THE ADVENT CALENDAR FOR KIDS - SECULAR VS. CHRISTIAN

Christmas! The very word brings joy to our hearts. No matter how we may dread the rush, the long Christmas lists for gifts and cards to be bought and given when Christmas Day comes there is still the same warm feeling we had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes. - Joan Winmill Brown

Thanksgiving is barely over, with leftovers still in the fridge and turkey soup simmering on the stove. Black Friday has come and gone with cyber Monday mere hours away. The Christmas season and all that it entails is ramping up, and children are already queuing up to give their wish lists to Santa.

One important tradition for two of my grandchildren is enjoying the daily offerings of their advent calendars, often candy or treats. Since they are not part of a church-going family I don't think they really understand what Advent means, but the calendar is part of the season, and not to be dismissed. This year their mother is departing from the typical calendar by setting up an activity for each day for the girls to enjoy. It seems like a fun way to get ready for Christmas, and I'll share my own list of possible ideas below for anyone who wants to try something different. But first, a lesson about Advent and why we should realize it's more than just opening a little door on a 25 day holiday calendar to see what surprise it holds.

Basically Advent is the time in the church season that leads up to Christmas Day. This is when Christians remember that Jesus came into the world over 2000 years ago, with a promise to one day return. It usually begins on the Sunday nearest November 30th and lasts until midnight on Christmas Eve, which includes four Sundays, each with its own significance. It signifies the coming of Christ.

There are several important symbols during advent. A wreath made from greens symbolizes continuous life and contains four candles. Three are purple and one is rose, with a candle lit each Sunday during this holy time. A fifth white candle is located in the middle to be used for lighting on Christmas Eve.

The lighting goes like this:

On the first Sunday, symbolizing hope, one purple candle is lit, followed by a prayer and reading from the bible.

On the second Sunday, two purple candles symbolizing hope and peace are lit, followed by a prayer and a reading from the bible.

On the third Sunday, two purple candles again symbolizing hope and peace and the rose candle symbolizing joy are lit, followed by a prayer and a reading from the bible.

On the fourth Sunday, all four candles symbolizing hope, peace, joy and love are lit, followed by prayer and a reading from the bible.

On Christmas Eve, after sunset, all four candles and the white candle symbolizing the light of Christ are lit, and remain lighted throughout the evening.

Christian families often have their own additional advent candle lighting ceremonies and devotions at home, often before dinner or right after sunset, preparing for the coming of Christ.

Advent calendars were first seen in the 19th century, with different ways of marking off the days of the season. Calendars with doors hiding little surprises came about in the 1920s. If you have been enjoying advent calendars without the benefit of religion or an historical perspective, and want to know more about it, you can go on-line to Wikipedia for more details. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent_calendar

If you would like to give your children twenty five mostly secular experiences beyond opening a little cardboard door and extracting a piece of chocolate, try the activities below in whatever order works for your family or circumstances. Going on line will provide many other activities guaranteed to bring pleasure and hours of family fun.

1. Bake gingerbread men cookies. http://www.joyofbaking.com/GingerbreadMen.html

2. Make mock gingerbread houses. http://www.kidsturncentral.com/holidays/christmas/gbhouse.htm

3. String popcorn. Add dried cranberries for color.

4. Make a paper wreath using a paper plate with the center cut out, and gluing small green rumpled squares on the wreath. Dot with occasional rumpled red tissue squares for berries.

5. Make an orange and clover pomander ball for a great gift. http://www.diylife.com/2007/12/10/oranges-cloves-fragrant-christmas-pomanders/

6. Make a Christmas snow globe. Using a baby food or other small jar, cut out a tree from green plastic and decorate with paint, or make a small snowman, which you can affix to the bottom of the jar with clay or fix-all. Add a generous amount of silver glitter and water.

7. Make Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by folding a brown square into a triangle shape. Fold up the top two corners for ears. Trace your hands on black paper, cut the traced hands out, and glue them on top for antlers. Cut out a red circle for a nose, and two white circles with smaller black circles inside for eyes.

8. If you have a computer, go to Microsoft Word, and using clip art by clicking on insert, design a holiday card or letter to people in your family.

9. Make salt dough ornaments. http://crafts.kaboose.com/saltdoughgifttoppers.html

10. Make candy cane cookies. http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/candy-cane-cookies-iii/Detail.aspx

11. Learn the song The Twelve Days of Christmas for kids. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF1xcKW2e-g

12. Gather family members and neighborhood kids for a night of Christmas caroling. Come back to the house for hot cocoa and some of those gingerbread men cookies.

13. Make a gift for your favorite male in the family. Wash out a cat food can or other small jar or can. Cover it with small squares of overlapping masking tape. Cover all the tape by rubbing on brown shoe polish. Take black shoe polish and rub it over last. You will have a gift that looks like brown leather for holding pins, pencils, or other small objects.

14. Make candles in the sand. An adult must be with children every step of the way. http://www.ehow.com/how_5153536_build-candle-six-easy-steps.html

15. Make paper chains in alternating red and green strips, of one inch by four to six inches. This can be an ongoing project with paper chains festooning as many rooms as desired. Glitter can be added for that extra pizazz.

16. Make a shrink art ornament by taking the clear plastic lid off of a throw-away food container, inking on a design and border, and popping it in the oven to shrink. Be watchful. It doesn't take long.

17. Design ornaments made from small unusual pasta pieces. Lay them out on a piece of wax paper and glue them together. Spray the finished products with silver or gold spray paint and add glitter for an unusual tree ornament or gift. When dry, do the same thing with the other side. Hang with a piece of yarn.

18. Make a manger scene for display in whichever room is best. Use dolls for the figures, dressing them appropriately or check out the following web address for other ideas. http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/away-in-a-manger-homemade-creche-668113/

19. Put on a skit about the birth of the baby Jesus. Invite your family and neighborhood kids to see the performance. The skit can be done with real people or puppets.
http://www.celebrations.com/content/christmas-skits-about-the-birth-of-jesus

20. Make butter. When finished, spread crackers with the butter and enjoy! http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/252542/kid_friendly_recipe_homemade_butter.html?cat=25

21. Make a sparkling squiggle. This is really a clever ornament. You need white glue, glitter, waxed paper, and string or yarn. Squeeze the glue in thick squiggly lines that loop and cross each other. Add a lot of glitter. If you have other small beads or metallic pieces, add them. Let them dry for a couple of days then add your string and hang the new ornament on your tree.

22. Make a Santa face wall or window hanging. Cut out a circle the size you desire from white, brown or flesh colored construction paper. make a pointy hat out of red paper with a white circle at the tip. Add a beard and eyebrows of white cotton, round red nose and two beady black eyes. If you want a whole Santa, make a rectangular red body, with red arms and legs, a black belt, and black boots. Add buttons and other decorations.

23. Find some smooth rocks, paint designs on them with airplane model paint, and add other decorations for great paper weight gifts.

24. Make your own wrapping paper by taking a potato, cutting it in half, and then cutting away more of the potato to make a design such as a star or Christmas tree. Paint the cutout with a small amount of poster paint and press the potato on white paper. Keep repeating the potato design over the entire paper.

25. Make donuts and enjoy them with a cup of hot cider. http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Make-Delicious-Homemade-Donuts

Throughout the twenty-five days, listen to the old carols as well as the new, and enjoy each day. Your memories will mean a lot in later years. Have a great beginning to your holiday season!