This post is a continuation of a series on Advent. These are just some ideas for inspiration. Take what works, juggle them around to fit your calendar best. Have a great time helping your children prepare their hearts to celebrate the coming of Emmanuel, God with us.
Here are 7 more suggestions:
8. Tonight we light the second candle, the candle of Preparation or Peace. If you haven’t picked an Advent book/devotional to read, the Scriptures on John the Baptizer’s birth and the annunciation to Mary (Luke chapter 1) would be appropriate this week.
9. Some call the second candle the candle of Bethlehem, so learning the story behind O Little Town of Bethlehem, and singing it, could be appropriate this week (and/or any of the other carols in the Peace section of Silent Night: The Stories behind 40 Beloved Christmas Carols.)
10. Make Snowman night lights. Each child could hang theirs near their bed, or give it to someone else. (Or make another snowman craft, such as bottle caps snowmen.)
Use battery operated tea lights, black self-stick gems or Sharpie marker, pink marker, ribbon, card stock or patterned paper for hat.
Add face to tea light, with light as nose, black gems or marker made eyes and mouth, and pink marker cheeks. Don’t put the eyes up too high, you need to leave room for the hat. You can color the nose orange with permanent marker, if desired, so it looks like a carrot even when not turned on.
Add hat. Ear muffs are made from short piece of pipe cleaner, and very small pom-poms (ours our homemade). Stocking cap/beanie is made from 1.5 circle punch, then punched again just along bottom edge, to get the bottom edge curved, (or you could cut by hand.) A small pom-pom is added to the top and narrow ribbon to the bottom for the cuff. Top hat is made from 1″ square with top curved with 1″ circle punch. Hat band is made with oval punch (or cut with a die in our case, as I don’t have an oval punch). Ribbon is added between bottom of hat and brim. The ball caps are just a circle folded in half and decorated. We attached our hats and ribbons with mini glue dots.
Attach ribbon. We used 15-18 inches. Made loop at top, tied and attached that knot to the top of the candle with mini glue dot, then tied again to the side of the bottom, to make the scarf, and again used a mini glue dot to hold it in place.
11. Listen to Handel’s Messiah and discuss the story behind it. (I found this link, but haven’t checked it out.) Below is a YouTube video by the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, (2.5 hours) and here’s a link to just the Hallelujah Chorus by the Royal Choral Society.
Check out other recommended Christmas music on YouTube, in my post here.
12. Make a holiday candle centerpiece (or like this) for your home or as a gift.
13. Have a snowball fight – indoors. Make white pom-poms for snowballs.
14. Help decorate a neighbor’s, grandparent’s or other friend’s home.
