How To Make Advent Meaningful For Your Family
I fondly remember growing up celebrating Advent as a little girl. As a family we would set up an Advent wreath with the 3 purple candles and one pink candle. I enjoyed lighting a new candle on each of the Sundays before Christmas and I loved that there was so much meaning and focus on Jesus. Now that I am a mom myself I am always looking for ways to make Advent meaningful for my family. I have gathered several ideas for you below! * I update this yearly with new and fun ideas as I find them!
Today is a very special post because not only am I sharing some of my Advent ideas but so are several of my friends. A big thank you to Leigh of The Little By Little Home for gathering us together to share our Advent ideas. Make sure to visit those posts below!
What is Advent?
Advent is is a time to celebrate and anticipate the birth of Christ. It starts on Sunday, December 1st and goes until Tuesday, December 24th.There are four weeks of Advent (4 Sundays). You light one candle each Sunday in December and use that time to focus on Jesus and His birth. It can also be used as a time of countdown until his birthday…Christmas!
A Few Ways to Make Advent Meaningful
This year with my neighborhood book club we purchased the She Reads Truth 2023 Advent study! It is absolutely packed with so many amazing sections including, 29 Days (4 Weeks) of Daily Scripture Readings, prayers, journaling spots and more. I can’t wait to start it. They have other She Reads Truth options as well. Check them all out here.
Some people use advent wreaths and some people like to use advent calendars. These are just two ways to make Advent meaningful for your family.
In our family we like to use both! My parents give each of our four kids Advent calendars that are filled with a piece of chocolate for each day in December until Christmas. You can find them all over but we love the ones from World Market.
This is a DIY one I made for the girls to hang in their bedroom! You can read my DIY Kids Advent post here.
I still like to make Advent wreaths. Here is our family advent “wreath” from a few years ago.
This is our “wreath” from last year! I kept it simple with red candles, tea cups, Epson salt (too look like snow) and a Polish pottery server to hold it all.
Ways to Make Your Christmas Countdown Focused on Jesus
Some of the other ways I love to add Jesus into our Advent and Christmas countdown include books and daily Bible verses. Reading a family devotional can be a very special time and I have enjoyed doing this with my own family. Each year Focus On The Family puts one out that we all love! Last year I shared some last minute Advent ideas that you can check out here! That post shares some of my favorite resources. Below I am also sharing a few more resources for you to check out. (affiliate links included)
Meaningful Advent Ideas & Resources
Each year I like to mix things up for our family. I change, add and definitely keep a few of our favorite Advent ideas. I have both of the books below and I LOVE them. Victoria is an amazing author and friend. She was even kind enough to include a few of my pictures from our home in her lovely books.
Advent Devotions and Christmas Crafts for Families
Emmanuel: A Christmas Devotional
This is a wonderful study that I did last year with my friend Maggie over on Instagram. She is doing it again this year!
Advent Ideas for Families
God With us: A Family Advent Celebration
The Giving Manger is another family favorite. You can add hay to the manger each time you do an act of service for someone else. The perfect way to prepare for the arrival and anticipation of the birth of Jesus.
In my youngest daughter’s room we hung these beautiful Advent cottages from Crew + Co ! They each have a daily Bible verse to read as well as an act of service. We are looking forward to adding this to our list this year!
Advent Making It Meaningful
I love December not only because it is my birthday month, but because I get to share it with Jesus! It is my goal as a mom to find meaningful Advent ideas each year for our family and my hope is that something I shared above resonates with you as well. I am excited and looking forward to Advent starting here in the next few weeks! How about you? Do you celebrate Advent? Do you have any ideas to share with me? I would love to hear them!
More Advent Ideas From My Friends
The Homemaking Momma / Uniquely Taylor Made / The Tattered Pew / The Little by Little Home
White Arrows Home / Red Brick On The Lake / Crafting With Kids
I’d love to have you hang out with me some more! Feel free to follow along with me on any of the platforms linked below.
LTK | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Amazon
Such great Advent season ideas!
Such great ideas! I love the idea of reading a Bible verse each night. I think we will add this to our tradition as well.
I love the ideas you’ve shared here, Kelly!! So glad to be apart of this group 🙂 I can’t believe Christmas is a little more than a month away!
Love all these ideas and how you added your Advent candles in the tea cups!! So beautiful! I love so many of the devotional books you shared too!
Kelly,
I love how intentional you are about Advent. And I am going to check out some of your resources that I’ve never used. Thank you!
Love all these creative ideas Kelly! The advent with tea cups is my fave—‘tis the season of Jesus!
Thank you Natalie! It’s all about Jesus for sure!
I love all these ideas and those pretty blue cups too!
Thanks mom!