One of our Christmas traditions is to make our own advent calendar. Every year we do it a little differently, but the general idea is still the same. We start on December 1st and count our way up until Christmas on the 25th.
Pro-tip: Do you have a preschool aged child that is learning to count? Tell them what day you are on and ask them to find that number on the calendar, or have them count up to that day. Ask them what the number was for yesterday and what the number will be tomorrow. If they are more proficient, ask them how many days are left until Christmas. Calendars are a great way to teach children about time and dates. Voila, your child is studying math!
Each day of our calendar I have planned a different Christmas related activity to get us into the spirit. Christmastime is a very special time for children, and I love experiencing all the joy and wonder with them.
To see more crafts and activities from our Christmas Advent Calendars click here.
While baking cookies, making Christmas ornaments and helping local charities are all wonderful ways to celebrate the birth of our savior, there is nothing more important to our family than turning our hearts and minds to that same savior and studying His word.
For this reason, a major part of our advent calendar involves reading the story of Christmas as it was written in God’s own words. Each day we read a new part of the story, from Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John the Baptist, all the way up through Jesus and his family moving to Nazareth. I’ve even included passages (and a memory verse) from the poetic and deeply theological Gospel of John.
Up until this year my children have been too young to read so I have read each passage to them. This year, my oldest is confident enough that I am going to try to have her read the passages to us. Do you see what I did there? Now our daily advent calendar involves reading, which counts towards our school attendance!
For your reference, the scripture that I use in my calendar is as follows:
- John 1:1-18
- Luke 1:56
- Matthew 1:18-25
- Luke 2:1-40
- Matthew 2:1-22
Now let me show you how I have broken down the story of Christmas into 24 parts and the reasoning behind my choices. I will also let you in on what we do to bring the story to life and present its powerful message in a way that resonates with children.
25 Days of Scripture
Choose your favorite Bible translation and let’s dive on in! I’ll be using the New International Version.