I shared on Facebook that I did not grow up doing an Advent calendar, so when I tried to figure out what to do (I wanted more than a lift-a-flap-for-chocolate-every-day calendar), I was sort of at a loss. It's been a couple of years in the works, but I finally have an advent calendar that is going to be fun and age-appropriate for my little people. Feel free to use what you want, adapt what you need to, and add your own personal touch. Younger ones will enjoy making crafts to go along with each day and finding the "hiding" pieces to the nativity scene. I was disappointed to find that the donkey is not actually in the Bible accounts of the Christmas story. In fact, it doesn't appear in connection with Jesus until the Triumphal Entry. I chose not to use the donkey as part of the nativity scavenger hunt, but feel free to use it if you find an activity that does not suit your family and it needs replaced.
I made my own Advent calendar out of a muffin tin. I bought a magnet sheet and cut circles to cover each muffin compartment, then I decorated it with Christmas scrapbook paper and numbers I cut out of foam.
I typed the "say aloud" parts of the script, cut them out, and put them in the appropriate compartment for each day of December leading up to Christmas.
To do this exactly like I did (which you don't need to, of course), you will need two books for each child (or one book and a personal letter), dark chocolate, flashlights, characters from the nativity scene or pictures of them (Mary, Joseph, 2 angels, 3 wise men, stable, manger), candy canes, treasures from when kids were a baby, coins, Christmas music, star-shaped treat or craft, coins for each child, bubble bath or bath salts, grapefruit, crown activity, Lifesavers, and a game the family can play together. And a Bible, of course. I hope you and your family enjoy the Advent season!
1.
Read John 1:1-2.
“In the beginning, the Word was already there. The Word was with God, and the
Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.”
Before time began, God had a plan to save the world. Jesus was already
with God in heaven. (We gave watches to our children that we had bought
them as gifts. Other ideas include giving each child a wrapped Christmas book
or a personal letter so they have their own words from you about the advent
season. Or you could do a scavenger hunt with a watch.)
2.
Read John 1:3-5
“All things were made through him. Nothing that has been made was made without
hi. Life was in him, and that life was the light for all people. The light
shines in the darkness. But the darkness has not understood it.”
God knew that darkness and sin would enter the world through Adam and Eve, and we
would need a Savior. Let’s enjoy some dark
chocolate to remember the darkness that was in the world before Jesus came.
(Other ideas: have hot chocolate, have a
bath in darkness and play with Glo Sticks)
3.
Read John 1:6-9
“A man came who was sent from God. His name was John. He came to give witness
about that light. He gave witness so that all people could believe. John
himself was not the light. He came only as a witness to the light. The true
light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”
Jesus would be the light to take away darkness. Let’s have 10 minutes of extra flashlight time in bed to celebrate
Jesus being the Light of the world. (Or play flashlight tag or have
everyone hold a flashlight while you tell bedtime stories)
4.
Read Luke 1:26-38.
“In the sixth month after Elizabeth had become pregnant (with John, who we
talked about earlier), God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in
Galilee. He was sent to a virgin. The girl was engaged to a man named Joseph.
He came from the family line of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
The angel greeted her and said, “The Lord has given you special favor. He is
with you.” Mary was very upset because of his words. She wondered what kind of
greeting this could be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary. God
is very pleased with you. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You
must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most
High God. The Lord God will make him a king like his father David of long ago.
He will rule forever over his people, who came from Jacob’s family. His kingdom
will never end.
“How can this happen?” Mary asked the angel. “I am a virgin.” The angel
answered, “The Holy Spirit will come to you. The power of the Most High God
will cover you. So the holy one that is born will be called the Son of God.
Your relative Elizabeth is old. And even she is going to have a child. People
thought she could not have children. But she has been pregnant for six months
now. Nothing is impossible with God.”
“I serve the Lord,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me just as you said it
would.” Then the angel left her.
An angel appeared to Mary, a young unmarried
woman, and told her she was going to have a child. Let’s do a scavenger hunt
and find Mary. (You can hid a piece of your nativity set or use a picture)
An angel appeared to Mary that day.
Find Mary where the youngest women in our
house stay.
5. Read
again the passage about the angel appearing to Mary.
The angel
said she was to name the child Jesus, and He would be the Son of God. Let’s do
a scavenger hunt to find the angel.
