Do you want to keep Jesus the center of your Christmas celebration? Do you want to be able to point to Jesus as your kids ask, “Why do we do this? or “Do that?” I am bringing you the best of the advent resources I have come across that help keep Jesus the center of Christmas for you and your family!
I did not grow up in a family that celebrated Jesus as the center of Christmas. As a result, I have had to do some deep diving on how I can intentionally create come traditions that point to Christ for my family.
What is Advent?
This was the first question I had when I become a Christian mother? For the times I did go to church when I was young, I did not go to a church that was a liturgical church. Meaning that the church as a more formal order of services known as a liturgy and usually follows a church calendar. I still do not go to this kind of church.
Advent means a season of spiritual preparation for Christmas usually starting 4 Sundays before Christmas. Usually trying to get our hearts focusing on the wonder of what Jesus did coming as a baby to save the world through His sinless life and death on the cross and resurrection from the dead.
Why We Have to Be So Intentional with Christmas as a Christian Parent
We have to be so intentional with Christmas as Christian mothers because our kids are not going to get this message about Jesus being the reason for the season when they look out into the world.
The world says Christmas is about presents, Santa, our wants and desires, decorations, hot chocolate, Christmas lights and trees. So how can we write another narrative that is more exciting and compelling for our children?
Ideas for Making Christmas About Jesus:
I am going to roll through a few ideas that I have come across over the years. Choosing what will work best for your family is where some creativity, prayer, and discernment should be used. You and your husband know your kids and family culture BEST!
Here is my challenge for you! This is your family and you get this one shot as a mom to put your own stamp on how you form your traditions and family culture. It is an exciting HONOR we have!
So if you rock the boat by doing things different than your extended families, that’s ok! We should be living to please the Audience of One-Jesus! And the grandparents got their shot to do traditions they way they wanted to, just like our children will have that same freedom with their own children.
Family Worship for Advent
Just setting a little time aside at night when the kids are in their pjs, dimming the lights, and even lighting a little beeswax candle has been a sweet tradition for our family.
We sing one Christmas hymn or song (we love the album the Christmas album by Phil Wickham) and then my husband will do a little bit of reading from a devotion or even from the book of Luke.
If you have littles, just keep the reading or teaching short! And even allowing them something quiet to fiddle with will allow the bigger kids to hear more reading and even allow the adults to glean a bit more. I like finding coloring sheets or even allowing small kids to use wooden blocks or a small activity like play dough.
Keeping hands busy is a good idea to help stretch littles attention span!
Advent Blocks
These clever little advent blocks are a fairly new idea and are a simple idea for young children. You line them up on a mantle or side table and for each day of December leading up to Christmas you read a small devotion together as a family and then one child gets to flip that block for that day revealing a little picture.
And the child also moves the star block one step closer to the end of the blocks. At the end of the blocks, the star block gets to the manger where the message is Immanuel Christ with Us!
These blocks remind me of an Advent Calendar, just block style and each block has a story that connects to the picture vs. just a picture that might be on a calendar.
Another idea is getting an advent wreath with 5 candles. You can do a special little dessert or meal or little ceremony on each of the Sundays leading up to Christmas.
And light another candle each time. This signifies that it is getting closer and closer to the light of the world coming into the world. And then on Christmas you light all the candles and the Christmas candle!
Kids like to know why and getting to light advent candles is a great way to get share how Jesus is the light to a dark and broken world who was desperate for a Redeemer and Savior.
I got this sweet idea from Noel Piper, the wife of the Bible teacher John Piper.
Instead of doing traditional stockings they did Shepherd Pouches. Throughout the month of December, Noel would pay her children for doing extra chores and then the kids would put that money in the Shepherd Pouch and then night before Christmas the kids would lay their pouch beside the manger.
In the morning the pouch would have little goodies in them and the money would be given to a need or person that the family had decided on.
Our family is connected closely to a family that has a little girl my girl’s age that has cancer, my wheels are turning on how this would be a great way for my kids to be able to grow that giving muscle, connect service to helping her and her family, and step outside of themselves in the Christmas season.
Christmas School for Pre-K and Homeschool
If you are home with your kids during the day, maybe changing things us with Christmas School for the month of December. Of course the basics of math, reading and phonics could roll on, but doing crafts that connect to Christmas and making goodies too could be a sweet way to winsomely love on a child’s heart that naturally loves to celebrate!
This sweet book is full of Holiday Handicrafts that we enjoy year after year.
We want Christmas to be a season that our kids look back on fondly, but then by continuing to bring it back to Jesus we are painting a more enticing image than the world holds out.
This is so up to you as a family, but after reading, learning, praying and talking with my husband we just felt like we didn’t need these pieces from the secular world for our Christmas traditions.
We joke that Mama and Daddy are Santa and we do share that there was a man named St. Nicolas who the character Santa was taken from. And that he did a lot of great things for children and was a picture of generosity. But that at the end of the day, we do not have an endless budget for their wants.
Also, that there is no naughty or nice list. In fact one thing we say when we tuck them in at night is,
“Is there anything you can do to make me love you more? Is there anything you could do to make me love you less?”
We really want our kids to know they can’t earn Jesus’ love by being good. His love is a gift freely given. And isn’t that what Christmas is about?
The gift of a perfect savior-Jesus freely given to us very imperfect people. We couldn’t save ourselves, so God put on flesh and came as a baby, lived the perfect life, died for our sins, and defeated the grave that we fear so we can live forever with Him.
Other Resources, Blog Posts, and Videos to Help You Prepare for Christmas:
