make your own wrapping paper with plain craft paper and stickers or finger paints

• Have each child write down (or you can write it for them if they can’t yet write) something they like about each of their siblings and put it next to that sibling’s breakfast plate or in their lunchbox as a nice surprise.

You can do as much or as little as you want to celebrate the Advent season.  Get creative by modifying the suggestions above or coming up with your own.  If you have an idea that we haven’t mentioned then leave us a note in the Comments section.  Others might like to give your idea a try.  The important thing is to make sure that your celebration fits with your family’s priorities and that it adds fun and not stress to your Christmas celebration.  Happy Advent!

* Please read these scriptures in advance to determine which would be most appropriate for your family.

Kim is the wife of one rockin' Worship Pastor and full-time mom to four crazy and beautiful kids. Toss in a part-time job, housework, a blog, training for a foster care license and what passes for a social life these days and she’s still wondering how she fits 32 hours into a 24 hour day.