Youth Activities for the Advent Season
The Advent season is an annual period of religious celebration that begins four Sundays before Christmas and lasts until Christmas. The focus of this four-week celebration, observed by many Christian faiths, is the upcoming birth of Jesus. As people gather together to celebrate Advent both in church and at home, they focus on the anticipation of Christmas and their hopes for the new year. There are an array of activities in which children can take part as they celebrate Advent. Does this Spark an idea?
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Personalized Advent Calendar
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The Advent calendar is a popular Christmastime feature in many homes. As children celebrate Advent, they can take the opportunity to create their own, personalized Advent calendar. To complete this project, each child will need two sheets of card stock. On the first sheet, the child can draw a design that she wishes. After drawing and coloring her design, an adult can help her create square windows and use a craft knife to cut four sides of each window, leaving one side intact to act as a hinge. Label each window with a number from 1 to 25, representing the days in December on their way to Christmas.
Once the windows have been cut, place the decorated sheet of card stock over the plain sheet. Carefully open each window and trace it onto the second sheet lightly with pencil. Remove the decorated sheet, and instruct the child to create decorations in each of the squares. The child can quote Bible verses, write riddles or draw pleasing pictures. After the child has finished her decorations, place glue around the edges of the uncut sheet and carefully place the top sheet over the bottom one, lining up the windows with the decorations.
Display the completed Advent calendar prominently in your house, and make it a standard evening tradition throughout the season to open a window on the calendar and appreciate the child's handiwork.
Handmade Advent Wreaths
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The Advent wreath is a common symbol of the holiday. This simple evergreen wreath with four candles around the outside and one in the center holds great symbolic meaning, representing, among other things, the belief of God and never-ending patience. As they move through the Advent season, children can exercise their creativity by creating their own Advent wreaths out of paper or scrap. As you prepare for this activity, be on the lookout for material that the child can use to craft his wreath. A green soda bottle, for example, could be cut down and fringed to resemble pine boughs. A cereal box could be cut into strips and used to create candles.
After collecting the materials, work with the child to create his advent wreath. Encourage him to be creative in his crafting of the wreath and to take his time to create a beautiful seasonal decoration. Place the wreath in your house as an Advent decoration. At season's end, pack it away with all of the other decorations and bring it out next year so your child can reflect upon the fun he had creating his meaningful artwork.
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Nativity Picture Books
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The culmination of the Advent season is the birth of Jesus. Many books depict the events that led up to and immediately followed the birth of this prominent figure. Encourage your child to reflect upon this event by creating a picture book of her own. Allow the child to work independently or with friends to create their very own picture book. Help your child locate the story of the birth of Jesus in the Bible, or provide her with some picture books that describe the event. Ask her to rewrite the story in her words, placing small passages on separate sheets of paper and drawing pictures to accompany each bit of text.
Once the child or group of children has completed the picture book, bind it with staples, or visit your area office supply store to have it spiral bound. On Christmas Eve, allow the child to delight visitors young and old by reading her rendition of the classic Nativity tale.
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References
- Photo Credit advent image by Angie Lingnau from Fotolia.com
