Today is the beginning of Advent and this year is the first that Scarlette is old enough to participate in family advent activities with us. I saw a lot of great recommendations for Truth In The Tinsel and decided to purchase it. I really love it, although Scarlette is just two years old so some of it is a little too advanced for her this year. So I put together a list of advent activities from a few other sources (aka Pinterest) as well and this is what it will look like for us.
We have the Advent calendar above from DaySpring. On the days that we are doing a Truth In The Tinsel activity, I cut out their cute clue cards and tucked them in the corresponding pouches. I hand-wrote the rest of our activities + scriptures and slipped them in as well, so that Scarlette can pull them out as we move the heart marker each day. Here is what we will be doing- what traditions do y’all do over the Christmas season?
- Bake star shaped cookies
- Let Scarlette color on Christmas cards while mommy addresses them
- Make a crown ornament from toiler paper rolls (from TITT)
- Watch the Veggie Tales movie “Saint Nicholas”
- Read The Legend Of Saint Nicholas and take silly pictures wearing Santa hats (Dec. 6, is St. Nicholas Day!)
- Give a secret gift to friends (leave some homemade fudge at their door)
- Make a star garland from tinfoil and baker’s twine
- Make a candle ornament (from TITT)
- Get handprints made on a platter at the local paint-your-own-pottery shop to use for Christmas cookies
- Paint a snow scene on construction paper using epsom salt paint (boil 1 cup of water and mix in 1 cup of epsom salt. Stir and let cool, then paint with a paintbrush.)
- Make an ornament of Jesus’s name (from TITT)
- Read Who Is Coming To Our House? and play with nativity
- Build a gingerbread house
- Go to the free kid’s Christmas movie special at the local theater
- Make a wreath out of our handprints
- Make scented star ornaments (from TITT)
- Drink hot cocoa and read B is for Bethlehem
- Shop for Toys For Tots
- Family Movie Night! Watch the Veggie Tales “The Toy That Saved Christmas”
- Take a drive to look at Christmas lights
- Go out for ice cream (mommy and daddy’s anniversary tradition)
- Bake Christmas cookies/candy and listen to Christmas music
- Christmas Eve: Read the Christmas Story and put Chrism ornaments on the tree. Visit Family!
- Christmas Day! Make cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate
I wanted to add, there are lots of activities I wanted to do with Scarlette that we can’t do this year because of our quarantine. But if, unlike us, you don’t have to avoid crowds of children this winter I totally recommend going to a live nativity (normally they have hot chocolate, although that might not be totally historically accurate and stuff) or going to see the local Christmas production at your community theater or watching your city’s Christmas parade. The “experience” activities are what stand out the most in my own childhood memories 🙂
(image via DaySpring, some referral links used although I totally recommend checking the books out from the library)
