Advent

It is getting closer to December and therefore Christmas will soon be upon us!

I have blogged before about the Advent material that I have written over the years.  There are three different sets now.  This post will give an brief explanation of each, to assist you in choosing whether you would like to use one of them.  

Each is a set of 24 readings, designed to be used from Dec 1 - 24 (leaving Christmas Day itself free to celebrate in your own way!)   Each day takes no more than 5-10 minutes, although some optional extra activities could take longer.

The Birth of Jesus

This is aimed more at younger children, although still can be used with older ones.  It covers the story of the first Christmas.

Each day has a bible reading, questions to think about, a prayer to say and some optional activities which include a special verse, a picture to draw and sometimes a song to sing (if you have the optional CD:  King of Christmas (Colin Buchanan, 2005). 


Genesis to Jesus

This is possibly better with primary-aged children, although we used it with little ones too.  It covers the story of the Old Testament and then how the promises lead to Jesus.

Each day has a bible reading, questions to think about, a prayer to say and some optional activities which include a special verse, a picture to draw and sometimes a song to sing (if you have the optional CDs:  King of Christmas, Colin Buchanan (Colin Buchanan, 2005) and The King, the Snake and the Promise (Emu Music, 1998).

Who is this Man?

Each reading brings out an aspect of who Jesus is: such as in the image of God, the word become flesh, son of God, creator, unchangeable, light of the world, good shepherd, etc.

We used this last year with our children (aged 12, 10 and 8) and it pushed them all a little bit more.  However we knew people who also used it with much younger children and they also found it helpful.   There are no activities or daily drawing suggestions with this material, but they could be added if wanted.


If you want to see how we have used these three sets of material over the years, reading back through the Advent posts will show you.  We have boxes we open each day, which is a family tradition we now all love - but what goes in the boxes changes over the years.

These three sets of Advent material can all be downloaded via the resources link.

I hope your family enjoys thinking about Jesus over the Christmas season.

Advent

All year a note has been sitting in my 'to do' list that says  'Write new advent material'.  Every month  it has popped up to remind me, and every month I tell it to remind me in another month.  However, thanks to the time I had away earlier this month, I was finally able to put the time aside for this little project.

For 9 years we have been doing one of two options.  We started with a "Genesis to Jesus" advent booklet.  Later we added another option, "The Birth of Jesus".  Both were 25 days of readings, questions, prayers and optional activities/music, etc  (you can see the development of these and how we did them by looking through the advent posts).

For the stages our kids were at they were great.  There were boxes to open, activities to do, craft if one had the energy and always a focus on Jesus and the main point of Christmas.

However, over the last year or so I have felt we needed to change it around a bit.   The activities and craft no longer interested everyone.  Last year no one wanted to draw the pictures.  No one is excited by cheap plastic toys anymore.  They still loved the boxes and the idea of doing the reading each day, but the content and delivery needed to change a bit.  I felt that Mr 12 especially needed something to push him a bit more and that we all could do with some new material to think about and work through.

So this year, we are trying a new set of readings I have developed.  It's called "Who is this man?"

• There are 24 readings (why did I think we could ever manage a reading/activity, etc on Dec 25!?).  Each bring out an aspect of who Jesus is: such as in the image of God, word become flesh, son of God, creator, unchangeable, light of the world, good shepherd, etc. 
• At the beginning I thought I would struggle to get 24 different ideas.  In the end, I had to decide which to keep and which to leave out!  There is so much we can learn about Jesus and who he is.
• There are some questions to think about
• There are some things to pray about 
• There are no longer any activities or songs, but of course if we think of things that go along with them we can easily do them.   Part of this is thinking about how to keep an almost teenage son still keen to interact with it.
• We will still do the boxes, as they are a family tradition now.  We will put a title card in each so we can hang them up to see the progression.
• The boxes will have lolly treats or an instruction to 'look under the Christmas tree'.  As we did last year, a fair number of gifts are given throughout advent, meaning there will be less presents on Christmas Day, but we have lots to play with and have fun with for the whole month.   Already included is the new Colin Buchanan Christmas CD, which we are all keen to hear - that will be the present for Day 1!  

If you would like to see this new material, it is available on the resources page: Who is this man?   If you use Acrobat Reader, you can print it as a booklet, or however works for you.  I still consider this to be in  draft form until we do it this year and see how it goes.  If you would like to try it, I would love your feedback on how it went, especially if you have also used my other material.

I also felt that the other material could do with a format update.  None of the content has changed, but it just looks a bit better, again accessed by the resources tab:

• The Birth of Jesus.  This one is better for those with younger children.  It covers the story of the first Christmas.  
• Genesis to Jesus.  Possible better with older primary children, although we used it with littler ones too.   It covers the story of the Old Testament and then how the promises lead to Jesus.  I have stretched each day's readings over 2 pages, to allow the pictures to be drawn on the pages on the booklet itself if wanted (and to fit it all in better).

I had a great comment from April last year about how she inserts extra blank pages in the booklets so her kids can draw pictures into it and then keep them.   I thought it was a great idea, and you might like to do it too.

