So I tried something new this year with our advent. In the past we have done the playmobil advent, the boxes of chocolate advent, the paper advent, etc. Someone had posted the idea on pinterest to do an activity advent. The idea being to incorporate the traditions you already do anyway with some new activities, one each day. I LOVED the idea but wasn't sure I would be organized enough to get it accomplished.
I'm not sure anyone even still reads this blog but if they do and they are wondering about an activity advent, here's my two cents.
Start planning early, probably in November. If your house is like ours it gets crazy about mid-November and it is better to have this done.
Write down all the activities/ideas you have.
Get a blank calendar page and start filling in the days. Some activities will be easy to schedule. i.e. a child's Christmas concert or a party you have scheduled. Some will be more difficult if you aren't sure of when you want to do them.
My kids each had a numbered card they opened each day. Last summer when we were at IKEA I picked up this neat wall-hanging wire that was great to hook them all to. (Normally it is used for artwork.) Using these cards made it easy to change the activities at the last minute if necessary.
Be flexible. As always happens in December, something unexpected will come up that thwarts your plans. (i.e. an emergency root canal the day you were supposed to take the kids downtown to look at lights). These are the days you need to have a back up like "peppermint day". For us this meant candy canes to stir your hot chocolate with.
This year we had an book that we read every day that covered the spiritual side of advent. Next year I hope to incorporate all my activities with verses or with the days in an advent book.
The kids loved getting up every morning to see what the day's activity would be. I'm not sure it necessarily always helped them to think of Jesus' birth but it did create excitement for Christmas. With a few tweaks I think it will be the perfect way to commemorate advent.
It was definitely the start of a new tradition.