Gabriel told Mary not to
be afraid.
Find the angel where we find God’s words to us today.
6.
Read Mathew 1:18
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary and Joseph
had promised to get married. But before they started to live together, it
became clear that she was going to have a baby. She became pregnant by the
power of the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph was a godly man. He did not want
to put her to shame in public. So he planned to divorce her quietly. But as
Joseph was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a
dream. The angel said, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary home
as your wife. The baby inside her is from the Holy Spirit. She is going to have
a son. You must give him the name Jesus. That is because he will save the people
from their sins.”
Mary was afraid to tell Joseph that
she was pregnant because they weren’t married yet. He could have had her put to
death, but he was very kind to her even though he didn’t understand it all.
Find Joseph where your kind Daddy
sleeps.
7.
Read Luke 2:1-5
In those days, Caesar Augustus made a law. It required that a list be made of
everyone in the whole Roman world. It was the first time a list was made of the
people while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be
listed. So Joseph went also. He went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to
Judea. That is where Bethlehem, the town of David, was. Joseph went there
because he belonged to the family line of David. He went there with Mary to be
listed. Mary was engaged to him. She was expecting a baby.
Mary and Joseph headed to Bethlehem so
they could be counted for a census so that the Caesar would know how powerful
he was and how many people would pay
their taxes to him. Please receive the gift of money to remember Mary and Joseph’s trip to Bethlehem for the
census.
8.
Read Luke 2:6-7
While Joseph and Mary were there, the time came for the child to be born. She
gave birth to her first baby. It was a boy. She wrapped him in large strips of
cloth. Then she placed him in a manger. There was no room for them in the inn.
There were no inns available, but a kind
innkeeper let them stay in his stable.
The stable is where Baby Jesus slept his first night.
Find our stable where we
keep suitcases for a flight.
9.
Read Luke 2:6-7 again.
Baby Jesus was born in the
stable, and Mary wrapped him in warm blankets.
Being born in a stable isn’t
quite the norm.
Find Baby Jesus where he
can keep very warm.
10.
Read Luke 2:6-7 again.
Baby Jesus slept in a manger bed full of hay.
A manger would feed the cows and the sheep.
Find the manger where our
baby boy sleeps.
11.
Read Luke 2:8-12
There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby. It was night, and they
were looking after their sheep. An angel of the Lord appeared to them. And the
glory of the Lord shone around them. They were terrified. But the angel said to
them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy. It is for all the
people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ
the Lord. Here is how you will know I am telling you the truth. You will find a
baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.
The shepherds were out taking care of their sheep when an angel told them the
good news. These candy canes are
shaped like a shepherd’s staff and will remind us of the shepherds in the field
who were working hard at every day jobs when they received the Good News. (If
it’s not a school night, you might want to “camp out in the fields” by letting
the family sleep in sleeping bags in the living room. I also would like to make
baby blankets to donate to the crisis nursery.)
12.
Read Luke 2:13-18
Suddenly a large group of angels from heaven also appeared. They were praising
God. They said, “May glory be given to God in the highest heaven! And may peace
be given to those he is pleased with on earth!”
The angels left and went into heaven. Then the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s
go to Bethlehem. Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has
told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby. The
baby was lying in the manger. After the shepherds had seen him, they told
everyone. They reported what the angel had said about this child. All who heard
it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
The shepherds told everyone about the
Baby Jesus being born. Let’s act out the story of Jesus’ birth to retell the
story. (You can also retell the story with puppets or have kids create a news
report.)
13.
Read Luke 2:19
But Mary kept all these things like a secret treasure in her heart. She thought
about them over and over.
Let’s get out your baby books and look at
things that I treasured from when you were a baby. (You can also give a Dove
Treasure candy, a trinket, or a coin).
14.
Read Luke 2:13-14 again.
The angels sang praises to God, and the
shepherds rejoiced with them. Let’s listen to our favorite Christmas music and sing praises to God too. Then
we will search for the second angel in our nativity.
The angels sang together
in a large group.
Find the angel where we keep
some soup.
15.
Read Matthew 2:1-8
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea. This happened while Herod was king of
Judea. After Jesus’ birth, Wise Men from the east came to Jerusalem. They
asked, “Where is the child who has been born to be king of the Jews? When we
were in the east, we saw his star. Now we have come to worship him.”
