Celebrating Advent: the Best Advent Books for Kids
When my kids were little, I would get so discouraged when they would interrupt our Advent devotional over and over or pick a fight with a sibling, “Parker won’t take his feet of my head!” “I can’t see the pictures because Ashton is in the way!” and so forth.
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But over time I have seen the fruit of imperfect efforts and I truly believe that the Lord blesses our intentions–our interrupted prayers, unfinished books, and exhausted attempts. He fills in where we leave off and multiplies our best offerings to produce the fruit that only he is able.
Last year, a friend recommended a set of Advent Storybooks based off of fictional characters that create a journey through the advent season to Christmas. There are four books in the series:
This year we will be reading through Tabitha’s Travels and pairing it with the Names of Jesus advent cards found here.
My goal is always to make our Advent devotion time short and sweet, because if things get too long-winded around here, we simply won’t have the time or bandwidth by the end of the day. The kids usually do some kind of quiet activity while we read–a Christmas puzzle, coloring project, or sometimes we’ll make cocoa, popcorn or a Christmas treat to enjoy along with it.
Last year we went through Jotham’s Journey, which the kids really enjoyed. I wouldn’t recommend this series for kids younger than 8. Some of the scenes are a little too graphic/intense for little ones, but are what make the books exciting for the older kids…lots of cliff-hangers, which leave them wanting more.
If you haven’t yet decided on an Advent story or devotional, it’s not too late to start one! Here are two free resources to print out and use tonight…
Celebrating Christ Advent
My sweet Aunt shared this wonderful free Advent devotional–Celebrating Christ from the Cradle to the Cross. Anyone who enjoys a more formal or traditional Advent would love this beautiful resource by the Keeping Company, which was started by Caleb Voskamp (Ann Voskamp’s son). This thoughtfully-crafted advent accompanies their cradle to the cross wreath, but can absolutely be used without the wreath or with your own diy version.
Sonlight Advent
Introduction to Advent-Simple Ways to Celebrate is another great resource from Sonlight (the Christian homeschool curriculum company). Each day you will look up and read a scripture, discuss questions related to the day’s theme, and then enjoy a Christmas story to celebrate the season.
I hope you know that you don’t have to have all your days planned out to enjoy a sweet season with your family. No matter how much or how little you plan, know that your Advent season can be sacred regardless; a time of cultivating an appreciation in your children’s hearts for the celebration of Christ’s birth…one laughable moment after another, and that your imperfect efforts are all your family need.
Read this post for practical ways to teach your children to be servant-hearted this Christmas.
