Celebrating the first coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with Advent is such a special way to prepare for Christmas. It truly keeps the real meaning of Christmas at the forefront and is a reminder that Christmas is so much more than decor and gifts. While decor and gifts are fun, Christmas is about the ultimate Gift that God gave through His Son, Jesus.
If you’ve never done a Christmas Advent before, Advent, which means “arriving or coming”, is an age-old tradition that leads up to Christmas and has been around for nearly 1500 years. Many practices of Advent come from Europe where they burned a candle bit by bit each day. The idea of the Advent calendar may have stemmed from 19th century Germany where they drew chalk on doors and then wiped them off after each day or where they put pieces of straw inside of a manger as time went by.
This post is sponsored by Sonlight. My time was compensated however all opinions or my own.
No matter the origin, Advent is such a wonderful time of the year. Starting on December 1st, (some start the day after Thanksgiving) it’s a way to help prepare our hearts for the birth of Jesus and to remember the real reason for Christmas. Advent is a time to celebrate the first coming of Christ into the world when the Word became flesh to redeem His people from sin.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
If you’re looking for Advent family traditions to do with your family, look no further! I’ll be sharing with you several Christian Advent ideas that will help get you well on your way to preparing for Christ this Christmas season!
Advent Unit Study
Advent Unit Study – Jotham’s Journey
This 28-day Advent study from Sonlight is based on the book Jotham’s Journey and is great for the whole family to study together.
This package includes:
- The book Jotham’s Journey
- Daily schedule and notes for each day
- Holiday recipes for baking with family
- Weekly craft project with supplies included
- Bonus craft ideas for gift-giving
- List of holiday literature to enrich your enjoyment of the Christmas season
- Recipe cards for building your own holiday recipe file
The weekly schedule plans keep things simple and low prep so that it doesn’t add extra to the already busy season. It will help you set aside time every day with hands-on activities, Christmas crafts, music, Scripture, and more.
Sonlight also has two other Advent Unit Studies available!
Nativity Themed Advent Pack by A Family Devoted
Advent Books
These books, although they may seem like they are for only adults, are great for reading aloud for the entire family. Don’t underestimate your child’s ability to understand what’s being read. Trust me, it’ll be worth it!
Prepare Him Room by Marty Machowski
This brand new, four-week devotional guides your Christian family on an unforgettable advent journey, exploring some of the most wonderful prophecies in the Bible and how God fulfills them in Jesus Christ. From Bible devotions that tell the Christmas story through the eyes of the prophets to an original Christmas short story called Bartimaeus, Prepare Him Room helps you build family Christmas traditions around Jesus.
Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room by Nancy Guthrie
This devotional is designed to bring your family together during a season that is oftentimes too much about programs and presents, and simply not enough about Jesus. Along with devotions for every day in December, this resource includes explanations of some hard-to-understand aspects of popular Christmas carols and discussion questions to draw in your elementary through high school-aged kids, transforming this time together from a dry lecture into a treasured family experience.
Joy To The World by Charles Spurgeon
In the midst of the busyness of December, take 5 minutes each day and let Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers, warm your heart with joy that can only be found in the good news of Jesus Christ. Slow down this Advent and reflect on the birth of Jesus with this 25-day Advent devotional guide.
Unwrapping The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp
Person by person, story by story, retrace the lineage of Jesus. Fall in love with Him all over again as you experience God’s plan of salvation for us―from the Garden of Eden to the manger and beyond. Based on the overwhelming success of The Greatest Gift, Ann Voskamp has expanded her presentation of the timeless Advent tradition of the Jesse Tree so families can celebrate together.
Advent is as much about looking back as it is looking ahead—back to Christ’s incarnation, ahead to His return. From Heaven combines A. W. Tozer’s best reflections on these two themes to help us better appreciate the season of Advent. Each daily reading is paired with Scripture for meditation, drawing our attention to the rising light of Christ.
