How We Celebrate Advent In Our Home
Ideas on keeping Advent simple and meaningful throughout December
The month of December is filled with presents, treats, celebrations, and countless traditions, and I have to admit that many years I find myself caught up in the busyness of gift buying and event planning that I have to pause to remind myself of the true point of the season.
For the past 8 years since I’ve been a stay-at-home-mom, I’ve celebrated Advent with my kids, and it’s become one of our favorite parts of the year! We still use the same old antique window frame strung with 25 little baggies that rests atop our piano. For us, it’s a way to add excitement to the month of December as we lead up to the most important day of the year (think less consumerism, more meaningful activities that build our anticipation of the season). In this post, I’ll share what goes inside each of these 25 bags and how we incorporate Advent into our homeschool rhythm throughout December.
Advent comes from the Latin word that means “coming”. In the Christian church, this is a time of preparation and waiting for the birth of Jesus. There are many different ways to celebrate Advent, but one common way for children to recognize and celebrate this season is to do an Advent Calendar. Of course the Advent calendars can be as simple as children opening a piece of chocolate each day that leads up to the 25th, but the calendar that we do goes beyond that and incorporates Bible verses of the nativity story along with a special activity or experience each day.
Here’s what’s inside each of these bags…
A bible verse card that’s simple and easy for young children to understand and learn. I found these on Pinterest and you can grab them here.
A tiny book that goes over one part of the nativity story (ex. shepherds, Bethlehem, Magi). I can’t find the link to this specific one but there are lots of Advent Book Calendars available.
A special activity, craft, or experience.
Each year looks different with what traditions and activities we include throughout the month, but as I mentioned in my last post, I’m keeping things more simple this December as we will soon be welcoming our 5th baby in a few months and my energy is beginning to dwindle!
Here’s what I’ve included in our Advent calendar bags this year…lots of old favorite crafts and baking, some free local attractions, and a few service activities— all ones that enhance our enjoyment and anticipation for Christmas Day and Christ’s birth without adding extra “stuff” or spending lots of money. Feel free to incorporate any of our ideas into your own version of an Advent Calendar!
December 1- Make a countdown to Christmas chain to hang in our schoolroom. The kids have so much fun taking one loop off the chain each day as we get closer to Christmas Day.
December 2- Begin our embroidery ornament projects. A few years ago, I taught my daughter how to do basic embroidery. She enjoyed it so much and turned them into beautiful ornaments to give as gifts! This is a great handicraft we’ll work on throughout December.
December 3- Bake shortbread dipped candy-cane cookies. Each week, we’ll bake one favorite kind of cookie together. Baking is a test of patience with 4 kids but we still enjoy the process of measuring, sharing responsibilities, and giving cookies to neighbors and friends.
December 4- Dry orange slices for ornaments and table decor. My kids make a lot of ornaments during our Christmas School curriculum and always enjoy giving them away as gifts. This year, we’ll dry orange slices, string them on twine, and make pretty ornaments or place setting decorations with fresh greens.
December 5- Make gingerbread houses at our church.
December 6- Go to the town tree lighting celebration.
December 7- Celebrate the 2nd Sunday in Advent. We started doing this last year and enjoyed it so much. I keep things simple with our 4 colored candles and candle holders (one year I’ll make a creative wreath!). My husband and I lead our kids in these candle readings, then we sing a Christmas hymn together. While we read, the kids sip on hot cocoa and color the week’s candle on this coloring page.
December 8- String popcorn and cranberries for the birds. We’re doing a bird unit in science this year and have loved watching the birds in our backyard, so this year I think my kids are all old enough to make garlands to hang outside.
December 9- Make pinecone bird feeders. One of our favorite winter crafts to do during Advent is this one!
Shortbread dipped candy-cane cookies & pinecone bird feeders December 10- Bake sugar cookie trees. The 2nd week of our Christmas School focuses on evergreen trees so this is always a fun and easy cookie for us to make and decorate together.
