Preparing Our Hearts and Homes for Christmas: Part 4, Making Advent Meaningful

Preparing Our Hearts and Homes for Christmas
Making Advent More Meaningful

Do you have any plans to make Advent more meaningful? In years past, I have had no plan on how to celebrate Advent. As a result, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas went so fast that we really did nothing to actually to celebrate the season.

As I mentioned in past posts, I decided to chose a theme for Advent this year so I could have some activities for myself and my little ones to focus on. Our theme this year is Fruit of the Spirit. I will be reading A Mother's Harvest: A Devotional for Moms Based on The Fruit of the Spirit. I found many books and CDs on Amazon that could be used with children of all ages to learn more about Galatians 5:22-23 . I also found this sweet sticker chart to to reinforce what my girls are learning and encourage them to practice love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control . I also plan to use some handmade coloring sheets and the lesson plan for preschoolers found on this blog.

I am also hoping to make dinner a little more special each Sunday evening as we light the candles on our simple Advent Wreath.


Here are a few other resources you may enjoy:

For some great activities for the kids, check out Holy Heroes. Once you sign up, you will receive daily educational online videos and activities for school-aged children. It is not too late to join Advent Adventure. My girls participated in the Summer Faith Adventure which was a fun home vacation bible school. They really learned a lot. I believe they also offer a free Lenten Adventure.

I have been reading Kitchen Stewardship's Advent Daily Dose here.

Here is a nice article about Advent from Faith and Family Live. The Faith and Family Live website is filled with great articles and activities for the Catholic family.

I also liked the following articles on preparing for Jesus while waiting for Santa and ways to strengthen your family during Advent:

http://www.stpaulsmonastery.org/6-moms/whatisadvent11-09.pdf

http://www.stpaulsmonastery.org/6-moms/waystostrengthenfamilythisadvent11-09.2.pdf

I hope these resources help you and your family take some time to truly celebrate Advent this year!