Sneak Peek of Godly Play Christmas Lesson

For those parents who are interested, here is what the Pre-K/K class and the Grades 1-2 class will be experiencing tomorrow (Sunday).

Go here to view the video lesson.

You can watch this alone to get a sense of what your children are experiencing in Sunday School, or you can watch it with your child to reinforce the concepts and to ask if he or she has questions for you.

Good Behavior is Hay in the Manger

...huh?

Here's a great idea to promote good behavior and Jesus-centered focus during this last week of Advent:

Each time you catch a child in your home doing something "good," or "godly," add a handful of hay to a homemade manger (ours is a used shipping box). That way, by Christmas morning Baby Jesus will have a comfortable place to sleep, and you will have illustrated the concept of preparing our hearts (and the world) to receive Christ through good deeds.

Photo Credit

Nativity Silhouette Art Project

This one is for older kids, or a younger child with a lot of grown up help. These are just so beautiful!

For complete project directions, go here.

Advent Task: Feeding the Birds

One of our Advent Action Cards this year was to create a birdfeeder to help our little bird friends on their way south... or more likely to help out the squirrels who are still around. :)

Today we are preparing our hearts for Jesus' coming by showing love and compassion to animals. Here's the link to our project this year!

Free Nativity Preschool/Kindergarten Download

There's a great free Nativity printables set at 1+1+1=1 this week. It's appropriate for tots, preschool and kindergarten, depending upon which activities you use. You print out what you'd like to use and not what you don't! We printed the whole set and found that there was a little something for everyone in our family included- even the baby found something to munch on! :)

Christmas Party Brings Out the Spirit

This would have been the greatest (!) place to share some pictures from our wonderful youth church Christmas party yesterday, but amongst all the hustle and bustle of activity and food preparation I forgot to bring my camera! That's OK, the memories will just have to live in our hearts.

For those who don't know, I paired up with some amazing middle and high school youth group members both from our church and other local churches to provide parents with an afternoon of free babysitting. The point was to let them have some free time during such a busy time of year (and maybe get some Christmas shopping done without little eyes peeping), while the kids got to hang out with their church friends and participate in a bunch of fun activities to celebrate the season in their own way.

I was told many times that I was crazy for doing this- we had 32 kids (aged 10 months to 18 years) in the undercroft and we needed to keep them all busy for four and a half hours! Four. And. A. Half. Hours. How would we make it happen?

I confess that I fell into doubt a couple of times just before the activity began, and wondered how I could ever have gotten myself into this mess? But, as usually happens just about the time I start to think THIS TIME I've really gotten myself in over my head... the grace shown through. I've heard it called a million things- "God breezes," "epiphanies," "moments of truth," but to me it's simply God's grace coming through to little old me waaaaaay down here on earth. It comes through in those moments of uncertainty and calms the heart just enough to allow one to take the bull by the horns once more.

The best part about yesterday, however, was that the grace didn't come from inside my heart- it came from the children that I spent the day with. It came from watching the older kids so tenderly and carefully watching over the little ones: helping them to play kickball, helping them to glue the eyes on their reindeer, and helping them to decorate their Christmas cookies. It came from younger children playing respectfully with peers, and from the littlest following along innocently behind, enraptured by the commotion. The other adult chaperones and I were able to enjoy ourselves so very much thanks to the huge hearts of our parish children!

We've been talking a lot about Advent lately- in youth group, in Children's Chapel and at home. Father Tim even talked about ways that we can prepare our hearts for the coming of the Lord last week during his sermon with the children. Watching the kids interact with one another with such love and respect yesterday was all I needed to see to prove the efficacy of our teaching and goals as a Christian community.  I realized that it didn't matter if each little activity went off perfectly as planned because a bigger goal was accomplished: the children of our church spent an entire afternoon serving one another in the Spirit of God, preparing their hearts for Christmas.

(I think they had some fun, too!)

Advent Action Cards

Today in our church was Family Sunday. This is a time, once a month, when children come upstairs and worship with the adults as part of our regular service. It's a time when we celebrate all together as one collective community, and a time when children learn about the worship service that they will be part of when their time in Sunday School and Youth Group is over. It's a beautiful tradition that I am very thankful my children get to be a part of.