When King Herod heard about it, he was very upset. Everyone in Jerusalem was
troubled too. So Herod called together all the chief priests of the people. He
also called the teachers of the law. He asked them where the Christ was going
to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied. “This is what the prophet
has written. He said, “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are certainly
not the least important among the towns of Judah. A ruler will come out of you.
He will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’”
Then Herod called for the Wise Men secretly. He found out from them exactly
when the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem. He said, “Go! Make a
careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, bring me a report. Then
I can go and worship him too.”
King Herod was searching for Jesus,
pretending that he wanted to worship him. Let’s search for words from the
Christmas story in this word search puzzle. (Make your own word search puzzle
at http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.asp
. For younger kids you can do a lift-the-flap book or play hide-and-seek. )
16.
Read Matthew 2:9-12
After the Wise Men had listened to the king, they went on their way. The star
they had seen when they were in the east went ahead of them. It finally stopped
over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled
with joy. The Wise Men went to the house. There they saw the child with his
mother Mary. They bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their
treasures. They gave him gold, incense, and myrrh. But God warned them in a
dream not to go back to Herod. So they returned to their country on a different
road.
The wise men followed the star to find Jesus when He was a
toddler. Tonight we are going to make some star-shaped cookies to remember how
God led the Wise Men. (You could also eat a STARburst candy, go outside and
look at the stars, or make a star-shaped craft.)
17.
The first
Wise Man brought Jesus a gift of gold. Take these shiny coins to remind you of
the gold that the Wise Men brought Jesus. Then find our first Wise Man.
A gift of gold the Wise
Men did bring.
Our Wise Man is hiding in
a baseball bank thing.
18.
The second
Wise Man brought Jesus a gift of incense. Incense made things smell good.
Tonight you get to take a bath with fragrant bath salts. As you soak in the
tub, remember the fragrant gift the Wise Man brought to Jesus. Then find our
second Wise Man.
The incense gave things a
good smell.
Our Wise Man is hiding
with the bath gel.
19.
The third
Wise Man brought Jesus a gift of myrrh. Myrrh was a spice that was probably
later used on Jesus’ body after He was crucified. Though it smelled good, it
was bitter because it foreshadowed the sacrifice that Jesus would make later
for our sins. Tonight we will have a snack of grapefruit, which is both sweet
and bitter, and remember the gift of myrrh. Then find our third Wise Man.
Myrrh was a gift that
smelled really nice.
Our Wise Man is hiding
where we keep our spice.
20.
Read Matthew 2:13-16
When the Wise Men had left, Joseph had a dream. In the dream an angel of the
Lord appeared to him. “Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother
and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you to come back. Herod is going
to search for the child. He wants to kill him.
Joseph got up. During the night, he left for Egypt with the child and his
mother Mary. They stayed there until King Herod died. So the words the Lord had
spoken through the prophet came true. He had said, “I chose to bring my son out
of Egypt.”
Herod realized that the Wise Men had tricked him. So he became very angry. He
gave orders concerning Bethlehem and the area around it. All the boys two years
old and under were to be killed. This agreed with the time when the Wise Men
had seen the star.
The wicked King Herod wanted the wise men
to tell him where Jesus was, but they didn’t. Nobody could kill King Jesus
without his permission. Tonight we are going to play Checkers to see who will
be kinged. (You could also go to Burger King, decorate paper crowns, or play
King of the Mountain).
21. Read John 3:16. Jesus’ birth brought to us
the greatest gift of all, the gift of salvation. For those who believe in Him,
He is our lifesaver. Let’s enjoy
some Lifesavers to remember who
truly saves our lives from sin.
22.
Even though
Jesus was the Son of God, He spent a lot of time learning God’s Word in the
Temple. Today we will go to church to celebrate the birth of our Savior and
learn more about God’s Word.
23.
Read Luke 2:39-40
Joseph and Mary did everything the Law of the Lord required. Then they returned
to Galilee. They went to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and
became strong. He was very wise. He was blessed by God’s grace.
One way we become wise is by reading books. Tonight you get a new book to
read as you remember that Jesus grew in wisdom through the years.
24. 1 Corinthians 1:18 says that the gospel is
foolishness to those who reject it. They think it’s just a game. We will enjoy
a game together tonight but remember
that the cross—to us who are being saved—is the power of God. This is the real
thing—not a game!