I'll let you know how we find "Who is this Man?", but as usual you are welcome to use any of this material for your own families.  

Advent

If you are interested in using my advent calendars this year, just hop over to the “Resources” tab to download them. 

As usual, there are 2 options:

• The Birth of Jesus - a set of 25 readings mainly from Luke and Matthew's gospels, so you can spend time thinking about when Jesus was born and what it means for us today.
• Genesis to Jesus - a set of 25 readings covering the unfolding story of the bible and it's fulfilment in Christ.

Each day there is a bible reading, some questions to think about, a prayer, a special verse and some optional extras - something to draw, a song to listen to, a craft to do, etc.

This year our family will be doing The Birth of Jesus.  We are looking forward to it already, it is definitely a tradition we have all come to cherish.  If you would like more details as to how we do Advent, what goes in the little boxes, and how it has changed over time, see previous posts on Advent.

(update from 2017: these have now changed and are only 24 days of readings)

Advent

Christmas is rolling around again (in case you hadn't noticed!)

If you would like celebrate Advent with your family and would like some material to do so, please feel free to use the ones we use, via the resources tab.

• The Birth of Jesus - a set of 25 readings mainly from Luke and Matthew's gospels, so you can spend time thinking about when Jesus was born and what it means for us today.
• Genesis to Jesus - a set of 25 readings covering the unfolding story of the bible and it's fulfilment in Christ 

Each day there is a bible reading, some questions to think about, a prayer, a special verse and some optional extras - something to draw, a song to listen to, a craft to do, etc.

This year our family will be doing Genesis to Jesus again.  We are looking forward to it already.  After 6 years, Advent is definitely one of those 'unbreakable' family traditions!   If you would like more details as to how we do Advent and what goes in the little boxes, see previous posts on Advent.

Our tree went up yesterday too (a few days earlier than usual).  Good times!


(update from 2017: these readings have now changed and are only 24 days of readings)

Christmas rolls around again

When you have been blogging for a few years, the year develops a rhythm to it. For the fourth year in a row I find myself pondering a Christmas post. Yet also wondering if I can be bothered! After all, you can all press the button to the left --> the 'Christmas' label.

So, in brief: for those that are interested, our Advent calendar will continue again, now set as a feature of our Christmas tradition.

After two years doing the 'Birth of Jesus' advent material, we are now switching back to the 'Genesis to Jesus' material. After being asked by a number of you dear readers for it, I am now making both available* as a pdf file: Birth of Jesus or Genesis to Jesus.

We continue with the boxes, which include bible verses, but this year there will be very few treats in the boxes. Instead, I am planning more activities related to the stories. When the treats became the highlight, it was hard for all to concentrate for the bible readings.

For those that would like to take a easier option (which I highly recommend!) - better to do something than nothing at all - the Good Book Company is having a 20% off sale for their Christmas resources, including all the material I reviewed last year. I think our older two will do the Christmas Unpacked booklet, might as well keep doing these things while they still love it!

Next week the tree goes up and we start Advent - can you believe it's nearly Christmas!?


* Update from 2017: the resources tab now contains the most-up-to date versions of these materials. 

Christmas

Does Christmas sneak up on you each year?

(This is an edited repost from last year - because Christmas has indeed snuck up on me!)

In one week, we will be putting up the tree and starting our advent material. Some longer term readers may recall what we have done in previous years (see Advent posts if you would like to know).

We want to teach the kids that Jesus is the reason we celebrate Christmas, and to use every chance we have to do so. We have found that 25 readings/activities in December have been a great way to teach about Jesus as well as making it exciting to do so.

• This year's readings (like last year) are focusing on the events around the birth of Jesus. We have 25 readings mainly from Luke and Matthew's gospels, so we can really spend time thinking about when Jesus was born and what it means for us today. Each day there is a bible reading, some questions to think about, a special verse and some optional extras - something to draw, a song to listen to, a craft to do, etc.

• We still use the boxes - they are a big hit and have now become a family tradition

• In each box there is a verse for each of our 3 children. The verse in full is written out for Mr 7, then a simplified version for Miss 5 which she should be able to remember bits of, and the same for Miss 3.

• They will also get a special treat each day in the box, which will be a selection of little trinkets I got from Koorong (bouncy balls, erasers, stickers, etc), bubbles, Christmas decorations, craft or some candy/chocolate. I do this to make it FUN. We want Christmas to be fun and learning about Jesus to be fun too.

If you are interested, you have a week to do it. I am happy to share my material with anyone, just send me an email.

Now I am looking forward to December 1!

Advent

Well, here we are again - Christmas is coming up fast and so we need to start our advent calendar next week. Some longer term readers may recall what we have done in previous years.

We want to teach the kids that Jesus is the reason we celebrate Christmas, and to use every chance we have to do so. We have found that 25 readings/activities in December have been a great way to teach about Jesus as well as making it exciting to do so.