Since today was Family Sunday, our rector asked all the children up to the altar to discuss Advent. Instead of using a traditional sermon, Father Tim uses this time to talk with children about some of the major changes/events/traditions in the church. Today, he wanted to talk about Advent and I must say that kids were pretty on the ball! They volunteered that it was a time of waiting for Jesus, and a time when we had to prepare our hearts for His coming. A couple even shared how the season is celebrated in their own homes. I found it interesting however, that when Father Tim asked them about what we needed to do in order to prepare ourselves- spiritually- for Christmas, kids were a little less sure of themselves. They seemed to be thinking out loud up there at the altar, "well, Christmas is Jesus' birthday, and Advent is when we wait, and we light candles..." but it seemed to trail off there. It became clear to me that we need to be more explicit with our kids about how to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of the Lord- not just as a reminder that he came to earth over two thousand years ago, but also that he will come again.

Thus, the idea of Advent Action Cards was born. Good thing I Googled the term before I put out this blog post- it turns out that I am not the only one to ever have thought that kids might need a little more practice in the physical, daily application of Advent! Here are some great resources that I uncovered in my search- all provide daily tasks which kids can do to help put them in touch with the idea of preparing their hearts for Jesus' coming. (Implement as you like- print out cards to keep in a bowl that kids draw out each day, or put them in a calendar and let kids open one each day...)

Express Life has some great suggestions here,  and Loyola Press offers some great printable options here,. Homeschooled-kids offers this interactive calendar which depicts a scripture and related activity for each day in Advent.

Here are my family's Advent Action Card tasks:

1. Donate some toys we don't use much anymore to our charity of choice
2. Make thank you notes to use after Christmas
3. Help decorate the house for Christmas
4. Make/fill bird feeder for birds migrating south
5. Put together a care package for a deployed soldier and mail it
6. Smile at someone who looks like they are having a bad day
7. Make personal Christmas cards for grandparents
8. Fix ornaments which are falling off the Christmas tree or broken
9. Choose old towels and sheets which can be donated to our local animal shelter
10. Bring a dozen eggs to our neighbor (we have chickens- baking cookies does the same trick!)
11. Share a toy with a sibling (even if you don't want to)
12. Make homemade hot chocolate and drink it together
13. Light the advent wreath candles and let each child say his or her own prayer of thanks for our blessings
14. Read a Christmas story together. Or two. Or three
15. Bake cookies for our church Christmas Fair
16. Set up the Nativity Set
17. Watch The Nativity Story (2006) as a family
18. Gather evergreen and holly from the woods and fill flower boxes outside with it
19. Tell one friend about the wonder of Advent and the true meaning of Christmas
20. Finish making the Jesse Tree ornaments that we didn't get to last year

So you noticed there were only 20 ideas, and that doesn't cover the entire season of Advent? True- but I'm only thinking of this idea now, so next year I'll have to come up with a few more to add to our repertoire! :)

I hope your family finds the time to share even a few of these tasks, and is able to focus just a bit more on the real "reason for the season" this year!

Photo credit

Minstry to Children Free Advent Coloring Pages

Ministry to Children has posted a set of FREE Advent coloring pages for kids to enjoy. You can visit the link and print out any or all of the great original coloring pages to help kids remember the reason for the season!

My oldest daughter went to town on these today! Have some fun!

Interacting with your Nativity Set

Nativity sets are wonderful tools to use to help children understand in a fundamental way what happened so, so, so many years ago, when Jesus came to walk among us. Playing with the characters in the manger and retelling the story themselves are powerful ways to encourage children to have a personal relationship with the true story of Christmas. It will develop in children a sense of ownership, and this is a meaningful building block of spiritual understanding and maturity.

Sometimes it's difficult for parents to know how to encourage such play, however.  We are *ahem* a bit removed from our own childhoods, and it sometimes hard to know how to use the figures of the nativity set both as fun tools and as teaching tools.

I have outlined here the generally accepted timeline of events leading up to Jesus' birth to help your family use the nativity set not only as decoration this Christmas season, but also as fun and meaningful ways to incorporate spiritual learning into your family time.

Week One:
On the first Sunday of Advent, set up the stable.

Week Two:
On the second Sunday of Advent, add animals.

Week Three:
On the third Sunday of Advent, add shepherds to watch over their flocks.

Week Four:
Set up the empty manger. On the morning of the 24th, add Joseph and Mary as they come to Bethlehem. On Christmas day, put Baby Jesus in the manger. Then start the wise men, coming to pay tribute to the new King. Each day they get a little closer, until they arrive on the feast of the Epiphany.

