This past weekend I attended a workshop on Keeping Christ in Christmas presented by several ladies of my church.  It was fabulous!  Many ideas were shared including advent activities, Jesse tree ideas, Jesus tree ideas, and so forth.  When it was all said and done, I went away thinking, “I want us to do a little of ALL of that this year.”

Now you may be laughing at that statement, but when I came home I couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility.  In the past we have done these Christmas boxes and loved them.  However, the one downside to those is having to match the nativity pieces to the devotional pieces and placing them back into the correct boxes again for the next year.  Besides that, the boxes don’t allow the girls to just play with their nativity set which I learned from Saturday’s workshop is very important for reinforcement of the Christmas story  in young children.

Thus, I decided it was time to revamp our Christmas tradition and come up with something easier and still memorable.  The result–these advent countdown cards.  I am so excited about using them this year and here’s why.

Advent Countdown Card Highlights

1. Unlike several ideas presented in my workshop, these are FREE!
2. There are 30 cards, so we can pick and choose which ones we want to do each year.
3. The cards cover the story of Jesus beginning with creation (kind of like the Jesse tree, only on a much smaller scale) as well as all the main characters of the Christmas story, and those that others now associate with the Christmas story.
4. The cards share some fun facts about Christmas that some people might not normally know, like “DID YOU KNOW…that the first gingerbread man is credited to the court of Queen Elizabeth I?”
5. Each card has a fun activity to do to help create lifelong family memories.
6. Each card suggest a short Bible passage for each day’s topic that you can read in the Bible version of your choice.
7. These cards are not numbered so they can be done in any order.  This year I think I’m going to place all the cards in a stocking and let the girls draw a new card out each day to read and complete.  If you decide you want them numbered, you could easy put them in the order you want by writing a number in one of the corners.
8. These cards present Christmas from a Christian point of view with a Christian heart.  For example, instead of avoiding the topic of Santa Claus, the origin of Santa Claus is explained.  Instead of including only traditional countdown activities (such as making a gingerbread house or creating an ornament), there are also activities that serve others (such as your mailman, missionaries, and the homeless).
9. These cards take up little space and often require very little advance preparation.  Most activities require no additional props and if they do, they are often items you’d expect in a home around Christmas anyway.
10. These cards are fun!  My eldest daughter saw what I was doing when I was creating these and cannot wait for the advent season to get here.

So, if you are looking for a way to keep things fun, memorable, and Christ-focused this Christmas, then I hope you will find these advent countdown cards helpful in doing just that.  Print these cards front-to-back on cardstock, laminate, and enjoy.  Merry Christmas!

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For a child has been born for us; a son has been given to us. And the dominion will be on his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)