advent Archives - JDaniel4s Mom

Advent Countdown for Kids

November 27, 2017 By Deirdre

Children will have fun creating their own Advent countdown. They will be able to use to explore numbers and count down the days until Christmas. By the time Christmas arrives they will be left with the star. Long ago a star led the wise men and shepherds to Jesus. Your children’s Advent countdown star will lead children to the day we celebrate his birth.

Creating the Advent Countdown

Getting Ready for the Craft

You will need to download the Advent Countdown Craft printable set. It includes a printable star and a set of printable strips. We used old wrapping paper to create our strips. You could print out a variety of strips onto colored copy paper if you prefer.

Other Supplies You Needed

Stickers
Markers
Ribbons or Rick Rack
Glue
Color Dot Stickers
Wrapping Paper or Christmas Themed Scrapbook Paper
Popsicle Sticks

Putting the Advent Countdown Together

Your children will need to start by cutting out the star. If you think they will have trouble cutting around the outside and inside of the star, you can cut the star out for them.

Next, they will need to decorate the star. They can draw or cut and glue items onto their star. When they are finished, you can glue popsicle sticks to the back of the star to help it hold its shape.

Then they will need to cut out the strips. As I mentioned they could make their strips out of scrapbook paper, old wrapping paper or colored copy paper.

Colored dot stickers will need to be placed on each of the strips. Then they will need to write the numbers one through 24 onto one of the stickers.

Finally, they will need to make to chains with loops. One chain will display all the even numbered loops in order from 24 to 2. The other chain will display the odd-numbered loops from 23 to 1.

Completing the Advent Countdown

Each day during advent your children will cut off one of the loops. They will start by cutting off the loop with the 24 on it.

You can hang the countdown on your Christmas tree like an ornament or in your kitchen off of a kitchen cabinet knob.

Links below are affiliate links.

This activity was designed to go along with the Virtual Book Club book of the week Merry Christmas, Mouse!. You could also read any of the Advent books listed below before creating it.

Advent Storybook: 24 Stories to Share Before Christmas– This book is about twenty-four stories in the days leading up to Christmas.
24 Christmas Stories to Welcome Jesus – This wonderful book shared Bible stories, advent traditions, and Christmas customs.
Countdown to Christmas: 25 Stories and Family Activities for Advent– This book features short games and discussion questions that go along with each story.

Here are more activities for other Virtual Book Club members.

Solar System Ornaments from Teach Beside Me

STEAM Ornament Paint Explosion from Preschool Powell Packets

Ornaments for Your Kids to Color and Sew from Mama Smiles

Sparkly Candy Cane Ornaments from Toddler Approved

If You Give a Mouse Themed Ornament from The Educator’s Spin on It!

Peppermint Cream Mice from The Rainy Day Mum

Advent Calendar Ideas – 25 Blessings

November 20, 2013 By Deirdre

25 Blessings Advent Countdown Activities for Kids

Every year my sister Shell sends my son an Advent calendar with chocolate pieces tuck behind its tiny doors. He loves it. JDaniel looks forward to hearing scripture verse behind each door while he is enjoying a piece of milk chocolate every morning. Why not come up with something special for us to do in the evening each night during Advent I thought when the box delivering this year’s Advent calendar arrived. That is when the seed of thought for the Advent activity 25 Blessings started to grow.

I had to think through what I wanted our family to do for our 25 blessings and if it needed to be something beyond offering prayers of Thanksgiving. After thinking about it for awhile, I decided that I would offer up an area or person for us to be thankful for and a list of ways we could show our thanks for that area or person in our lives.

My family has been blessed in so many ways this year along with having many challenges. This year my husband lost his job and went back to school. I searched and searched for a job and found one at a wonderful school in early November. JDaniel started kindergarten and found going to school five days a week full time wasn’t something to dread.