Encourage children to tell the story and to explain why you are moving the figures as you are. If they need help, fill in the gaps or give them prompts. The four week span may be difficult for younger children, who are not yet capable of retaining information for such long periods of time, so feel free to act out the entire story in one sitting, putting the figures back in their spaces when you're finished. If children add play that isn't part of the traditional story, let their creativity flow. There is plenty of time to teach them the "correct" version later- let them make the ideas and the story their own now.

*Note: it's really helpful to have a nativity set which allows Baby Jesus to come out of the manger. We use the Melissa and Doug version at our house, which uses painted wooden figures- one side contains Jesus and the other is empty.

Toilet Paper Nativity Craft

Here's a great craft from Catholic Icing- a nativity set that kids can make and play with (without damaging your nice set from Grandma)!

It's simple: download and print the free printables, color them in, and glue them to toilet paper rolls so they stand up. Voila! Instant fun for the kids, and instant educational tool! (We all know that using manipulatives and encouraging imaginary play is how kids interpret and assign meaning to the information they learn, right?) Well this activity does it all!

Free download: A Family Advent

The group Women of Faith is offering their advent publication, A Family Advent, for free as a download during the month of December! To purchase a hard copy of this book costs nearly $12, but they are offering it as a free gift to families seeking to keep Jesus as the center of the season!

My family has loved it so far! The book is broken up into the four weeks of advent and focuses on one theme per week: Hope, Peace, Love and Joy. It offers a daily scripture passage about Jesus' coming and his life, fun facts, family activities and a daily prayer.

Our family has been lighting our advent wreath for a few minutes each night and reading the short scripture and saying the prayer together. (We also add an ornament to our Jesse Tree.) It takes only a few minutes and has proven to be a very powerful- and much anticipated- nightly ritual.

Names of Jesus Advent Chain

This is a wonderful idea to help kids understand that Jesus has been called many things in the Bible and over time, but that all these names refer to him. What a nice idea Spell Outloud Homeschool had when she decided to use this activity as part of her family's advent celebration! Each chain link includes a name for Jesus and the referenced Bible passage. Here are the directions and the printable chain links so that you can do this activity with your family too.

Free e-lesson from Grapevine Studies

Grapevine Studies is a company which offers curriculum for kids to learn Bible stories in simple, straightforward ways. Their tag line is "stick figuring through the Bible," in fact. (It doesn't get simpler than that, right?)

They are offering a free e-lesson download for the month of December, and it happens to be about how Mary discovered that she would give birth to the son of God- how applicable, seeing that we are now in the season of Advent!

Advent Song

Here's a cute little song to help kids remember what advent is all about. Thanks Catholic Mom!

 Advent Song:
Sung to: "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

Advent is a time to wait
Not quite time to celebrate
Light the candles one by one
Till the advent time is done
Christmas day will soon be here
Time for joy and time for cheer.

"Truth in the Tinsel" product review

For those of us who struggle to bring home the message to our children that Christmas is, in fact, about more than just getting presents, here is a great e-book called Truth in the Tinsel! It's very inexpensive ($4.99 if you don't get the $2.99 special), and it provides a connection to the Christian concept of Christmas on each day of advent. These are simple, family-friendly suggestions which can be done in a few minutes after school/work or during the day, and are great tools to get kids thinking about the true meaning of Christmas!

Also, if you "like" them on Facebook you can get a free page of the e-book and one advent activity with the connecting scripture. I did this before I purchased the e-book and really liked the simple idea of creating a star ornament to connect to Matthew 2:1-12.

The Jesse Tree Tradition

Have any of you ever tried to have a Jesse Tree? I admit that I had never heard of this lovely Christmas tradition until last year, but it has quickly become a family favorite around here. The jist of it is simply to use a tree (or a large branch found in the backyard, in our case) and each night of advent the family adds one ornament to the tree. These aren't just any oranaments, though. These are specially crafted to represent the legacy of Jesus and to illustrate how he used his life to teach us. Each ornament is symbolic of one of the miracles or events significant to his life.

Last year we worked furiously to make clay ornaments in time for each day, and we really didn't do as well as we could have. Some came out really well, others did not, and still others didn't get made at all. When I saw this link to a set of printable ornaments to color in and hang up I was excited because that's a bit more realistic for first timers! Feel free to supplement with clay or other trinkets as you see fit!

This really is a wonderful way to share the true spirit of Christmas with your family, and to reinforce the real reason for the season!

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