Advent Tradition Series: Advent Devotionals for Kids
Devoted to Hustle and Bustle?
In our culture, the holiday season is marked by festive preparations; a hustle and bustle that is embellished with twinkly lights, feel-good music, and frosted sugar cookies. We make, and we do, and we flit from place-to-place pursuing “holiday magic”, as we countdown the days to a Christmas climax … one that often leaves most overwhelmed, exhausted, and empty.
We are left wanting for more, because we’ve been seeking for that “more” in insufficient places and rhythms (and, oftentimes, simply slapping on Christian-ese here and there to justify those actions).
For Christians, advent is the period of time in the days leading up to Christmas where we prepare to celebrate both the first coming of Jesus as a baby, as well as his return as king. It should be a time of reflection – and even somberness – as we ponder the weight of why God became flesh in the first place. Because, frankly, joy from Jesus is only meaningful when we can acknowledge our original sorry state as hopeless sinners.
Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “a coming, approach, arrival”.
As moms, we are master preparers. But are we as great in preparing spiritually for the celebration of Jesus’ birth as are we are practically?
Curating beautiful moments during the Christmas season should spring from hearts of sacred anticipation, not from anxious frenzy bent on a picture-perfect holiday.
Let this time of year be an invitation to slow down enough to meditate on Jesus and what He means to us. Gift your children the example of what giving King Jesus your time looks like in the midst of this noisy and distracting world.
On our own home, part of our daily advent rhythm is taking time each day to read from some sort of advent devotional and discuss its themes or ideas. We’ve used quite a few resources over the years, which I share below!
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Advent Devotionals
Below are the devotionals we have used over the years to help focus our hearts on Jesus during the Christmas season.
Preschool/Kindergarten
When we first started doing advent devotionals (when Big Bro was 5 and Big Sis was 3), we used The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name by Sally Lloyd-Jones. It has beautiful illustrations to go with just-the-right-size stories for toddlers/preschoolers. There are 24 stories in this book, so it is perfect as an advent devotional if you begin reading on December 1st.
When my kids were younger, we had to make up our own activities to go along with the readings. But apparently there is now a free official advent guide to accompany the book, that includes a link to a soundtrack, printable ornaments, and coloring pages!
If you want to go next level, there is now The Jesus Storybook Bible – A Christmas Collection: Stories, Songs, and Reflections for the Advent Season. It is an interactive keepsake book with narration, songs, and a reading plan guide for the original book. LOL, makes me wish I had littles again just so I can go through this with them!
Elementary
You can never go wrong with Ann Voskamp’s rich writing. Her Unwrapping the Greatest Gift: A Family Celebration of Christmas is also beautifully illustrated and, in Jesse Tree-like fashion, retraces the lineage of Jesus in each read-aloud story.
Her website also has free resources to go with the book, like make-your-own ornaments to accompany each reading, coloring pages, gift tags, etc.
She does have another keepsake interactive advent book: The Wonder of the Greatest Gift: An Interactive Family Celebration of Advent. Behind 25 doors you discover 24 ornaments and 1 star topper to place on the attached pop-up tree. We don’t have this one, but it seemed worthy to mention because it is just so beautiful!
Adventure Stories
Arnold Ytreeide’s collection of devotional storybooks are full of excitement and suspense. His vivid details and cliff-hanger storytelling is what caused my kiddos to ask for more chapters each night. These are great for elementary-aged kids and older.
There are four options for advent (listed below) and one option for lent. We own them ALL; that’s how much we love them.
Jotham’s Journey is the first of the advent stories. It follows a 10-year old boy across Israel as he searches for his family, while trying to navigate thieves and kidnappers! He finally finds his way to his family … and to a baby in Bethlehem.
Tabitha’s Travels shares the captivating story of a young girl’s courage and competence as she travels with her family on their way to her father’s birthplace. She ends up getting to help a young couple who are about to have a baby.
*Some people may get irritated by some of the feminist/girl power angles, but I have two girls and that didn’t bother them at all. In fact, those moments simply offered opportunity for healthy discussion about God’s design, role, and worth for both women and men in His story.
In Bartholomew’s Passage, a young boy’s village is destroyed by Romans and he is separated from his family. He is enslaved but then escapes, makes some friends along the way, and finally reunites with his family in Bethlehem.
The newest addition to these adventure stories is about a young Persian boy, whose caravan is following a star across the desert. In, Ishtar’s Odyssey, Ishtar learns that there is so much to experience and learn outside the comfort of a palace. And along the way, he makes friends with Jotham, Tabitha, and Bartholomew!
Names of Jesus
My personal favorite way of counting down to Christmas is by contemplating on the names of Jesus. We all know what He did for us, but when we deliberately meditate on who He is, it enriches not only our desire, but also the way, in which we worship Him.
KNOWING HIM BY NAME
Years ago, I was able to download this Knowing Him by Name devotional from Focus on the Family. The best part? It’s FREE!!! Plus, if you don’t already have something lined up for your family at this point, you don’t have to wait for something to ship to you; simply print this out and get started!
The download includes activity ideas for each day (both for younger kids age 4-7 and older kids age 8-12), plus printable activity pages to go with. There are also a couple sheets with the names of Jesus (and corresponding verses) that you can print out and incorporate whatever advent countdown calendar you use.
UNWRAPPING THE NAMES OF JESUS
For those with tweens/teens, I suggest Unwrapping the Names of Jesus by Asheritah Ciuciu. Each section has a short reflection, a challenge, and a prayer … perfect for a home with a tween/teen rhythm (which is where we are now at). It serves us practically, in that we can still have advent devotionals together as a family, without it taking too much time from my older kiddos’ schedules.
FROM THE CRADLE TO THE CROSS
New to us for 2024: An absolutely gorgeous keepsake that has BOTH Advent and Lent devotionals and also covers the many different names of Jesus, is From the Cradle to the Cross by Melba Voskamp (if you click on the link, you can see my video review on Amazon’s site to get a better idea of what it looks like inside). What we LOVE about this one, besides the fact it takes you through Jesus entire life, from His birth to His resurrection, is that it also combines beautiful Classical Christian artwork so this ends up doubling as an art history resource as well.
If you’ve got the Cradle-to-Cross Wreath, this devotional pairs perfectly with that … being able slow down each day to stop, light a candle, and take time to reflect on God’s goodness to us through His son Jesus. We’ve had ours for years and love using it for both holy seasons.
Simply Scripture
While these resources are great, you don’t NEED them. We already have all we need right in God’s word.
Some ideas for advent readings of scripture:
- Go through Isaiah’s prophecies about the Messiah.
- A friend of mine is reading Matthew with her family.
- The book of Luke has 24 chapters, so that works out perfectly if you read a chapter a day starting on December 1st.
Whatever you choose to do as a family during the advent season, I encourage you to carve out intentional time for focusing your hearts on Jesus. This practice, and all that comes with it, is probably the best gift you can give your kids for Christmas.