Many of you have asked for the links of items we use during Advent, so I made today’s Friday Favorites an Advent Edition so the links would be in one convenient spot.  🙂

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The Advent Calendar

Along with our Advent wreath, our Advent calendar has been a staple since the kids were little. Each day we have a rotating “prayer person of the day” who is in charge of leading the family evening prayer. During Advent, that person also gets to open the next box in our Advent calendar. We started this tradition years ago as a way to combat the seasonal “gimmies” to help bring the focus back on Christ and sharing his love with others. We started the tradition of making our Advent Calendar into an Act of Love Calendar. We explained that we can show our love for Jesus by sharing that love with others and what we do for others, we do for Our Lord.

To keep things simple, I searched online for a children’s printable Advent calendar. I found this one from Loyola Press. I simply cut up the calendar and put the little paper squares into the corresponding day. Each day we had one act of kindness that everyone in the family would do. If one of the day’s activities was not suitable for our family or if there were other acts or activities I wanted our family to work on, I just wrote my own words on a slip of paper and added it in a box. On Sundays our act of love is spending time together so we do something fun as a family, such as, decorate our Christmas tree or bake cookies or watch a Christmas movie together (without fighting about who gets to choose the movie.)

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A Letter to Baby Jesus (Instead of Santa)

This is another oldie but goodie. We’ve done this activity for a number of years and now it’s a family tradition for each of us. Instead of having the boys write the traditional letters to Santa, I put together a simple form letter that I could print off and give them to fill out. We decide on a spiritual activity we’ll work on during Advent as a gift to Jesus, who we will pray for during Advent and what presents we hope to get to celebrate Jesus’ birthday. When they were done, they folded up their letters and put them in their shoes for St. Nicholas to deliver to Baby Jesus. (In years past we’ve also placed them inside the stocking we have hanging for Jesus.)

If you’d like to print of a copy of the Letter to Baby Jesus for your little ones, I posted the PDF here. Also, I made a second version for those who don’t want the Santa aspect. It can be found here. 🙂 For the full post, click here – A Favorite Advent Tradition: A Christmas Letter to Baby Jesus (Instead of Santa)

An Advent Letter to Jesus for the Teens and Adults

This year, I used the same concept as the kid’s letter, but made a simple version for a teen or adult to use. You still choose some spiritual (or corporal) act/gift you’ll give to Jesus, someone you will pray for during Advent, and instead of asking for a wrapped gift, you can write down what you are hoping to receive from Jesus this Christmas season. (ie. Peace in your heart, the ability to forgive someone who has hurt you, healing (physical or mental), etc.) You can download a PDF of the letter from my Google Drive here.

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Jesus in the Manger

For years we used a paper version of Baby Jesus in a manger, but we saved up and found one we liked in the EWTN shop. We wait until Christmas morning to put out Baby Jesus. Meanwhile, during Advent we have a little basket of straw that the kids can use to fill up Baby Jesus’s crib. They put a piece in the manger whenever they make a sacrifice or do an act of love for Our Lord.

Then on Christmas morning we put Jesus in the manger and sing Him Happy Birthday and celebrate with presents and cake.

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Magnifikid’s Daily Advent Prayers

My favorite Advent family devotional/ prayer book is the new Magnifikid Daily Advent Prayers from Magnificat. For each day of Advent there is an introductory prayer,  an excerpt from the day’s Gospel reading, and intercessions. It is ideally for ages 7 and up, which makes it simple enough for our youngest to understand, yet it is meaty enough for the tween, teen and adults to get something out of it. The artwork is lovely and as an added bonus, it can be used year after year since it has different Sunday readings for the various cycles. I love it!

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The Advent of Christmas

Last year we added The Advent of Christmas by Matt Maher to our Christmas book collection. Although my boys are a little older than the age range, the artwork is lovely and the message is beautiful. It was perfect to read during library class at school to teach the students who may not be as familiar with the meaning of Advent and the Advent wreath. It has quickly become a favorite.

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Sunday Missals

I love the Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal and posted about it often on Instagram. Someone asked if there is a kid’s version. As far as I know there is not.

One of my boys likes to use the Magnificat’s Magnifikid.

My other boys, along with Brian, like to use St. Joseph’s 2020 Sunday Missal. You cannot beat the price – only $1.99!

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Brian and the boys use the above missals and they use Blessed Is She’s Selah Kids Journal as their Sunday prayer journal.

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Feast of St. Nicholas

St. Nicholas was born in the 3rd Century to a wealthy and devout family. His parents died when he was young & Nicholas used his inheritance to help those less fortunate. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra (modern day Turkey) at a young age. Under the Roman Emperor, he was persecuted for his faith and was imprisoned. He was later released and became known for his generosity and works of wonder, particularly protecting children and the innocent.

More Catholic American families are adopting this feast day that is popular in European countries. Normally children will put out their shoes or hang stockings the night before. As mentioned above, our family also adds into the shoes the letter to Baby Jesus so St. Nicholas can bring it to Him.

While the kids are sleeping I’ll add a few small treats into the shoes – chocolate coins, candy, a small treat (like a mini Lego set or football cards) and a religious item such as a holy card, rosary or Tiny Saints charm.

You can find a lot of activities and printables at St Nicholas Center.org.

Photo credit: Somedaysaints.com

This year we got an extra special treat – Kids Adoration Journal and Tote Bundle from Someday Saints.com. Technically this is for kids ages 7-12, which is great for my boys, but the rest of us over that age loved it too, so we all got one! Later in the day we have watched the DVD Nicholas: The Boy who Became Santa with their feast day dessert.

For more Advent ideas, check out this past post – Favorite Advent Traditions 2017.

Those are some of my favorites Advent family activities! What are some of yours?

Have a great weekend!

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