Christmas and Advent Activites

I have so many wonderful resources and ideas stored on my computer that I tend to lose track of most of them.  I finally decided to post them all here so that I can always locate them!

Last year we were blessed with the loan of the book Jotham's Journey.  This year, the same wonderful friend, Kristine, loaned us Tabitha's Travels.  These books are a wonderful addition to our Advent celebrations and I am looking forward to beginning the Tabitha story Sunday.

Another favorite story to read each year is Night Tree by Eve Bunting.  We have enjoyed making popcorn strings and bird seed/peanut butter pinecones to hang on a 'night tree' of our own.  Maybe we can add that activity to our list again this year...

Another favorite activity of the past was a '12 Days of Christmas' activity.  However, we chose to this on the 12 days leading up to Christmas, not the actual 12 days of Christmas (from Dec. 25 - Jan. 6).  This would work any way you choose, I am sure.  We chose a dear elderly neighbor couple to bless with small gifts each night for 12 nights.  The gifts were not really the point, as much as the excitement shared by both the kids AND the recipients!  Each night the boys and Anna would put together a little gift along with a note cared and then would sneak up and leave it on their doorstep, ring the doorbell, and run away.  The first night the card said to expect the fun to continue for 12 nights ending with the 'revealing' of the gift givers on the last night.  (so as not to freak people out too much!)  :)  This is the version we basically followed.  However, there are also other versions found here and also here.  (Note, we added to the cards we left with the gifts by adding the meanings of the 12 Days of Christmas found here.)  Also, here is a link to coloring pages to go along with the carol '12 Days of Christmas'.  On the final night the kids did caroling for the neighbors and 'revealed their identities'.  :)  It was wonderful and the neighbors truly enjoyed it.  They even wrote a letter a few weeks later thanking the kids for the special treat.  The kids got so excited about planning this each evening and making the gifts up (some were simply homemade cards and drawings) and they recognized how much joy they could give to others by simply giving of themselves.

We have also used and enjoyed the Karen Caroe studies A Blessed Christmas (symbols of Christmas) and The Names of Jesus.  We have done one of these each year for the past several years.  The two links above are html.  If you would prefer a pdf version for A Blessed Christmas, click here.  And here is a link to a page full of Christmas activities and lessons.

Here is an Advent Coloring book you can print off online.  My friend, Debbie, directed me to this Advent Inductive Study.  Another online friend, Lisa, passed along this link to an online Advent Activity Calendar.

We also make it a point to enjoy several family movie nights.  Some of our must see movies this time of year include The Bishop's Wife, Miracle on 34th Street, Holiday Inn, White Christmas, Polar Express, Christmas With the Kranks, It's a Wonderful Life, and Christmas in Connecticut.

And if you ever see a copy of the audio CD Precious Child for sale somewhere, be SURE to grab it as quickly as you can!  Precious Child tells the story of the events leading up to and surrounding the birth of Jesus in word and song.  It is hauntingly beautiful and worshipful.  You will find yourself listening to it year round.

Events here locally that we simply cannot miss include the Community Christmas concert (this year I am honored to be the announcer), the Living Nativity scene at the Christian Church and the Living Christmas Tree concert at First Baptist Church.

I would love to hear what your family enjoys doing during the holiday season!

6 Comments

Cynthia
Great list, Laura! I think I mentioned this before, but I'm SO glad the RSS feed is finally working... previously, I wasn't able to subscribe to your blog. That was SO NICE of Kristine to loan you the books! We've enjoyed all 3 of them.
Saturday, November 29, 2008 - 04:39 PM

Debbie
Great list, Laura. We are also reading Tabitha this year. We did Jotham last year and Benjamin the year before.
There are so many terrific resources out there now. I have a list a mile long of things I'd like to do in years to come.
Saturday, November 29, 2008 - 09:14 PM

Amy
Hooray! I can subscribe to your blog again!!!! As usual, you always have some of the best ideas!

The only tradition that we really have is on Christmas Eve. (Christmas day is always spent traveling from here to there to celebrate with everyone else.) So on Christmas Eve, it's just the four of us all day long. We make a HUGE breakfast followed by a full day of Christmas movies. We usually make a fun dinner together (homemade pizza, etc.) and then when it gets dark, we get hot chocolate and drive around for hours looking at Christmas lights while listening to Christmas music...
Sunday, November 30, 2008 - 12:11 AM

Kathy in Wa
Laura- what a fabulous list! Thank you so much for sharing in detail (complete with lots of links) how you celebrate the holiday season.
Sunday, November 30, 2008 - 03:34 PM

Lisa in ME
Thank you for taking the time to put this list together! I'm frantically trying to get myself organized for the start of "Christmas School" tomorrow! This is a fantastic list!
Sunday, November 30, 2008 - 08:51 PM

Kristine
Hey! I have that Precious Child CD! (g)
I was so excited today to begin Barthomew--because Trevor was excited!
Great list, Laura. I hope I remember to check it out next year.
Monday, December 1, 2008 - 10:07 PM