ADVENT-ure Around the World
Every December for years, our crew would do something we called Advent School or Christmas School. It was my attempt as a mom who wanted to fight to keep Christ at the center of Christmas but also in a fun way. I wanted to help cultivate an anticipation of the gospel in action, not just an anticipation of presents and treats.
We did that by primarily combining a Christmas around the world study with a close look at all the Christmas traditions that mark the season. Even though we’d change some things up each year, it has become a tradition that has blessed our family … and I’m finally sharing what we did and the resources we’ve used, so that it can bless your family too!
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Before ADVENT-uring Around the World
What is Advent?
I always set the stage for our activities by reminding my kids about what Advent is. Usually this happens the day after Thanksgiving (instead of hitting the stores for Black Friday sales).
These are the two books we used to set that tone:
What is Christmas? by Michelle Medlock Adams and A Very Merry Christmas Prayer by Bonnie Rickner Jensen. These are sweet titles, that are especially suited for littles – that helped frame up our mindset for the coming weeks.
Then, on the eve of Advent, we read The Night Before Advent poem by Ann Voskamp (we have an older version) which is part of a FREE printable Advent kit from her website!
Alternative to Elf on the Shelf
Others do Elf on a Shelf but we do the Christmas Angel.
She isn’t as mischievous (or as funny, frankly) as the elves (we actually really love when others post what their elves did at night 😆) but she has brought extra Christmas fun for our fam over the years.
A number of years back, my older two kids said they wondered what it would be like to have grown up with Santa or an elf. We went into a lengthy discussion of our fam’s personal philosophy about those things, which they totally understood (basically, we don’t do Santa).
But it got me wondering: is there some way to provide that “magical” experience in a way that aligns with our core values and is a little more intentional? The interwebs led me to Christmas Angel!
I immediately shared with the bigs, who wanted me to get Christmas Angel for their little sister, so that she could get that experience they never did. They’ve often helped with her too. ❤
She came with a book that encourages kids to have hearts of giving, loving, and serving and a list of ideas for how to do that practically during the season. But in our home, Christmas Angel simply “arrives” with the day’s Advent book(s) and a related item or activity. Sometimes she brings a brand new read to add to our Christmas collection. She pretty much is just fun way to present what we are going to do for our Advent School each day.
Unfortunately, she is no longer sold anywhere but here are a couple alternatives that also encourages kids to look for Jesus throughout the season:
Embark on Your ADVENT-ure!
We’d basically “travel” to a country for the day and learn about their culture, plus an iconic Christmas symbol or tradition that either originated from there or was relatable in some way.
General Around the World Resources to Help With Your ADVENT-ure
Here are a couple of great resources I used to help with planning out activities:
1) Celebrate Christmas Around the World by Beth Stevens helps you and your kiddos expand cultural awareness with a variety of Christmas activities from more than 20 countries. Here’s a direct link to my video review on Amazon so you can take a peek inside.
2) Christmas Around the World by Mary D. Lankford is a beautiful way to celebrate diversity during the holidays! From Ethiopian fringed umbrellas and star-shaped Filipino parol lanterns to candlelit Swedish St. Lucia crowns, this resource brings together Christmas traditions from twelve different lands. Here’s a direct link to my video review on Amazon so you can take a peek inside.
3) Another really helpful website is Why Christmas? It has a very comprehensive list of Christmas traditions and customs as well as a whole section on Christmas around the world! So, even if you aren’t able to get the books I list above, this website has great, FREE information on how different countries celebrate Christmas.
The Countries
Below are links to each country that we’ve ADVENT-ured to, plus resources and activities to go with those lessons. While most Christmas traditions/symbols find their origins in European countries, I did try to incorporate non-European countries for diversity. Pick the ones you’d like to go through this season, whether it’s all of them or just a few … and do them on whatever days during Advent that work best for you!
My one suggestion is to do The Netherlands (Saint Nicholas) on December 6 and Sweden (Saint Lucy) on December 13!
North America
Europe
The Netherlands + Saint Nicholas (December 6)
Germany + Gingerbread and Christmas Trees
Italy + Nativities and Coal in Stockings
Sweden + Saint Lucy Day (December 13)
Middle East
Iran (Persia) + Christmas Cookies and Angels
Asia
China + Christmas Wrapping Paper
The Philippines + The Christmas Star
Africa
Our family never did get around to dedicating a whole day each to some African countries we wanted to study and how they celebrate Christmas. Instead, we were able to procure a couple books and simply read through them. If we are able to swing a deeper dive into these African countries this year, I will update this blog post and share what we did!
Christmas in Lagos is about a little girl named Ranti who lives in Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria. After hearing all the fun places her classmates will be going for the holiday, she worries that hers will be boring since she won’t be going anywhere. However, she is encouraged by her teacher to start a Christmas journal … and soon we see all the things that make Christmas special for Ranti and her family. Not only does this give us a peek at what a modern Nigerian Christmas looks like but also encourages readers that you don’t need to leave your own town and go on far off adventures to make awesome Christmas memories!
Christmas in Uganda is about a little Norwegian boy named Finn, who is not going to make it home to Norway in time for the holiday but, instead, is stranded in a rural Ugandan village. He’s upset that he won’t be able to celebrate the way he is used to, but a new friend Bruno turns his mind and heart around as he shares with Finn all the special things Ugandans do to celebrate Christmas. I really like that the back of the book also has a couple simple ideas for celebrating Christmas Ugandan AND Norwegian style!
Happy Birthday Jesus!
After ADVENT-uring around the world, learning how all the different Christmas customs and traditions point to God’s love for us, you can celebrate Christmas Day with a birthday party for Jesus, like we do!
Our Happy Birthday Jesus celebrations normally include some sort of treat for breakfast, often a cake we bake the night before.
A fun Happy Birthday Jesus cake idea to wrap up a month of learning about different countries and cultures is with a world cake!
How to make a world cake:
- Bake a round cake in whatever flavor you prefer (we love chocolate).
- Make 2 colors of frosting: blue and green.
- Frost the entire cake with the blue frosting using a spatula.
- Using a world map as your guide, use a toothpick or butter knife to outline the shape of continents on your cake.
- Put the green frosting in a piping bag and pipe the outline of continents onto your cake.
- Fill in the outlined continents with the rest of the frosting; use a butter knife to spread the frosting around to fill in the continents.
TIPS:
- Even though we like making our own cake and frosting, you can make life easier by using boxed cake mix and canned frosting from the grocery store!
- If you don’t have piping bags at home, you can use a heavy-duty zipper bag and cut the tip of one of the bottom corners.