What do you do in your family to keep your focus on Christ during the Christmas season? Here is a list of the items that we use (or have used) to help our children learn to focus on Christ during this season. It is a busy time of year and being consistent is hard, but I have seen the fruits of these studies in my own children. I hope that you will find something new or be inspired to use the season of Advent to teach your children about the greatest gift of all….JESUS
- Advent Calander/Devotional Site – TeachingMom Printable Nativity Scene Candles and Scriptures These sites offer lots of different ideas and methods that can be used during this season. While most of them go hand in hand using all of them might be a bit time consuming. I love the printable nativity scene and since my girls love to color we have used it for years now. The scripture readings are what we do every Monday morning and then we light the white candle Christmas morning prior to opening gifts. It gives us time to reflect on the true meaning of the day before the craziness starts.
- “An Advent of Ideas” I was gifted this book from a friend and I can’t find it anywhere. It is what we have used for our devotions daily for several years. It gives a scripture, some thoughts and an activity to go along with it. It is a small spiral bound book but it is PACKED with great ideas and some awesome scriptures to reflect on this time of year.
- “The ADVENTure of Christmas” This book is written by Lisa Whelchel and is a beautifully illustrated book. While the stories in it are great at helping families see Christ in Christmas it lacks the “meat” or scripture that I am looking for. We use it along side of our Advent devotions while doing our normal Christmas traditions. It has a lesson, or a story, about everything from the lights to the tree to Christmas cards. Every lesson shows how each part of Christmas can remind of Christ in different ways. It has great craft and snack ideas that I have used for gifts. It is great book that I would highly reccomend and it is so pretty that you could leave it out all season and enjoy looking at the pictures with all the guests that take notice.
- “The Jesse Tree” by Linda Lawrence and Donna Hubbard This will be the first year we have done this book but I am really excited about it. Each devotion tells another part of the story of Christ and traces it from creation to fulfillment. Each lesson has an ornament that is hung to remind the children (and parents) of each lesson. There are 20 devotions one for each day except the days when you light the advent candles. So, this year we will be doing this book daily and then using the advent candles once a week.
So, there you have my list of Advent resources. I would love to see your post about what you and your family do each year to celebrate and keep Christ the focus of your Christmas. Leave me comment or link up your post and let’s share some ideas.
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