We started out having a cardboard Christmas tree with numbers attached to it, which each had a verse on the back, which matched up with the special verses in the Advent Tree material in Disciplines of a Godly Family, by Kent and Barbara Hughes. You can see pictures and details in this post.

Last year, I got more detailed with little numbered boxes each containing a bible verse and a special treat, still using a form of the Advent Tree, although quite edited by me. More photos & details are here.

Fast forward to this year!

• We are still going with the boxes - they were a big hit last year - and they can fit enough in them (but not too much!)

• I have written my own material this year - for the last three years we have done a biblical theology of Christmas, a 'Genesis to Jesus' if you will (as mentioned above). This year, we are focusing on the events around the birth of Jesus. We have 25 readings mainly from Luke and Matthew's gospels, so we can really spend time thinking about when Jesus was born and what it means for us today. Each day there is a bible reading, some questions to think about, a special verse and some optional extras - something to draw, a song to listen to, a craft to do, etc.

• In each box there is a verse for each of our 3 children. The verse in full is written out for Mr 6 (a confident reader), then a simplified version for Miss 4 which she should be able to remember bits of, and the same for Miss 2 - she will remember nothing, but we have to include her!).

• They will also get a special treat each day, which will be a selection of little trinkets I got from Koorong (bouncy balls, erasers, stickers, etc), bubbles, Christmas decorations and some candy/chocolate. I do this to make it FUN. We want Christmas to be fun and learning about Jesus to be fun too.

Now I am really looking forward to December 1!

Advent Calendar

Finished the planned advent calendar, just in time!!

I did decide to re-create something different to last year, which I discussed previously.

Thinking about how to make the one I use more fun for the kids, with things to open, etc, I decided on a box creation. A store in Central Markets has all these cute little noodle shaped boxes, and in lots of colours, so it was easy to set up. I just stuck a number on each.


The more important thing was deciding what to actually do with the calendar. In the end, I made up my own, using the one by Kent and Barbara Hughes, in Disciplines of a Godly Family, as a base.

I have changed a number of the readings, questions and prayers, but the general format stayed the same.

So, I have now created a booklet with all 25 days in it, each containing bible verses (NIrV), a special verse, questions, a prayer and an idea of what to draw in a picture. We will draw a picture each day, and put it up on the wall near the boxes.

I felt there was a challenge to make it appealing to 2 levels of children, one who is reading well  (5) and another who has not even started yet (age 3).

In the end, I selected a 'special verse' as the Hughes did for each day for Mr 5, and then summarised it into a phrase or short sentence for Miss 3.

A print out of each is in the box, as well as a treat of some kind (balloons, bubbles, and a whole lot of Christian knick-knack things from Koorong - stickers, bouncy balls, erasers, etc)

I have had fun doing it, and since I really only started on Saturday, it has not taken long at all.

In theory, I am happy to share the booklet with others, however, I am concerned about breaching some sort of copyright with regard to the Hughes' calendar. I have acknowledged them as the main source on it, but I want to be careful.

I am looking forward to doing this with the kids, especially as we are getting more and more Santa-drivel from school!

*****

They looked cute stacked too, until they all fell down!

Advent calendars/Jesse tree

Do any of you do one of these - I mean a distinctly Christian version, not something where the kids get a chocolate each day and nothing else!

For the last two years, I have done a version of Kent & Barbara Hughes' in Disciplines of a Godly Family. Overall it has been good, but has been a bit advanced for the stage my children are at. Having said that, A could probably follow most of it this year and read along with the readings, but I have been thinking about re-writing it a bit, or finding another version. I found one at http://www.cresourcei.org/jesse.html which I still have to look into in some depth.

I am wondering whether anyone else out there has one or does one that they like? It's only a week until it is supposed to start and so time is running out!

I suspect as a backup I will go with the Hughes' version again, and take detailed notes as to ideas or changes as we do it, with the hope of actually thinking about in in January, rather than next November, again!

Nicole commented that she would like to see what I do for the actual tree, so I have now attached some photos. I made a very simple one two years ago - 2 large white pieces of cardboard stuck together, a tree drawn on it and then ribbons fed through it via punched out holes. The ribbons hold up the numbers/bible verses which are printed on the computer on business cards. An opened paperclip attaches them to the ribbons. Hopefully this is clear when you look at the photos (mocked up for tonight, so yes I know most of the numbers are missing!). I fix it to the wall and it's done.



This is a simple option, which appealed to me as I don't mind if the children play with it and wreck it - it's easily fixed and all the verses etc are on the computer and easily reprinted. As they all get older I may make a nicer one, but I want to keep the appeal for my son, so I don't want it looking too 'girly'.

For each of the days, there is an extended reading as well as a verse for the day, the verse is what is printed on each of the cards. There is also a suggestion as to what you can make for a craft. We have just drawn a picture each day and pinned them up in a big line around the wall, near the tree itself.

For the first year, we are really competing with Santa (thanks to Mr 5 now being at school), so a friend suggested we make this as appealing as possible - perhaps I will figure out a way to attach little parcels as well, or make a pocket type as others have done. However they have really enjoyed it for the last two years.