Beautiful Advent Family Traditions with Children
The Church gives us seasons of preparation and seasons of celebration as well as ordinary seasons throughout the year. Advent is a time of preparation for each one of us. A period of four weeks before Christmas to prepare our hearts, homes, and minds for the Incarnation, Jesus our Savior coming. Growing up and now with my husband and our children, we are creating Advent family traditions unique to this time in the liturgical year.
What is Advent?
Advent is a time of expectant waiting for Christmas. It is so easy to get swept away with Christmas shopping, decorating, parties, and celebrations. But truly, the weeks of Advent, these special and busy weeks leading up to Christmas, are a time for preparation, not celebration. We are to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, as well as the twelve days of Christmas, which brings us ultimately to the Feast of the Epiphany when the three Wise Men bring their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. During Advent, we can have many family traditions that help us to enter into this season of preparation. In this post, I want to share our Advent traditions for our family.
Entering Into Advent with Children
Advent is a beautiful time to build up anticipation and excitement for Christmas Day. A period of longing and expectant waiting. In a culture where can have seemingly anything we want with the click of a button, it may seem odd to spend four weeks preparing for something. Yet, quite honestly, four weeks is probably not nearly enough time to prepare our hearts for what is to happen on Christmas. We can use signs, symbols, and simple traditions to help our children see, hear, and expereince this season of waiting. I will share a few of our family advent traditions. These will have a Catholic perspective but can be adapted to meet your family’s needs.
Straw for Baby Jesus
I picked up this idea from a family that I tutored for. They had a small wooden manger, empty of course, and a small bowl of pieces of straw. Whenever anyone in the family did something kind and generous or something that would make Jesus happy, they would place a piece of straw into the manger for baby Jesus. These actions make Jesus happy and show him we love those around us just as he does. The idea here is that we are preparing for Baby Jesus to have a cozy place to be laid when he is born.
Advent Book Calendar
What better way to prepare and wait for Christmas than with some incredible, heartwarming Christmas stories? Wrap up 24 Christmas books and have your children unwrap a new book daily. This unique advent book calendar idea will be memorable for the whole family. Check out this blog post for all of the details on how to get started with an advent book calendar, there you will find the 24 books I will be wrapping up for our twins this year.
Check out these Christmas Book Lists
Best Christ-Centered Christmas Books for Kids
The Best Classic Christmas Books to Read to Children
Christmas Books for Toddlers (Wholesome and Beautiful)
An Advent Wreath
An advent wreath is a wonderful visual sign we can have in our home to see the passing of the four weeks of Advent. Each week highlights a different virtue. Each week starts on a Sunday. The third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudate Sunday; this is the rose or pink colored candle.
- Week 1: Hope
- Week 2: Peace
- Week 3: Joy (rose/pink candle)
- Week 4: Love
- White Candle: Lit on Christmas Eve and placed in the middle of the wreath
How to Make an Advent Wreath
I saw this video where a woman made a few different DIY advent wreaths that were all beautiful and simple.
Saint Nicholas Day – December 6th
Saint Nicholas Day was one of the best days leading up to Christmas as a child. Many families leave out their shoes to wake up the next morning with chocolate gold coins. We would always have something in our stockings on this day, but I think I will go ahead with the shoe tradition in my home. Additionally, my mom would beautifully set the table and have a special breakfast for us before going off to school. I will do sourdough cinnamon rolls and an egg bake for our crew.
Saint Lucia Day – December 13th
This was a feast day we would celebrate on and off growing up, but is definately something I want to continue in our home during the Advent season. Without going into the whole history of the feast day, becuase there is a lot, I thought I would share this resource that I found very helpful. It shares the history of Saint Lucia and ideas and ways to celebrate in your home with books, outfits, and traditional St. Lucia Buns.
Christmas Baking
When you do Christmas baking the way we like to do in my family, you almost need 4 weeks to get it all done! Growing up it wasn’t just Christmas cookies but caramels, brittle, chocolate-covered cherries, and more! These special Christmas treats are so delicious. Even more than the memories of these yummy treats are the memories of baking with my mom and four sisters as well as my aunt and four girl cousins. We would come together at least once during the Advent season and bake all day. Now, I have continued this tradition with my mom and sisters and now some of our daughters. I hope to have a little girl to bring to the annual Christmas baking days one day.
Cutting Down a Tree and Decorating
Both my husband and I grew up going to cut down our Christmas tree. There is something so memorable about driving out to the tree farm, walking around, and finding the perfect Christmas tree. The smell of a real Christmas tree is so cozy and nostalgic, I just love it. We fill our tree with classic white Christmas lights. We have had many debates on whether to do colored or white lights. To each their own, but this is a battle I will win for the rest of our marriage, and I’m okay with it.
I want soft white lights, that is it. Not LED bluish white, not blinking, not big chunky lights or teeny-tiny lights. Just give me the simple and classic white Christmas tree lights. Oh, and a lot of them! Sometimes I wonder why it is so hard to find what was just normal a few years ago.
Decorating the tree with Christmas ornaments is like a walk down memory lane. Throughout my childhood and now into adulthood, my mom will get everyone a new ornament each year. The ornament is significant to something that happened in the last year. I have beautiful ornaments of a dancer, a karate kid, a box of crayons, and many more cherished ornaments that hold memories of my past. We may not have the picture-perfect tree with evenly spaced glass bulbs. Instead, it is a tree of memories and moments I never want to forget. Cutting down and decorating the tree is one of my favorite Advent family traditions.
