Here are some of our Advent traditions that our kids enjoy that keep help "keep Christ in Christmas" at our house and also give them visual of "how many days until Christmas?"
Lighting the Advent wreath at dinner. (They have been very good about taking turns as to who gets to blow the candle out each night...so far!)
We have a store-bought banner and today will begin moving the star around the manger scene every day.
I also make a paper chain (similar idea for the one we make for Lent) with Christmas-type activities or "good deed" suggestions for the kids to complete. (A friend sent me this link and we copied some of their action items for our paper chain.)
 |
| (And, yes, if you have an eagle eye I cheated and did not make links on the chain for the days that we will be traveling for my sister's wedding in a few weeks. Sometimes it's easier to avoid the confusion of extra links...or for me to remember to take the extras off when no one is watching!) |
We also put a piece of hay in the manger when we do good deeds or have good behavior, etc. So on Christmas morning Baby Jesus will have a nice, soft bed. (The secret here is the my kids LOVE doing this and I can threaten to take a piece of hay OUT of the manger if they are misbehaving and their behavior usually changes very quickly!)
This is a book I picked up at our local Christian bookstore and has been a big hit. It has a small bible story to read, then several things to find hidden in pictures. (Similar to an "I Spy" book.) It's perfect for kids 3 and up.
 |
| www.creativecommunications.com |
So those are our tried and true Advent traditions!
Linking up with:
I love putting the hay in the manger idea! We are lighting the candles in our Advent wreath, too, and I'm so happy we are in week 2...so now each of my daughters can blow out a candle! (We did have some tears last week over this.)
ReplyDelete