About Advent Calendars
Advent calendars are a fun, popular way for kids and adults to count down the days until Christmas. These calendars come in a variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from ornate, sophisticated and classy to silly, festive and entertaining. Though the calendars are diverse in nature, their purposes remain the same: recognize each day during advent and anticipate the coming of Christmas.
Other People Are Reading
-
Purpose
-
An advent calendar helps count down the days until Christmas. Much like a regular calendar or an actual countdown sign that lists how many days left until Christmas, an advent calendar provides a daily reminder of how close Christmas is by allowing its owner to open up a box, which is usually shaped to look like a door or window in the calendar everyday until Christmas. Once the box is open it stays open, allowing one to easily view how many unopened boxes, or days, are left until the big day.
Meaning
-
The term "advent" is a Latin word that means arrival. Therefore, an advent calendar is documenting how many days are left until the "arrival" of Christmas. The anticipation of this arrival begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas day, which is known as the beginning of advent.
-
Activities
-
Though all advent calendars provide boxes that open to reveal that it is one more day closer to Christmas, what lies behind that box may differ from calendar to calendar. Some advent calendars have elaborate pictures of homes, presents, cartoon characters, clocks or numbers on the outside. When the boxes are opened, a number of things may be revealed. Some calendars place chocolates or other candies behind the closed boxes, others open onto an elaborate Christmas scene, almost like looking through a window or door and into a festive celebration. Some may also contain Bible verses, facts about Christmas, facts about the first Christmas or suggestions of fun Christmastime activities.
History
-
The first advent calendar dates back to the early 19th century when protestants would place a chalk marking in front of their front door for every day in December. This is the opposite of the current advent calendar. Instead of determining how many days are left until Christmas by counting the unopened boxes, the chalk markings from this early version of the advent calendar would reveal how many days had passed since advent started.
Advent Wreath
-
The advent wreath can also be used to count down the days until Christmas. Instead of using a physical calendar, the evergreen wreath is laid horizontally and composed of four candles that stand for the four weeks of advent. The first candle is lit on the first Sunday of advent, while the subsequent candles are lit every week after that.
-
Resources
- Photo Credit roadsidescholar.com
