Manger Mondays: Advent Link-Up Week 1

We have really loved our first week of Advent activities! I bought the girls a couple of secular Princess advent calendars that they get to open each morning before school and eat their little chocolate treat. It’s been fun to see what the shapes have been, and talk about how that fits in to our Christmas/Advent celebrations and how they compare to the other things we’ve been talking about.

As I’ve written about before, we are going through Truth in the Tinsel: An Advent Adventure for Little Hands. I was so pleased with the ideas and principles found within the book when I reviewed it, and I really couldn’t wait until I started it with my girls.

We started on Thursday, December 1 (even though Advent officially starts the 4th Sunday before Christmas). Day 1 we talked about Jesus as the Light of the World, and how when He is in our hearts, He fills us with His light and shows us the way He wants us to live. My favorite part of Day 1 when talking about how Jesus is the Light. When asked why the light is so special, Flower Girl replied, “God sent Jesus as the light. Wait…Jesus IS God, so really….God sent himself!” Preach it, girl! 🙂

Our Clue for Day 1: Candle

Our Lights

Day 2 we talked about Jesus as the Prince of Peace and the highlight for me was when we were talking about some names we could use for Jesus (like Prince of Peace, etc) they were having a bit of a hard time wrapping their heads around the concept. So, I asked them what are some things we love about Jesus and Butterfly Girl piped up instantly, “He saved our lives!” I think the highlight for the girls was the glitter. 🙂

Day 2 Clue: Kingdom

Butterfly Girl painting her crown. Man Cub is never far away. I love that he’s learning this all by “osmosis” as he listens each day!

Day 3 we looked at Zechariah and how God told him he was going to bless him with a son. But because Zechariah and his wife were quite old, he couldn’t quite see how God could do that. He voiced his disbelief and God wasn’t too keen about that. So, Zechariah was made unable to speak until the son he was promised was born. Yowzers! So, we talked about how we should always believe what God said, even when it doesn’t make much sense, because He’s such a great God and He has a great plan which is always in our best interests. So, we choose to believe what He says. Not out of fear of what He might do, but because we love and trust him.

Flower Girl’s Zechariah

Butterfly Girl’s Zechariah

Zechariah Close Up

On Sunday we had a very busy, fun day. It was the annual Christmas fair at the girls’ school, and this year was extra special. Santy visits the fair every year and this year, Hubs was taking the photos for all the kids when they came to see Santy! So we had a busy morning making sure Daddy was ready to go. The rest of the late morning/afternoon was spent at the fair playing games, eating yummy food, coloring/painting, getting faces painted, etc. When we came home the girls immediately asked if we could do our Advent activity, so of course I obliged! But, I could tell through conversations that we were all tired. The time went well, and they seemed to understand the point of believing God’s messengers, and the fact that God speaks to us different ways at different times. But, there was nothing earth shattering, which is ok with me. 🙂 Here are their adorable angels they made:

Flower Girl’s Angel (complete with kitty cat face paint)

Butterfly Girl’s Angel (you can see where she gets her nickname 🙂

Now it’s your turn!! Link up your posts sharing your Advent or Christ-Centered Christmas activities with your kids/family! You don’t have to be doing Truth in the Tinsel to link up! Also, be sure to spread the word on Twitter and Facebook (speaking of Facebook, have you “liked” us yet? Just use the convenient “Like” button on the right sidebar)! Please use the hash tag #MangerMondays ! Be sure to come back next week and link up again!

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

I’ve linked up with
Women Living Well
Raising Homemakers