The ADVENTure
I love the idea of spreading out the message of Christmas throughout all of December. Christmas is a big thing in America, but typically the message you see is about presents and buying things. I have a different message for our kids. The message of Christ being born for them. So I decided to take the everyday sights and sounds of Christmas and find ways that we could use them to point back to the true meaning of Christmas. For our advent we use a Christmas tree. Ours is a small table top faux tree that goes in our nook. This is where we bring the elf into our Holiday Season too. Each day he brings a small item for their tree and a verse that is tied to various themes.
Here is an example of what my advent cards look like! They have a theme and a verse to tie our holiday traditions back to Jesus. I usually read the verse and then we talk about it before we do our activity, read our book or hang our new ornament, etc.
I'm challenging you to help your holidays be more than just a time of buying and giving presents, but to find ways to point your kids back to Jesus throughout all of your holiday traditions!
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A holiday traditions that we have kept up on *most years* is wrapping one book a night to use during our advent time! The kids enjoy opening a new book each night and I enjoy it NOT being candy or some crazy craft/activity we have to do each night. So for the years we want something a little more slow paced, a simple story each night is quick and easy to manage.
Here is a list of Christmas Holiday themed books we can't WAIT to add to our collection. Bear Stays Up for Christmas Dasher: How a Brave Lilttle Doe Changed Christmas Construction Site on Christmas Night A Royal Christmas to Remember Merry Christmas Amelia Bedilia Jesus, God's Great Gift Level 2 The Legend of the Christmas Cookie How to Catch a Snowman
There are SOOOO many more to add, but these are at the top of our list this year.
I typically try to choose timeless pieces that our family will love reading again and again. Occasionally I do add ones that my kids will really enjoy now, even though I know won't last forever. You can find so many of these books at Christian Book or Amazon. Have you read any of these? What do your kiddos think of them? Do you have any other "must have" holiday reads to suggest? We'd love to hear from you below! Check out this post about how I transform our kids nook into a Holiday themed space and display our Christmas books just for the kiddos!
Winter is one of my favorite seasons for so many reasons! The temperatures change and things start to slow down outside. The garden chores taper off and, though I LOVE being outside, everyone starts spending more time inside. Winter also means Christmas decorations come out, the fire inside is lit and our home feels so cozy with all the twinkling lights and the warm fire glow.
We enjoy various holiday traditions and activities but one of my personal favorites has become our kids holiday nook. I have a designated spot in my living room that is the kids nook year round. During the winter it is transformed into our Holiday nook!
The goal when choosing which items to put in your nook is to find things that will work for whatever age range of kids you have. Remember each year you can add and remove what doesn't work for your family anymore! Books
Here are some books we hope to add to our nook this year!
Some years when I'm looking for a simple advent activity each advent day (December 1st - 24th for us) gets a new book for the kids to open. I wrap them up in holiday themed wrapping paper and stack them all on the shelf. When I'm feeling really adventurous, I will correlate specific themed books with any holiday activities we have planned for various days (I usually label these on the back with the date or a brief title to remind me what it's for). When I am feeling really simple or we already have enough holiday *cheer* going on, I simply put new books out on the shelf and have the kids alternate who chooses our book to read each night. Really the delivery method ebs and flows with what works best for us from year to year! Puzzles & Games
I love to rotate a variety of difficulty with our puzzles and games that way there is something for the whole family to enjoy throughout the season. Sometimes I keep certain games or puzzles put away and swap them out later. That way the interest and newness sticks around for a while!
Toys & Dress Up
Christmas Activities
The Elf
The Elf on the Shelf has become a BIG thing for many families. I'm sure you have seen some form of the Elf and his adventures during the holidays. For us the Elf is a helper. He usually arrives shortly after Thanksgiving (the day after if I remember him or at least by the first of December)! We read the Elf book and remind the kids of his name and the rule (don't touch the elf). Throughout his time with us he helps spread the message of Christmas. He brings them notes, and sometimes surprises, that correlate to their advent each day. We do move him around the house finding new ways to pose him and every year it's a morning race to see who can find the Elf. It's a fun little tradition and even though we don't get too into all of the elves extras, we do enjoy the kids excitement as they find the elf and see what message he is bringing each day.
The ADVENTure
I love the idea of spreading the message of Christmas throughout all of December. Christmas is a big thing in America, but typically the message you see is about presents and buying things. I have a different message for our kids. The message of Christ being born for them. So I decided to take the everyday sights and sounds of Christmas and find ways that we could use them to point back to the true meaning of Christmas. For our advent we use a Christmas tree. A small table top faux tree that goes in our kid's nook. This is where we bring the elf in. Each day he brings a small item and a verse that is tied to various themes. Sometimes it is something we will be doing that day. For example if we planned a family drive to see the Christmas lights that night, then the Elf would bring the kids and strand of lights (or a small bulb ornament) for their tree and a verse about Jesus being the light of the world. We talk about how Christmas lights remind us of how Jesus lights up our lives. Other times it's a message and we might have a book to go along with the theme. An example of this would be a small candy cane to hang on their tree. We'll read The Legend of the Candy Cane and talk about the different ways a candy cane can represent Jesus. You could get as elaborate or as simple with this as you would like! The goal is that every time your kids step out of the door the sights and sounds of Christmas remind them of Christ. If you don't want to involve the elf you could use a simplemail box to put the items in for the kids advent. Each day they could open their mail box and your family could do the advent together. We often use both! The elf's message and surprise go inside the mailbox for the kids to find. All of their advent items go in the nook. The tree sits on the top shelf of the nook with the mailbox next to it. After we read the message and do the activity if there is one, the kids put the ornament on the tree. By Christmas it's fully decorated with the message of their Savior!
There are too many amazing nook items to name each individually, so be sure to check out our list of items that would make perfect additions to your holiday nook!
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Proud supporter of Mother Goose Time curriculum!All the posts in this blog are from real life experiences. We've taken the activities and materials provided in the Mother Goose Time curriculum and modified it in different ways to fit our lifestyle. Enjoy the read!
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