December 11- Make paint chip tree cards. We started doing this years ago and still make them each year! All you need is a few paint chip samples from your paint or hardware store (cut into the shape of trees) and some paper.
December 12- Christmas family movie night with hot cocoa and a cozy fire in the fireplace. Some of our favorite are The Grinch (newer animated version), The Muppet Christmas Carol, Home Alone, Elf, and The Polar Express.
December 13- Family day trip to Philadelphia to see the Christmas sites! For years, we ventured to New York City in December but with me being nearly in my 3rd trimester of pregnancy (and having our last baby a month early!) we’re opting for a closer city. We’ll see the Electrical Spectacle Light Show in Franklin Square, stroll around Reading Terminal Market, see the tree at City Hall, visit Christmas Village in LOVE Park, and walk around to see the holiday decorations in Center City.
December 14- Celebrate the 3rd Sunday in Advent.
December 15- Bake and decorate cutout sugar cookies. This one gets really messy but it’s always a favorite!
December 16- Make accordion angel ornaments. These are surprisingly super simple but make the most beautiful ornaments! You can find the directions to how to make these (and lots of other cute ornaments) in this post.
December 17- Take the kids to the store to choose a small gift for each other. They’ve been saving their dollars that they earn from our school motivation system so they always enjoy picking out a small gift for each other’s stockings.
December 18- Visit a local Christmas Magic and Wonder Show with our homeschool co-op.
December 19- Bake cookies with cousins. Each year, my sisters, my mom, and our kids get together in December to make a whole bunch of Christmas cookies. We each make 3-4 kinds of dough ahead of time and then share everything after they’re baked and decorated.
December 20- Host a special family Christmas dinner. Last year, my kids chose one family to invite to our house for a special Christmas dinner. They planned the menu, helped to make the food, prepared a beautifully decorated table, and presented each person with one of their handmade ornaments. It was one of our favorite ways to bless another family with hospitality and a great meal.
December 21- Celebrate the 4th Sunday in Advent.
December 22- Donate food to the local food pantry.
December 23- Deliver cookies, homemade ornaments, and cards to our neighbors.
December 24- Celebrate with family and light candles at church
December 25- Sing Happy Birthday to Jesus! We always have our favorite breakfast for Christmas morning— cinnamon rolls, ham and cheese quiche, bacon, fruit, and hot cocoa. I love taking time before all the other festivities happen to gather as a family and have a special Christmas breakfast and give thanks to the Lord.
Incorporating Advent into our Homeschool Routine
Since we already have a pretty full homeschool schedule the other months of the year, I like to lighten our load in December so we have time to do each day’s Advent activity and our Christmas School curriculum (this year we’re doing Christmas with Tales again but also love the Gentle + Classical Christmas too). Treehouse Schoolhouse and Read Aloud Revival also have amazing Christmas School studies too.
Most days in December, my elementary-aged kid’s school requirement is just one math and reading lesson…the rest gets put on hold until the new year. Then at mid-morning, we gather together to do Christmas School. This consists of Bible readings following the Jesus Storybook Bible Advent Reading Plan, verse and catechism memorization, our daily Advent activity from inside the bags, and going through the Christmas School curriculum (which usually consists of learning a character trait, reading lots of good Christmas books, and any crafts or activities that go with that week’s theme).
This rhythm invites us to slow down, savor the season, and anticipate the hope that comes on December 25th.
Making Advent Meaningful
Maybe you already celebrate Advent similarly to how we do it in our home with an Advent calendar or lighting candles each Sunday in December. Or maybe this post inspired you to add a few more ideas for your own family.
Whatever your Advent rhythm looks like, make sure to keep the thought behind it simple and meaningful— only take on activities and traditions that build anticipation and joy to the reason behind the season.
If you have your own special traditions in December that your family loves, I’d love to hear them! I always appreciate hearing stories and ideas from you all! As always, thank you so much for following along and being here. Please share this post with a friend who might also enjoy it!
Lovely ideas!
We just started the Jesus Storybook Bible Advent Devotional! We do the bible in the morning and Storybook at night and our kids have been loving it!