Advent with Kids - How to Enjoy It to the Fullest

The Advent period tends to be more stressful for many families, because they are hunting for presents under the tree, doing a big Christmas clean-up, baking cookies, going around supermarkets to buy all the supplies needed for the Christmas holidays, etc. However, what should matter more is spending quality time with family. So how can you enjoy the Advent season with children?

What is Advent

Advent means “coming” in translation, and it is exactly 4 weeks before December 25. Every Sunday for four weeks, candles are lit on the Advent wreath. It is therefore a time of waiting for Christmas and should be a period of calming down, reflection, and charity. 

Activities suitable for the Advent season

Advent calendar

Make an Advent calendar with your children. There are many kinds of calendars on the internet, whether you make it from paper, fabric bags, or small boxes. The sky is the limit. Inside, you can put dried apple slices, nuts, gingerbread, hair clips, anything you can think of. 

Advent wreath

Making an Advent wreath is a popular activity for many women. Don’t be afraid to involve your children in making it too; they can collect twigs, pine cones, or bark from trees for you in the forest. Then you can decorate the wreath together and hang it on the door. If you add candles to the wreath, then light them together every Sunday. 

Letter to Santa

If your children believe in Santa, you can write him a letter together. If the children still cannot write, they can also draw pictures in the letter. It is not so much about the content as it is about making it fun for the children. You can also use various glitter, ribbons, stickers, anything that will be fun for the children. 

Barbora

In some families, the tradition of St. Barbara is kept, who on the night of December 4 gives children little gifts in hanging stockings for their behavior. If you do not keep this tradition, then you can either start it or simply make a Christmas stocking with your children. 

Baking gingerbread

Christmas cookies belong to the Christmas season just as much as the Christmas tree. And among the cookies, it is honey gingerbread, thanks to gingerbread spice, that beautifully creates a Christmas atmosphere. You can bake gingerbread together with the children; they can help cut out various shapes and then decorate them with icing. 

Saint Nicholas, devil, and angel

Everyone certainly knows the tradition of Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas is the patron and protector of children and makes sure they behave and study well. Whoever is good gets a gift from Nicholas, either in person or left on a plate on the windowsill. Nicholas sometimes comes alone, other times he is accompanied by an angel and a devil. 

You do not necessarily have to invite this famous trio into your home; some children are afraid of these figures, especially the devil. You can see whether there is any St. Nicholas event happening nearby, or on December 6 you can draw these figures with your children or make your own costumes. 

Making Christmas decorations

Before Christmas, shops are full of Christmas decorations, but there is nothing better than making these decorations yourselves with children. Not only will you have lots of fun, but most importantly, you will spend time with your family and your decorations will be original. Dry fruit, for example orange slices, lemon slices, apple slices, or dried orange peel cut into star shapes. Then you can use the fruit as decorations for the Advent wreath or as ornaments for the Christmas tree. On the window, you can make snowflakes from paper with the children.

Boat floating

You can shorten the wait for Santa by making and floating little boats. All you need are walnut shells and small candles or wax with a wick. Put the candles in the shells into a bathtub of water and light them together. Based on how they move, it will be shown who will stay at home (the boats stay close together) and who will travel (the boats float farther apart).

Christmas card

Since we live in a digital age, very few people think of sending a postcard or letter by mail anymore. It is more expensive and delivery takes much longer than with the internet. However, it has its own charm, and the Advent season itself invites you to make a card. Whether you send it by mail to distant relatives or hand it over to grandmothers in person, children will surely enjoy creating something nice. 

Cardstock is best for such a card, and you can buy colored cardstock to make the cards more interesting. Children can draw a picture, stick on glitter or stickers, or cut out various shapes from other colored papers and glue them onto the card to create, for example, a little tree, a star, or a snowman. With the children, you will surely come up with something with a Christmas theme. 

Making stamps

You can do this activity with children at any time of the year, but with the days getting shorter, making stamps is just right. You can use a lemon, an apple, or potatoes. Lemons and apples only need to be cut in half, painted with a brush, and happily stamped. Potatoes are a bit more complicated; with a knife, you need to carve out some simple shapes, or use small cutters. Then paint the potatoes and use the stamp for, say, a Christmas card or a letter to Santa.

Winter fun

If there is snowfall outside your windows, then go outside with the children and enjoy it to the fullest. Sledding, sliding on a baking tray, building a snowman, making a snow angel, a snowball fight. On a frozen pond, try skating, and if you do not have such a pond, you can join public skating. With older children, go straight to the slopes and introduce them to skis or snowboards. The earlier children learn to ski, the easier it will be for them later and the less afraid they will be. 

The main thing is comfort

It is not your duty to invite guests to your home or to go visiting. You can do it differently this year, enjoy time with your family, and clean more or less continuously, as if there were no holidays at all. You will surely feel relieved that you do not have to wear yourself out at home just because of the Christmas rush. In the evening, once the children are asleep, feel free to make some good tea, wrap yourself in a blanket, and read a book or watch a movie with your partner.

The most important thing is family comfort, so keep that in mind when planning activities during this Advent season.