We’ve completed the first few days of our Advent project. The kids happily search through the Christmas tree to find the day’s activity and box. It’s a bit of a challenge because some of the numbers are on there as words, and they don’t know all of their number words yet. So, this has been great practice.
Day 13- Solomon, God said Solomon’s wisdom would be greater than the sands on the shore. Make “sand pudding.” I don’t have any extras with this one because I have no movie or book in particular for it at this time.
Day 14- Elijah, God kept his prophet safe even when all else seemed to be against him, and Elijah was able to show others the mighty wonders of God because of this. Same for this one, for some reason there’s not a lot of movies about Elijah, which is a shame because he has some great stories.
Day 15- Esther, God used Esther to keep His people safe so that His BIG Plan could go forward. Make the princess pretty using markers and glitter and whatever else you have. Watch the Veggietales: Duke and the Great Pie War. If my kids had an amazing attention span and were older we could watch “One Night with the King.” I highly recommend that movie if you have any interest in Old Testament history, or want to watch a true romantic movie. It is wonderfully made.
Day 16- Nehemiah, God used Nehemiah to bring His people back to Israel, so eventually His Promised One would be born where God promised. Build a wall like Nehemiah did, try to keep others from knocking it down. Again no movie, another sorely under represented figure in animation and books.
Day 17- Zechariah and Elizabeth- play charades. I also loved the idea from over at Fantastic Five of making edible peanut butter and HONEY play dough (get it because John ate honey), but since I’m making this for others as well I didn’t want to include something their kid might potentially be allergic to.
Day 18- Mary and Joseph, got told Mary and Joseph beforehand about Jesus’ coming. Create a song of praise like Mary did to God. As a side note I opted to go with the traditional colors for the Nativity figures and just paint them solid. Therefore Mary is blue for purity and mercy, Joseph is brown for humility. Many thanks to Nicole from Tired, Need Sleep for helping me figure that out.
Day 19- Journey to Bethlehem– play the game. We’ll also read “Donkey’s Dream,” a very cute story that is beautifully illustrated about the donkey carrying Mary to Bethlehem. He dreams he is carrying many different things that are all names for Jesus or come from Catholic imagery (this is my memory from reading it last year, it’s not one I’ve read zillions of times).
Day 20-Shepherds, while reading the story eat your candy canes that look like shepherd’s crooks. I painted the shepherd figures green for their traditional color, but couldn’t find what it is supposed to represent. Any ideas people? Any Godly Play people know? Maybe life or growing? I’m planning to read Crippled Lamb, if I can find my copy. I think it might technically be my Mom’s…….. So maybe at her house.
Day 21-Magi, the magi are painted yellow to represent wisdom or preciousness (maybe, anybody know for sure?). I included popsicle sticks to make a star and decorate it to hang on the tree. I’m thinking of teaching the boys how to make this, because I’m a glutton for punishment.
Day 22- Simeon and Anna, I love this part of the story and it is so rarely included when we teach it. We tell about the shepherds and the magi, but we leave out these two simple people who waited their whole lives. In that vein we will each have a cookie place in front of us and have to wait 5 minutes to show us how hard it is to wait like Simeon and Anna did.
Day 23- Flight to Egypt, Dixie cups in a Pringles can. I’ve made my kids eat a lot of Pringles recently. The cups are to stack to make a pyramid. How big of a pyramid can you make?
Here is part 1 of the Advent project
Here are the updated Advent printables (including a master list of what to do each day).
I meant to get this up before December 1, but I quite literally finished all of these on December 1, and I already had posts scheduled and I haven’t had time to sit down and write until now……… All right, I’m off to start school for the day. We’ve already gotten our Advent acitivity for today done. I quite literally got out of bed and they pounced on me saying, “We have to find the 5!”
This whole thing is great!! I got C the Lego Advent calendar and R the polly pocket Advent calendar this year and they are always excited about it first thing in the morning.
Very neat! I will definitely try an Advent Activity Calendar next year.
Ticia, You've put so much time and love into this project! Your kids will definitely know that Christmas is about more than gifts and gluttony. Thanks for all the great ideas. And, unfortunately, I also have no idea why the wise men are yellow and the shepherds are green . . . : )
I think it's awesome, how excited your kids are about this advent!
Maybe the shepherds are green because they are pastoral – out in the green fields? And Wise Men because one of their gifts is gold? Just guessing!
Wow. Thanks for emailing me to let me know this post was up. I get your blog posts in my inbox, but don't always have the time to check. Love these plans and you have given me the idea to make Simeon and Anna figures for the advent spiral.
Great ideas! I love how you have something for each day!