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Advent is a fun, faith-filled way to keep the family focused on Jesus throughout Christmas. Learn how to make Advent for your kids!
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
This Christmas season, learn how to make Advent for your kids.
The tradition of Advent has been celebrated for decades. Celebrating Advent as a family is a wonderful way to build a lasting tradition. Advent, which begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, is a time devoted to waiting, as believers anticipate the hope that comes in the form of a Savior. The name Advent is derived from the Latin word adventus, which means “arrival.” This season anticipates the arrival of Christ!
Advent not only looks back to the birth of Christ more than 2,000 years earlier, it also remembers Christ’s presence here with us now, and it anticipates His promised return. Even families who do not observe Advent at church can discover a more meaningful, more Christ-centered Christmas season by observing these traditions at home.
Are you unsure about Advent? Here are common questions that people have, along with their answers:
It felt like we had just cleared the Thanksgiving turkey from the table when our 2-year-old started asking, “When is Santa coming, Mommy?” And our 4-year-old chimed in, “How many presents am I getting?” No matter what was asked, their questions had one general theme: What’s in it for me?
My heart sank. Christ was slipping away from being the focus of our Christmas season. A few weeks later, the holiday hustle and bustle ended just as quickly as it had begun, leaving behind two exhausted parents and a ton of shredded wrapping paper. I felt like nothing was gained.
My husband, Kevin, and I wanted more for our two boys. We began to ask ourselves, When our sons are grown, how will they remember Christmas? We wanted their memories to hold insights into Jesus, not a blur of insignificant toys and games.
The following autumn, we made deliberate choices about how we would celebrate the season. In the weeks before Christmas, we read the Nativity story together, talked about it and allowed our sons to play with kid-friendly figurines from a Nativity scene. Our daily devotional time was short and simple, but it worked as a countdown to Jesus’ birth, and it allowed Kevin and me to be with our children and model what was important to our family. This time together became an opportunity to talk more about Jesus in our home.
The change was noticeable. Advent for our kids became a meaningful experience. What used to be a time of counting down the days until presents arrived shifted to a celebration of Christ’s coming.
—Courtney Roberts
Advent is a call to followers of Christ to remember the birth of the Savior. The word advent stems from a Latin word that means “coming” or “arrival.” The season begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and, depending on the year, can range from 22 to 28 days. Its purpose is to help believers remain focused on the birth of Christ and Jesus’ glorious return.
Some of the most popular commercial Advent calendars are cardboard. Each day, kids open a little door to discover a chocolate treat or another small surprise. But the Advent for kids goes deeper. Many Christian families have daily Scripture and devotional readings, along with a simple activity that helps kids remain focused on how Jesus came to earth as their Savior. Some families also use a traditional Advent wreath, lighting its candles each evening as they count down to Christmas.
The Advent season is divided into four weeks, and each week features a different liturgical theme. Traditionally, the first week remembers the hope and expectation of the Jewish people as they looked forward to the Savior’s arrival — and it also reminds believers today to wait expectantly for Jesus’ second coming. The second week focuses on preparation: Over many centuries, God prepared the hearts of the Jews for Christ’s coming, just as He is now working in our hearts to prepare us for Christ’s second coming. The third week joyfully celebrates the coming of the Messiah, and the final week celebrates God’s peace and love.
—Benjamin Hettick
The Advent wreath consists of evergreen branches, three purple candles, one rose candle and one large white candle. Usually, the white candle is in the center of the wreath. And the purple and rose candles are in equal distances around the wreath.
Children look forward to lighting and blowing out the candles each night at dinner. One purple candle stays lit the whole first week. Next, two purple candles stay lit the second week. The two purple and one rose candle become lit the third week. And all four become lit the final week. On Christmas Day, we light the large white candle. After lighting the candles, many parents will read a few Bible verses and have a short devotional time with their kids.
Theresa Golden, a mother of three daughters, recommends keeping the wreath celebration simple and age-appropriate. “My favorite aspect of Advent is that it gives me and my family time to reorganize our thoughts about Christ’s birth and why He came,” she says. “It gives us the right frame of mind about Christmas and Christ.”
—Jenna Vandebrake
Create an Advent Wreath to use at dinner. The Advent wreath is part of the liturgical countdown to Christmas. You can buy a ready-made Advent wreath or make it yourself. One way is to make a paper Advent wreath. Or here is how to make a traditional Advent wreath:
1. With green crafting wire, fasten live or plastic evergreen branches to a wire wreath circle.
2. After you attach the first branch, lay the second branch over the end of the first so it covers the stem.
3. Continue in this way until you reach where you began.
4. Tuck the ends of your final branches under the foliage of the beginning branches. This circle of evergreen branches reminds us of God without beginning and end, and of His faithfulness.
5. Set four candles in candleholders inside the wreath. Traditionally, the wreath holds three purple candles and one rose-colored candle. A white candle can be added to the center.
6. Place the wreath in a central location in your home.
Light the Advent candles every day at dinner in this manner:
On Christmas day, celebrate Jesus’ birth by lighting the white candle in the center of the wreath.
When explaining Advent for your kids, use these descriptions to help your kids understand the Advent wreath.
—Sheila Seifert
These fun calendars, based on a centuries-old German tradition, are among the most popular traditions.
As you celebrate Advent with your family this year, consider using the traditional Advent calendar to make these time-honored traditions and deep spiritual truths come alive. This Advent calendar offers a wonderful opportunity to make Christ the center of your Christmas celebration as family members count down the days to the prophesied birth of the Savior of the world.
Christmas is far more than what our cultural celebrations have made of it. Especially for Christians. When this time of year comes, we pay attention to what is at the center of it all. We may enjoy the carols and decorations, but we celebrate the Advent of Jesus Christ.
In his letter written from Tegel prison camp, Dietrich Bonhoeffer penned these words to his parents. “We can, and should also, celebrate Christmas despite the ruins around us….I think of you as you now sit together with the children and with all the Advent decorations—as in earlier years you did with us. We must do all this, even more intensively because we do not know how much longer we have.”
This article is a compilation of articles written by various authors. The author names are found within the article.
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