We’ve curated this collection of awesome advent resources to help you celebrate the season as a family!
The holiday season is upon us! With Thanksgiving just two weeks away, many of us are looking ahead to December and all that entails for our families. Many are preparing for advent, a four-week season of remembering and celebrating the arrival of Jesus on Earth.
Advent Resources To Celebrate The Season
1. Truth in Tinsel
Truth in Tinsel – Truth in the Tinsel is an Advent study for young children. I found it several years ago when looking for a simple way to incorporate Advent into our studies and holiday celebrations. It is a lovely way to not only celebrate Advent, but teach your children what Christmas is all about. It is designed for preschoolers through early elementary aged kids. But truth be told, there are also things I’ve learned as we have studied the devotions. ~ Amy
2. Advent Morning Time
Advent Morning Time – Once Thanksgiving has come and gone, we enter the rush toward Christmas. With family, church, and homeschooling obligations it can seem like we are always a little bit behind during the month of December. Why not consciously plan ahead and choose to create a little margin? Homeschooling offers us that kind of flexibility. In our homeschool, we will be setting aside the bulk of our studies in favor of an extended Advent Morning Time. These are the resources we are using. ~ Kortney
3. Ishtar’s Odyssey
Ishtar’s Odyssey: A Storybook for Advent – The Advent series by Arnold Ytreeide help us built special family devotion time each evening – from shortly after Thanksgiving until Christmas morning! Today I am sharing about the latest in the series of storybooks for Advent: Ishtar’s Odyssey. ~ Tricia
Fourth in a set of Advent adventure books for families, Ishtar’s Odyssey follows the ten-year-old son of a Persian wise man as their caravan follows a star across the desert. Ishtar would just as soon stay in the comfort of the palace, but slowly he learns that there’s much to see, do, and learn in this world that can’t be experienced in school. He eventually meets Jotham, Bartholomew, and Tabitha as he follows his father and uncles in their search for a newborn king.
4. Jotham’s Journey Advent Stories
Jotham’s Journey Advent Stories – This advent series of books by Arnold Ytreeide includes Jotham’s Journey, Bartholomew’s Passage and Tabitha’s Travels and Ishtar’s Odyssey. Many homeschooling families enjoy these but I’m still surprised there are a few that don’t know about them. Our whole family participates. Hodgepodgedad reads the few pages before the children’s bedtime, starting the first Sunday of Advent. How quickly the children all get bathed and pj’d so we can all gather around and read Jotham’s Journey or another in this series. ~ Tricia
5. Celebrating Advent
Celebrating Advent – Natasha Metzler has written a brand new storybook called Christmas: The Whole Story of the God Who Loves. It’s an illustrated book of devotionals to share together. Each day through the 25 days before Christmas, Natasha uses a story from the Bible to tell of the coming Savior. We begin at Creation and travel through the Old Testament stories of The Fall, The Exodus, Rahab, Ruth, and David, the to Zechariah and Elizabeth and finally to Joseph and Mary.
I really like that these daily readings are quite short. This isn’t an extensive study to try to add in around the edges of already packed days. The stories would be perfect to read over breakfast or as you were tucking a child in at night. ~ Kortney
6. Charlie and Noel – An Advent Calendar Story
Charlie and Noel – An Advent Calendar Story by Franziska Macur is a personal and inviting approach to preparing our hearts for the Christmas season.
Each short and sweet chapter of this book tells a piece of the story of Charlie and his new friend, a plush donkey named Noel. The book contains 24 Chapters, one for each day of Advent, and a 25th chapter for Christmas itself. As you read the story with your child it slowly reveals more and more about the reason for the season while developing a charming relationship between Charlie and Noel. Throughout the story, Charlie grows up a bit, experiences meaningful events and makes other significant connections while he struggles to find meaning in having to be patient and wait for Christmas. ~ Stephanie
7. A Christmas Adventure
A Christmas Adventure – This 93 page downloadable resource is absolutely packed with:
- stories
- memory verses
- crafts
- hands-on activities
- service ideas
- recipes
- and hand-made gift ideas
In fact there is so much to do that you might end up having to leave some things out! We have been able to use this resource again this year, completing activities that we left out last year! What value! ~ Shirley
8. Advent Family Activities: Creating a Meaningful and Fun Christmas
Advent Family Activities: Creating A Meaningful and Fun Christmas – These advent family activities are a wonderful way to focus on the Savior during this Christmas season. With two options for advent chains, your family can count down to Christmas. Here are two different sets of printable advent chains. Print, cut, staple and hang! You can flip flop between the advent chains each year. I love how Advent Chains have become a December tradition in my household. They can be in yours too! ~ from our sister site, Your Best Homeschool
9. Draw Your Way Through the Story of Christmas
Draw Your Way Through the Story of Christmas – Add these Advent art activities to your Christmas Homeschool plans! You can draw your way through the story of Christmas from the angels announcing Messiah’s birth to the manger scene.
One of the simplest ways to shift your homeschool in the Christmas season is to continue learning but change the focus of the educational material. Dive into Advent for the month, plan a birthday party for Jesus, enjoy holiday baking together, decorate the house, and focus on the true reason for the season, Jesus.
Every Advent season, we choose to dive into learning all about The Story of Christmas. It’s a wonderful way to revisit the Birth of Christ each year, and especially if you have children, it’s important that they not only hear the story but eventually come to know it by heart. ~ from our sister site, You Are an Artist
Other Holiday Resources For Your Homeschool
Thanksgiving & Christmas Holiday Fun for Your Homeschool – I love everything about the holiday season from the hot cider and pumpkin pie to the warm fireplaces and cozy blankets! Thanksgiving and Christmas don’t have to be a reason to bring learning to a screeching halt, though. In fact, this time of year provides an opportunity to take advantage of the excitement and engage our children with games and activities that are not only fun – but can teach something wonderful about our history and the birth of our Savior, too!
Christmas Picture Books to Cuddle Up With – This Christmas why not cuddle up on the couch and enjoy some lovely Christmas picture books with your kids! Revel in the magic of Santa Claus, or rejoice in the story of the birth of Christ. Or both!
The Christmas Homeschool – Whether you’re game for ditching all or some of your usual homeschool routine in favor of a full December Christmas schedule, or you’re looking to add a supplemental activity here and there, we’ve got you covered!
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