The Advent Jesse Tree Devotions For Children and Adults by Dean Lambert Smith
Bring Christ back to Christmas by giving your children a devotional experience that adorns your tree with Christian symbols. These symbols coincide with the prayers, memory verses, questions for
children, and songs found in the devotions for that day. Finally, on Christmas day, your tree will be filled with reminders of 25 Bible stories that led up to Christ’s birth.
Come, Let Us Adore Him By Paul David Tripp
This book of daily readings for the month of December by best-selling author Paul David Tripp will help you slow down, prepare your heart, and focus on what matters most: adoring our Savior, Jesus.
Advent Calendars
Having a visual is a great way to build excitement!
The Wonder of the Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp
Based on her bestseller Unwrapping the Greatest Gift, Ann Voskamp expands her presentation of the timeless Advent tradition of the Jesse Tree with this beautiful keepsake that can be handed down and enjoyed for generations. Each December, families can celebrate the coming of Jesus by opening the book to see a stunning 13-inch, three-dimensional Jesse Tree pop up from the page. Also inside is a simple devotional book with a reading for each of the 25 ornaments.
This set is perfect for displaying on the refrigerator and includes a story and explanation cards that will help teach children about the Christmas Story.
The included picture book, The Giving Manger, will help your family understand the tradition and get children excited about participating. Once you have read the story, place the empty manger in a prominent spot in your home. In the days leading up to Christmas, family members can place a piece of straw in the manger each time they perform a kind deed or act of service. Filling the manger will become a fun, interactive project for your family, prompting even young children to look for ways to love and serve others.
LEGO Marvel The Avengers Advent Calendar
Perfect for the Marvel fan, behind each of the 24 doors is a great gift to build, play with, and display. Includes 7 Minifigures – Iron Man, Spider-Man, Black Widow, Thor, Captain Marvel, Thanos, and Nick Fury – plus exciting items and amazing accessories from the Marvel Universe that kids (and adults) will love.
LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar
Perfect for the young and old Star Wars fan, this set features a buildable Star Wars set featuring 7 LEGO Star Wars characters, including The Mandalorian and the Child (Grogu), affectionately known as Baby Yoda, in festive outfits, plus a Tusken Raider, IG-11, and IT-O Interrogator Droid. The 11 mini build vehicles include The Razor Crest, Riot Mar’s starfighter, Imperial Troop Transport, X-wing, TIE Fighter, Imperial Light Cruiser, Boba Fett’s starship, and the Child’s hoverpram.
Melissa & Doug Advent Calendar
This Advent calendar includes a magnetic wooden tree, 24 magnetic ornaments, and 1 shining star for the top of the tree. The attached wooden ornament box keeps all the pieces together.
Every night before bed, pull another figure out of the pocket and affix it inside the stable scene. By Christmas Eve, you’ll have the full cast of the Nativity!
These simple countdown blocks can be removed and turned to count down the days until Christmas.
“For, first, the birth of Christ was the incarnation of God: it was God taking upon himself human—a mystery, a wondrous mystery, to be believed in rather than to be defined.” — Charles Spurgeon
I hope this list encourages you to start an Advent family tradition to help prepare your home for the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the real reason for the season of Christmas!
Which are your favorite Christian Advent ideas?
I’d love to hear it in the comments!
A Family Devoted is dedicated to recommending quality resources to benefit Christian families. This blog contains and is monetized through sponsored posts and affiliate links. For more information, please read our Privacy Policy
Wonderful resources, thank you for sharing these! Christmas can be so overwhelming, but there’s a huge need to keep it simple and about Christ incarnate.
The Wonder of the Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp, but they are all so wonderful!
@tisonlyme143
This list of books is wonderful, I am not really familiar with them so it was quite refreshing, and can’t wait to check them out.
This is such a blessing. Thanks for sharing it.
Thank you for these resources! Advent always sneaks up on me and I flounder around looking for something. This is a Help!
Oh, these look great! Thanks for sharing. We have the Charles Spurgeon one for this year. 🙂
What an amazing list of resources. Blessings to you.
I would use some of the money for Christmas presents for family, and needs we might have for homeschool.