Advent is the time of prayerful preparation and anticipation before Christmas. It is making our heart and our home cozy and warm for the baby Jesus. We remember that Jesus is the first Christmas gift, given to us by our Father in Heaven. What a wonderful season we are blessed to celebrate!
I think many of us will be spending a lot of time at home this year. If you are looking for a way to celebrate Advent with your kids and honor the season as a time of preparation before Christmas, you are in the right spot! Below are ideas I have found for families. Some are suitable for younger kids, some for older, and I’ve included that as well. All of the websites included have wonderful ideas, and I have used all of the sites. Keep in mind, however, that you may not find all of the sites useful for your own family, so I would definitely check it out and see if it will work for you before letting your kids on. I have tried to organize the activities by day and from easiest to hardest activities within that day.
Finally, please don’t try to do everything on this list. I know I don’t! I pick a few things each year that I think will work based on where our family is at. I have teenagers now, so food activities are a huge hit. When they were younger, we did a lot of crafts. There is no right or wrong way to add some faith to Advent.
General Advent Activities
Holy Heroes- super easy- This site is actually a store that sells Catholic items for families. However, each year they run several free programs for kids ages 5-12. For Advent Adventure, you’ll be emailed a link each night for videos, coloring sheets, puzzles, and audio activities for that day. The videos are done by the children of the family that owns the store, and they are excellent. Children will learn about Advent and our wonderful faith traditions, and all you have to do is turn on the video. The videos are free and the activities are free to print out, but they will occasionally mention their products in their emails to parents. Sign up here.
Catholic Icing- easy- This site is run by a Catholic mom who posts really fun craft and snack ideas. She has some great things for Advent! Some of her downloads do have a fee, but there are also free items on her site. My personal favorites are Advent Hot Chocolate and How to Draw an Advent Wreath. The Advent posts can be found here.
Busted Halo- super easy- Busted Halo is great for older middle, high school and college kids. It is a ministry of the Paulist Fathers. There are many cool things there for students to explore, including the InstaAdvent photo challenge and the Advent in 2 minutes video. https://bustedhalo.com/
Busted Halo Advent Calendar- super easy- Busted Halo does a virtual Advent calendar every year that is great for teens. https://advent.bustedhalo.com/
Loyola Press Advent Calendar- super easy- Loyola Press is run by the Jesuits, and they do a wonderful Advent calendar for kids every year.Check it out here.
Slightly less easy Advent Calendars- Add a piece of candy per child to give out each day as they look at the calendar links. This definitely gives my kids the incentive to look at the calendars!
Advent Wreaths- easy- Honestly, some years I’ve put green fabric on a tray with four artificial candles, three with purple ribbon around them and one with pink. It really does not need to be complicated. I’ve also hot glued artificial greens to a cardboard base before and added candles. The trick is not so much the wreath, but lighting the candles during the season. For an Advent wreath explanation and prayers to say at dinner, go here and to Advent Wreath Activity Center/. For the second link, click on the family handouts on the page.
Decorating the tree- easy- If your parish has a subscription to Formed, which is like Netflix for Catholics, there are wonderful programs for all ages on the site, including Kristoff and the First Christmas Tree, which is a video read aloud about St. Boniface. There is a learning guide and activities that go with the read aloud also. Unfortunately, this will only work for those of you whose parishes have a subscription, as mine does. Go to Formed and sign in with your parish code, and search for Kristoff and the First Christmas Tree.
Christmas Tree Ornament Blessing- easy- This blessing from Loyola Press is great to use either before or after you decorate the tree!
Special Days During Advent
Dec. 6th, St. Nicholas- super easy- If you have Formed, you can watch Nicholas, the Boy who Became Santa. Go to Formed and sign in with your parish code. The video is a classic short animated film about St. Nicholas.
Also easy, fill your children’s shoes from St. Nicholas! It does not need to be elaborate a few candy canes or chocolate coins, a tradition on St. Nicholas day, will do it. I like to include a note from St. Nicholas to my children, reminding them that Christmas is about Jesus, and we give gifts out of love.
Dec. 8th, Feast of the Immaculate Conception- This feast day is confusing, because many people believe it is about Jesus, when in fact, it is about His mother. Mary was conceived without sin, and we remember that on this feast day. Catholic Icing has this great coloring page that illustrates this concept beautifully!
Dec. 9th and Dec. 12th, St. Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe- Again, Formed has a great video about St. Juan Diego. As the Aztecs settled Mexico, we often have hot chocolate on one of these days. You could also eat Mexican food.
Dec. 13th, St. Lucy- St. Lucy’s name means ‘light.’ This is a great night to drive around and look at Christmas lights. We also serve cinnamon buns on this day. It is a tradition in Sweden for girls to dress all in white and serve saffron buns to their families. They also wear wreaths with candles on their heads.
Dec. 17th-Dec. 23th, O Antiphons- The O antiphons are prayers that are sung in the evening during the last week of Advent. They use ancient titles to refer to the Messiah. You can say them each evening with your family. They are found here on the USCCB website.
I find that adding some small treats during these nights is a lot of fun. Below are some ideas I’ve used in the past.
Dec. 17th, Wisdom smarties candy
Dec. 18th, Lord and Ruler tiny gingerbread houses (found at Dollar Tree)
Dec. 19th, Root of Jesse root beer or carrot cake
Dec. 20th, Key of David key lime pie, or a solvable puzzle
Dec. 21th, Dawn of the East Anything red, like nacho chips
Dec. 22nd, King decorate sugar cookies as crowns
Dec. 23rd, God w/us Bread symbolizing the Eucharist
Have a wonderful, blessed Advent!!
First School of Faith 