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| Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash. |
The Advent Season is upon us. How are you going to keep your family focused on the miracle of the Christ who came and who is coming? Do you ever notice your kids (or yourself!?) losing focus on the most important story ever told? We've heard it so many times!
This time of year can be overwhelming and distracting, so I want to share a simple tradition that our family loves. It keeps us focused on the coming of Christ and the children start asking about it as soon as we're past Thanksgiving.
Materials
Wreath
5 Candles
Advent tokens (attached below)
Set up your Advent Hide and Seek
1. Print your tokens ahead of time, or copy the simple pictures and passages on to slips of paper.
2. Each Sunday of Advent send your kids out of the room and hide the tokens. If you're using this in a church setting, have the tokens hidden before the children come to class.
3. Call the children back to find the tokens.
Reading the Scriptures
4. Once all the tokens are retrieved, take turns lightning the candles. On the first week of Advent, only one candle is lit. On the second week two candles are lit. Finally, on Christmas Day all five candles are burning. If you're using this in a church setting, consider sending the last set of tokens home with the children to enjoy with their family on Christmas day.
5. Once the candles are lit, each child who is able takes a turn reading the passage recorded on the token they've found.
6. Our family finishes with some singing before the candles are extinguised.
Keep it simple
If your children are young, feel free to use the shortened versions provided, or only use a couple tokens. This tradition can grow with them. The candles can be omitted, but the imagery of the light coming into the world during the darkest time of the year is lovely, and I think it compliments the wonder of the message.
I hope that your family will enjoy the wonder of the season, the gift of Christ's coming, and the anticipation of his return this year.
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