A few years ago I was very overwhelmed with all the things I wanted to do during the Christmas advent season. With a very young family it can be hard to know where to start.
I’ve found that the key is to just start somewhere — with one thing!
Being intentional about the Advent season is important, and if you choose to make it a priority, God will bless it. Here are some simple ways our very young family has adopted. (I am sure we will adopt new ways as our family gets older.)
- Every morning my kids love to do a sticker advent calendar. We also have a fabric advent nativity calendar that hangs on a door handle. The toddler especially loves to be in charge of this one!
- My mom always had a count-down advent candle and I love continuing that tradition. The kids love to watch it burn at dinner each night, and to take turns blowing it out. Plus, I think kids are calmer and quieter when a candle is lit, and we’ll do anything for a peaceful meal!
- In addition to the candle at dinnertime, we also like to sing anticipatory Christmas hymns like O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Sometimes we even have one of our Christmas CDs playing in the background.
- Every night before bed we have cuddle in our pajamas on the sofa family reading time as we read through Unwrapping the Greatest Gift: A Family Celebration of Christmas together as a family. This year our kids are 2, 4 and almost 6 years old. Some of the readings can get a little long for the younger ages, but the large pictures are full of creative illustrations to keep them looking at. It also helps that we add expressive voices as we read!
- We love that the Unwrapping the Greatest Gift: A Family Celebration of Christmas, encourages us to take action in our community, neighborhood and family. Each night as read the daily reading, we use the book to guide us on how to take action the next day . . by doing simple things like making cookies, designing Christmas cards, and visiting nursing homes. This encourages the kids to keep serving while we wait for Christmas day (or Christ’s return).
What are some of your family advent traditions?
