Ethel Mertz Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Just in case I'm not the only one trying to incorporate Advent into Morning Time, I thought I'd start a thread for Advent ideas and links. Here's a link to start with and I will return to add more as I go along. Online Advent Calendar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted November 29, 2014 Author Share Posted November 29, 2014 Here's another online Advent Calendar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted November 29, 2014 Author Share Posted November 29, 2014 We're also reading, over several days, Jim Murphy's book Truce. We borrowed a copy from the library, but you can also find it on Amazon. A similar book to the above (for readers around 8 to 12) is Shooting at the Stars. Both books are about the unprecedented Christmas Eve truce during World War One. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Professor Carol (of Discovering Music) has a daily email about advent for this season. It is full of the history of advent and very interesting. Here's a link: http://www.professorcarol.com/category/blog/advent/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted November 30, 2014 Author Share Posted November 30, 2014 Yes! I signed up for that one. I'm trying to make a list of resources for each day and I will post here when I'm done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted November 30, 2014 Author Share Posted November 30, 2014 Here is another list of Advent and Christmas resources from Virginia Theological Seminary (a seminary of the Episcopal Church). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Since my kids were little, we used a Jesse Tree with our own home made colored paper ornaments. However, I found that they last two or three years, it has been sort of "boring," instead of a treasured tradition, it just became trite. In fact, I hate to say it, but we have tried for 10 years to make the Jesse Tree something very special and we have never really made it work. We always skipped some days, rushed through some days, and the devotions that we were using were very simple....I just never really fell in love with the whole Jesse Tree thing, although I am of course extremely glad that we tried to bring Christ into every day of the Advent season. I know He blessed us through it. But, we have moved on. This year we are doing an Advent Wreath and we are very happy with this new /old tradition. It reminds me of my childhood in the Catholic church, and our old Baptist church in FL also did one every year. We bought a tiny little book called, "We Light the Candles" and it is perfect! It has a very short story, scripture verse, traditional Christmas hymn and prayer for each day. We are only doing it on the four Sundays, rather than every day, but it does include a devotion for every day. And the book is about five dollars. My whole family liked it, and my husband was very excited about this. For whatever reason he was never interested in the Jesse Tree. I think the idea of remembering to do it every day worried him with the Jesse Tree. I think putting paper ornaments on a tree never jazzed him....I think, this is silly, but he likes the fire on the candles. The kids like to light the candles...the whole thing is just working better for us than the Jesse Tree ever did. We struggled to make that new tradition work for us for about 12 years, and now we are back to whate we had done as children and we like it better. Sometimes the "old" ways are the best ways. Although I am no longer Catholic, I respect many of the time honored traditions and I feel they are important to have simple, meaningful traditions. Unfortunately not every Baptist church has the same traditions. One does Advent wreath. One does not. One has Christmas Pageant. One does not. One has Christmas Eve service. One does not...and on and on. Taking the Advent Wreath home and putting it into our family tradition and including Dad (who is very excited about it) fixes something for me and really brings back fond memories. :o) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane Elliot Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Our family advent book is Handel's Messiah Family Advent Reader. We used this last year and liked it so much we decided to do it again this year. It's only available used, and the price this time of year is outrageous. The trick to getting this book is waiting until off-season. I waited until February a few years ago and got it for $12. We are looking forward to the book Truce as well. I checked it out of the library last week. We also plan to read Christmas Carol. Ds read the excerpt in WWS for his writing lesson last week and then begged me to read it to him. I told him he had to wait until after Thanksgiving, so we plan to start this afternoon or tomorrow. AO has a lovely list of holiday stories and poems here. I'm looking forward to reading a poem each day. My kids are also asking to do the Lessons and Carols copybooks by Julie Shields available at Lulu. They did these last year but want to do them again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Today we are constructing our advent construction paper chain with a small act of kindness written on the inside of each link? Every morning we cut a link and reflect on the importance of that act and how it relates to our preparation for Christ. It has been a wonderful tradition that we started 2 years ago. We also light the advent wreath candles nightly and reflect on that weeks candle. I'll be spending some time this afternoon looking for resources for that and post if I find anything. My biggest step in making Advent more meaningful for us this year was getting Christmas shopping done before today so we could focus on Advent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted November 30, 2014 Author Share Posted November 30, 2014 Another link for Advent resources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 I bought dd a december diary/devotional, it is written for all 31 decemberdays. The devotional part is a litlle bit over her head as it is written to moms. But she likes the craft projects ( buy thriftshop teacups, fill them with nice stuff, and give them away is one of them) Instead of hanging on the couch,she spend several hours on crafting today... Well spend money :) For Dutch readers: I refer to Decemberdagboek of Corien Oranje. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plink Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 I am SO excited about Advent this year. We are going to be studying all aspects of light, with lots of crafts and activities to make our lessons fun. Here are my plans - Christmas Light: Daily Advent Activities for Kids ETA: Has anyone mentioned the Jotham's Journey series yet? They are fiction books set in Biblical times, with daily advent devotions following the character's journey to the birth of Christ. My family has really enjoyed them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 I'm using a lot of the daily readings and some activities from here: http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/christmas.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane Elliot Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 I am SO excited about Advent this year. We are going to be studying all aspects of light, with lots of crafts and activities to make our lessons fun. Here are my plans - Christmas Light: Daily Advent Activities for Kids ETA: Has any mentioned the Jotham's Journey series yet? They are fiction books set in Biblical times, with daily advent devotions following the character's journey to the birth of Christ. My family has really enjoyed them. I'm glad you mentioned the Jotham's Journey series. My kids really love these too. I noticed that Bartholomew's Passage and Tabitha's Travels are only 2.99 on Kindle right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 We love Jotham's Journey and Bartholomew's Passage but have not yet made it to Tabitha's Travels. I lent them out for a few years and we did some other things. We're not doing a formal Advent study, but I'll be doing a 15-day Christmas countdown tying Scripture in with our Nativity scene for my youngers. I blogged the list of Scriptures we're using if anyone is interested. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 I get this devotional every year, and although it is written from a Catholic point of view I used it even when I was Protestant. Each day has a very brief scripture reading, a reflection on the reading with questions to ask yourself, and then a little tidbit or interesting fact about something related to the season, a saint, or what not. http://www.amazon.com/Little-Advent-Christmas-Seasons-2014-2015-ebook/dp/B00O8BVT70/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417491891&sr=8-1&keywords=little+blue+book+advent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyc78 Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 We are doing Ann Voskamp's children's Advent book 'Unwrapping the Gift' and to be honest, we are not loving it. My kids are 5 and 8 and her writing is very flowery and full of metaphors and difficult for them to grasp. I have to stop every few sentences and explain what I've just read. They do enjoy coloring the ornaments for the Jesse tree. Last year we read The Jesse Tree book and it held their attention better but it still wasn't my favorite. I think what we've enjoyed most was Truth in the Tinsel but that was more prep and crafts than I was willing to do this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonflyer Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 We are using both Truth in the Tinsel and Jotham's Journey this year. I saved all of last year's TitT ornaments so that I "only" have 7 left for this year, then I will be done until my youngest is old enough to make his own. My plan is for each kid to have their own set and reuse each year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurora Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 I have found colouring pages that follow the Jesse Tree sequence and the children are enjoying them a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittanyJen Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 For something different, here's a chemistry Advent Tree! http://www.compoundchem.com/2014advent/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaChicken Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 We are loving Professor Carol! Thank you for suggesting it. DS11 is trying to fold a Moravian Star right now! Now I need to check out the chemistry one too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaChicken Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 The chemistry one looks pretty great too! Morning basket just got longer :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.