We have been blessed with an amazing family, friends and church that has supported us with prayers, listening ears, and emotional support through the challenges we have encountered with all those changes. They have truly helped us is make it through this year.

There have been troubles with an aging house and cars. Thankfully our immediate family is aging well. (My husband did back issues earlier this year, but it is much better.) Both our mom’s had health scares early in year and seem to be much better now. JDaniel’s fall allergies seem to have disappeared and only his spring ones remain.

Why did I tell you all this before sharing my list? I thought it might help some of the things on my list make more sense.

Advent is truly I time for us remember those blessings and be thankful.

Here is the list of advent calendar ideas or blessings and the day we will be rejoicing and remembering them:

Grandparents health
Births in our family and our church
Family returning from job assignments overseas
Good doctors and healthcare
Wonderful teachers at school
Learning to read
Wonderful coaches in soccer class
Our home
Clean Clothes
Kind neighbors
Friends to play with
Good food to eat
Cars that get us where we need to go
Awesome resources available at the library
Police and firemen that keep us safe.
Clean water to drink
Being able to freely worship
Allergies that seem to be lessening
Opportunity for my husband to learn a new SQL Server Database and Programming
Job for Mom (me)
Wonderful parks to explore and play in
People who remember our family in prayer
Words of encouragement and lessons from the Bible
Amazing friends
Memories of loving and laughing as a family

Here is my list of ways we can celebrate our advent calendar ideas or blessings:

Make a baked good to take to a person on the list we are thankful for.
Draw picture to send to a person on the list we are thankful for.
Send a prayer of thanks
Donate some toys in their name to Miracle Hill
Donate books in their name to the local library
Take food to the food bank
Call a person on the list and give them thanks
Invite a person on our list to do something with our family
Look for someone during the day to do something kind for just as we had kind things done for us
Send a card or e-mail to family remember sharing something we are thankful or to give them thanks
Read a bible verse that talks about that area of thanks
List five things that make that area or person special
Share a special memory about that area or person
State a lesson you have learned from that person or event

You could easily adapt this to your family. Simply sit down and make a list of things you are thankful for or have blessed you. You will have 2 areas or people in no time at all. I tried to include things in the following areas:

Immediate family
Extended family
Health
Neighbors
Community helpers
Church members
Events that happened this year
Ways our basic needs have been met

Then all you need to do is come up with ways you want to rejoice in those blessings or advent calendar ideas. You are more than welcome to use our list of ways.

I printed out our blessings and ways to celebrate onto an envelope and index cards. They could have simply been written out.

Will you join me in this Advent activity of counting down 25 blessing?

Cardboard Advent Candy Wreath for Kids

November 25, 2012 By Deirdre

Time to get this Holiday Hop of Goodies going! For the next 2 weeks I will be posting holiday skinny mini recipes, crafts, decorating ideas, giveaways and more! Today I am going to share with you a cardboard advent candy wreath. Kids will love taking one piece of candy off the cardboard Adventwreath each day during Advent. My son has enjoyed having this up at our house.

We made an Advent candy wreath out of an old cardboard box. A plastic lid was used to trace the circles that make up this wreath. We just overlapped the circles until we had connected the first to the last. Cutting out cardboard isn’t easy. I used an X-Acto knife to cut out the wreath and then scissors to trim off the rough edges. If you have access to thin cardboard , it would be much easier to cut out.

Holiday Hop for Goodies- Cardboard Advent Wreath

After the wreath was cut out, JDaniel sponge painted our advent wreath green with a leave shaped sponge. I know you can’t see the leaves shapes once the paint in on the advent candy wreath. I just thought paint with a leaf would be fun.

Then we threaded four ribbons through pre-made holes (scissor cuts) in the cardboard to represent the four Sundays of Advent. Finally, twenty-four small candy canes were taped onto the wreath with cellophane tape.

One candy cane will be removed each day until we get to Christmas. This cardboard advent wreath will help us count down to Christmas and be used as during our discussion of advent.