Since starting Shape Her, I've shared my family's Advent plans with you each year. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that at the end of October Landon prayed to surrender his life to Jesus, making Him the Lord of his life! Absolutely one of the best days of my life and one of our biggest answers to years and years of prayers. Now, as we embark on Advent as a family, I'm utilizing a few new "routines" we already have in place as a family and using some new products I got for this year's Advent season.
This year, we've been more intentional about doing quick family devotions at a meal time. Sometimes it's a devotion in a book that we read or working on our memory verses or grabbing one of our awesome scripture cards from any of the companies we use: Daily Grace Co., Crew and Co., She Reads Truth, and Tiny Theologians. In keeping with that "routine" we've began to establish, we're using the Family Advent Cards from the 2019 Advent line at Daily Grace Co. We're also using the Family Advent Devotional "The Way to the Manger" by Jeff & Abbey Land. This devotional outline goes perfectly in line with our Daily Grace Co. Advent cards for this year!
We also have a Shepherd on the Search that the kids like playing with. He isn't magic and doesn't "move" every day. In fact, he stays on our kitchen table and 2-3 days a week I put him in a fun place for the kids to find and see what goodies he's brought them. Those goodies include fun family activities like indoor snow ball fights, family Christmas Light Scavenger Hunt, and hot cocoa night. He also brings Christmas crafts to help the kids celebrate!
I also have The Donkey in the Living Room that I bought back when Landon was really young. I've used it in various ways over the years, and this year plan to use it 12 days before Christmas as we study a nativity character a day, leading up to Christmas. I'll also utilize some nativity cards I made last year for this too!
I keep it simple. I adjust it for my kids and their maturity. I make it fun and keep the focus on Jesus. We read a devotional at a meal time each day, we read a card once a week at a meal time, and the Shepherd brings a couple fun Advent Activities each week. As Christmas gets closer, we focus on the nativity characters and dig into them a bit deeper.
My biggest encouragement to you is to make it fit your kids' age and maturity. Do what works for your family and keep it simple. Don't stress yourself out with your family's Advent plans. Choose something that easily fits into your family's routine and daily/weekly dynamic.
Here's a quick rundown of other things I've done in the years past:
{2015} Landon was 2.5 and I picked 8 simple Advent activities for the month. I put them on a little banner on our fireplace and we chose 2 per week.
{2016} Very similar to the year before, I just added a few extra activities for the month. This is a great list of Toddler Activities! I also started using the Donkey in the Living Room book this year, too.
{2017} This was our first year with the Shepherd on the Search. I also made my own printable Advent activity cards. There's a printable here for you too! Check it out!
{2018} Last year, we kept using our Shepherd on the Search and I utilized one of the kids' Christmas toys and created my own Nativity Advent Cards. The cards focus on each of the nativity characters and corresponding scriptures and pages inside the Jesus Storybook Bible. There's a free printable of the cards for you so check it out!
This year, we've been more intentional about doing quick family devotions at a meal time. Sometimes it's a devotion in a book that we read or working on our memory verses or grabbing one of our awesome scripture cards from any of the companies we use: Daily Grace Co., Crew and Co., She Reads Truth, and Tiny Theologians. In keeping with that "routine" we've began to establish, we're using the Family Advent Cards from the 2019 Advent line at Daily Grace Co. We're also using the Family Advent Devotional "The Way to the Manger" by Jeff & Abbey Land. This devotional outline goes perfectly in line with our Daily Grace Co. Advent cards for this year!
We also have a Shepherd on the Search that the kids like playing with. He isn't magic and doesn't "move" every day. In fact, he stays on our kitchen table and 2-3 days a week I put him in a fun place for the kids to find and see what goodies he's brought them. Those goodies include fun family activities like indoor snow ball fights, family Christmas Light Scavenger Hunt, and hot cocoa night. He also brings Christmas crafts to help the kids celebrate!
I also have The Donkey in the Living Room that I bought back when Landon was really young. I've used it in various ways over the years, and this year plan to use it 12 days before Christmas as we study a nativity character a day, leading up to Christmas. I'll also utilize some nativity cards I made last year for this too!
I keep it simple. I adjust it for my kids and their maturity. I make it fun and keep the focus on Jesus. We read a devotional at a meal time each day, we read a card once a week at a meal time, and the Shepherd brings a couple fun Advent Activities each week. As Christmas gets closer, we focus on the nativity characters and dig into them a bit deeper.
My biggest encouragement to you is to make it fit your kids' age and maturity. Do what works for your family and keep it simple. Don't stress yourself out with your family's Advent plans. Choose something that easily fits into your family's routine and daily/weekly dynamic.
Here's a quick rundown of other things I've done in the years past:
{2015} Landon was 2.5 and I picked 8 simple Advent activities for the month. I put them on a little banner on our fireplace and we chose 2 per week.
{2016} Very similar to the year before, I just added a few extra activities for the month. This is a great list of Toddler Activities! I also started using the Donkey in the Living Room book this year, too.
{2017} This was our first year with the Shepherd on the Search. I also made my own printable Advent activity cards. There's a printable here for you too! Check it out!
{2018} Last year, we kept using our Shepherd on the Search and I utilized one of the kids' Christmas toys and created my own Nativity Advent Cards. The cards focus on each of the nativity characters and corresponding scriptures and pages inside the Jesus Storybook Bible. There's a free printable of the cards for you so check it out!
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