I've mentioned a time or two that Advent started this past Sunday, but do you know what Advent is?
Advent is the season of waiting for Christmas. It begins on the fourth Sunday before November and ends on Christmas Eve, but some people celebrate it just from December 1 to 24.
No matter when you observe it, Advent is a time of happiness, celebration, and hopeful anticipation of the birth of Jesus Christ.
Whether you are young or old, waiting is hard. I hate to wait.
Counting down helps the time to pass. It gives us something to look forward to every day. It is just plain fun.
8 Ways to Count Down to Christmas
- Buy an Advent calendar - You can, of course, buy an Advent calendar.
There are dozens of Advent calendars on the market. Most start on December 1, so it's not too late to get one and get started.
Some Advent calendars are made from cardboard, where you pop open little flaps to reveal scriptures, like the Precious Moments Advent Calendaror pictures like the Charlie Brown Christmas Advent Calendar
.
Others are made up of 24 toys or pieces of toys, like the Playmobil Dinosaur Expedition Advent Calendar, the My Little Pony Ponyville Advent Calendar, and the Old Time Christmas Village Sticker Advent Calendar.
Some Advent calendars contain candy or chocolate, like the Santa Chocolate Christmas Advent Calendar.
Still others have spaces that you can fill with your own items (candy or small toys or even the daily clue cards from Truth in the Tinsel), like the Kurt Adler Advent Calendar, the Works of Ahhh Christmas Tree Advent Calendar(which you can paint yourself), or the Crafty Advent Calendar
.
- Countdown Chain - Last year, we wrote activities on strips of paper and stapled them together to make a paper chain. The activities we used were:
- Bake cookies
- Wrap presents
- Make paper snowflakes
- Make Christmas cards
- Make a hand print wreath
- Learn & color the 12 days of Christmas
- Make & decorate a paper Christmas tree
- Make a Christmas shape book
- Make reindeer food
- Make a garland from dyed pasta
- Make reindeer from Nutter Butter cookies {we did these two years ago, and they were awesome}
- Make a Christmas tree from an ice cream cone
- Make a gingerbread house (from graham crackers)
- Make popsicle stick ornaments
- Write a letter to Mrs. Santa (Grace is seriously terrified of Mr. Clause)
- Make peppermint bath scrub to give as a gift
- Make snowman blocks
- Color Christmas presents (from the Christmas tot book)
- Make a birthday card for Jesus
- Match candy cane letters (from the Christmas tot book)
- Make button candy canes
- Make hand print magnets
- Celebrate J is for Jesus
- Make a Christmas symbols mini book
- Play Candy Cane Colors game
- Play a snowflake matching game
- Make a Jesus Loves Me mini book
- Make a birthday cake for Jesus
- Paint our finger nails and toe nails
- Make homemade ice cream
- Make salt dough ornaments
- Drink hot chocolate with marshmallows and candy canes
- Write a letter to Evelyn, the child we sponsor in Ghana
- Make a Gifts for Jesus poster
- Put up a special tree in Grace's room
- Make a light up cake
- Sew paper stars
- Make festive colored popcorn
- Bake pies
- Make pine cone bird feeders
Your chain doesn't have to have 40 links. 23 or 24 would be much more appropriate at this point.
My friend, Maureen, has a printable countdown chain that includes themes like memories and charity and family.
- Make a paper pocket Advent calendar - Eryn from Mamahall shared a tutorial for making paper pockets that contain Christmas-themed activities. Her tutorial includes activities and scriptures to put inside.
- Print an Advent calendar - I found a very simple “print and do” Advent calendar online. The idea is similar to Eryn's above, but it's a single page and the activities and scriptures are provided.
- Make a craft a day - I love this idea. Bella Dia's author has a Christmas book and related craft posted for each day of the Advent. Truth in the Tinsel from Impress Your Kids is very similar. We started the Truth in the Tinsel crafts yesterday.
- Print a Sticky Note Advent Calendar - I don't entirely understand this one, but it looks really cool. I think it would be best for older kids.
- December Daily - The idea of December Daily is to create a scrapbook page each and every day of the month. It's a very, very time-intensive process, but it's really fun. I made it to December 24 last year. I should start this year.
- Unwrap a book a day - Wrap 24 Christmas books, put them in a fun basket, and let your kids choose one to read at bedtime each night of the Advent. Doesn't that sound like fun?
5 Days of Christmas Traditions
To celebrate the first week of Advent, I talked Christmas traditions every day this week.
Monday - Our Christmas Traditions
Tuesday - Jesse Tree & Truth in the Tinsel
Wednesday - Advent Wreath
Thursday - Coloring the Advent
Friday - Christmas countdown chain and other countdown ideas (that's today!)
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