Saturday, December 24, 2011

Advent: Truth in the Tinsel

This Advent season has been a wonderful time in our home as we've turned our hearts to the Christmas story through Truth in the Tinsel: An Advent Experience for Little Hands.

Ezekiel looked forward to opening the Advent box each morning and finding a little gift inside.
 
This year, along with a small gift, he got a clue (the green piece of paper with a picture on it). 


We taped the clues to our Advent calendar, and counted the number of days until Christmas. 

The clue (for example, "Mary") was the word of the day. It was in the daily Scripture reading, and it was the basis for a homemade ornament, discussion, and fun activity.

Here are the ornaments we made.

Day 1 - Candle

Day 2 - Kingdom

Day 3 - Zechariah

Day 4 - Gabriel

Day 5 - Mary

Day 6 - Mary/Elizabeth

Day 7 - Song

Day 8 - Sun

Day 9 - Joseph

Day 10 - Dream

Day 11 - Jesus' Name

Day 12 - Census

Day 13 - Bethlehem

Day 14 - Stable

Day 15 - Manger

Day 16 - Cloths

Day 17 - Sheep

Day 18 - Angels

Day 19 - Shepherds

Day 20 - Temple

Day 21 - Star

Day 22 - Wise Men

Day 23 - Gifts

Day 24 - Cross

Children older than three, and girls, would probably appreciate art projects more than a three-year-old boy. Zeke really enjoyed the Do More Together section because they were more active activities (jumping, flashlights, acting things out, etc). But he still thought the crafts were neat and enjoyed them.

The best part is that it kept us so focused on the true meaning of Christmas this year! You can opt to do a shortened version of Truth in the Tinsel if it works better for you, but we did the whole thing and really made it the main priority of our Christmas preparation. It was a great find and I highly recommend it.

3 comments:

Jackie said...

You're such a good mom. :)

ohAmanda said...

AWESOME. I got tears in my eyes seeing all your ornaments!

Thank you for sharing this!
a

Deb Bachman said...

Thanks so much for this find! I love finding great ways for families to celebrate Advent in many different ways! It's already on my list to get right away! Merry Christmas!