26 Days of Christmas Activities
Posted by Holly Nelson on Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Under: Tip of the Week
I started this tradition about 10 years ago. With all the busyness Christmas can bring I wanted my kids to appreciate the REAL reason we celebrate Christmas. It is easy to get caught up in the decorating and shopping, but that's not what it is about. So, every day in the month of December until the 26th we do a little activity to keep the Christmas spirit up.
I will post everyday a more detailed example of what we are doing.
December
1- Make salt dough ornaments
2- Start Christmas puzzle
3- Start Jesus Tree
4- Make Jesus' birthday present box for under the tree with Matthew 25:40 (More details to come)
10. Paint ornaments. When dry tie bible verse on ornaments.
11- (Seth's b'day) Seth's laser tag and party
12- Starry Nights at Shelby Farms
13- Singing Christmas Tree at Bellevue Baptist Church, Tn
14- Make Christmas candies
15- Make snowflakes
16- Make breads
17- Make cookies
18- Parties at school/Watch Christmas movies/ Home movies and favorites. Drink hot cocoa and eat popcorn
19- Make gingerbread houses
20- Drive around looking at Christmas lights, drink hot cocoa and eat cookies
21- Christmas craft
22- Christmas Games- word search, etc...
23- Take ornaments and candies to neighbors and friends
24- Make Jesus' birthday cake and Christmas food
One other thing I started 10 years ago is the "3 gifts per child". I noticed even as young children they had so many presents to open. They would just tear through one and fly to the next. Then toys would be broken within a matter of days. But to them, it was okay because they had another new toy they could play with. It shouldn't be like that. I wanted them to be appreciative of everything they received, even if they didn't like it. So we buy them three gifts that represent Jesus' gifts- Gold, Incense( frankincense), and Myrrh.
A really nice toy or gift represented Gold. Such as : a new bike, new doll, something a little more expensive than most
A "want" represented the incense. Such as: a book series they have been wanting
A "need" represents the myrrh. Such as: clothing or shoes. I like to put a little something special, like a car, in the pockets to make it seem more surprising.
When I first thought about doing this I worried that I would be depriving my kids the extravagant, "magic" of Chirstmas. But I will say, they have learned to not be so needy, focus of giving to others more than receiving, and they know they REAL reason for Christmas!
I will post everyday a more detailed example of what we are doing.
December
1- Make salt dough ornaments
2- Start Christmas puzzle
3- Start Jesus Tree
4- Make Jesus' birthday present box for under the tree with Matthew 25:40 (More details to come)
5- Take Christmas books and coloring books and crayons to the St. Jude children./Start Christmas cards
6- Make salt-dough and cinnamon applesauce ornaments. Use cookie cutter that represent Jesus Tree
7- Make bible verse chain. word on each paper chain link of ! John 4:10, Matthew 1:21, 2 Timothy 3:15, Matthew 2:1, Colossians 1:3. *You could also do this as a countdown chain
8- Mark Luke 2 in Bible, lay open by nativity scene
9- Treasure hunt to nativity scene6- Make salt-dough and cinnamon applesauce ornaments. Use cookie cutter that represent Jesus Tree
7- Make bible verse chain. word on each paper chain link of ! John 4:10, Matthew 1:21, 2 Timothy 3:15, Matthew 2:1, Colossians 1:3. *You could also do this as a countdown chain
8- Mark Luke 2 in Bible, lay open by nativity scene
10. Paint ornaments. When dry tie bible verse on ornaments.
11- (Seth's b'day) Seth's laser tag and party
12- Starry Nights at Shelby Farms
13- Singing Christmas Tree at Bellevue Baptist Church, Tn
14- Make Christmas candies
15- Make snowflakes
16- Make breads
17- Make cookies
18- Parties at school/Watch Christmas movies/ Home movies and favorites. Drink hot cocoa and eat popcorn
19- Make gingerbread houses
20- Drive around looking at Christmas lights, drink hot cocoa and eat cookies
21- Christmas craft
22- Christmas Games- word search, etc...
23- Take ornaments and candies to neighbors and friends
24- Make Jesus' birthday cake and Christmas food
25- Open "Happy Birthday Jesus" box, and read before opening presents
26- Write and mail thank you cards- before all the presents are opened and played with!One other thing I started 10 years ago is the "3 gifts per child". I noticed even as young children they had so many presents to open. They would just tear through one and fly to the next. Then toys would be broken within a matter of days. But to them, it was okay because they had another new toy they could play with. It shouldn't be like that. I wanted them to be appreciative of everything they received, even if they didn't like it. So we buy them three gifts that represent Jesus' gifts- Gold, Incense( frankincense), and Myrrh.
A really nice toy or gift represented Gold. Such as : a new bike, new doll, something a little more expensive than most
A "want" represented the incense. Such as: a book series they have been wanting
A "need" represents the myrrh. Such as: clothing or shoes. I like to put a little something special, like a car, in the pockets to make it seem more surprising.
When I first thought about doing this I worried that I would be depriving my kids the extravagant, "magic" of Chirstmas. But I will say, they have learned to not be so needy, focus of giving to others more than receiving, and they know they REAL reason for Christmas!
In : Tip of the Week
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"Let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a quiet and gentle sprirt, which is precious in the sight of God."
1 Peter 3:4 -
"An excellent wife,who can find? Her worth is far above jewels." Proverbs 31:10 ~~
I am a stay-at-home-mom(SAHM) married to the love of my life, Jeff Nelson. We have six wonderful boys. Ryan(15), Seth(13), Ian(10), Noah(7), Luke(5), and Jack(2). We live in Tennessee on 4 acres. I grew up the first few years of my life on a dairy farm in Missouri and loved country living. I was saved at a young age by the grace of God and shed blood of Jesus during that time of simple country living. That part of my life is very dear to me. God taught me many things as a baby Christian that I can still think about today. Then we moved to Memphis when I was in the 5th grade. I learned to love the city life, too. It was a completely different way of life. My whole family still lives in Missouri, still does a little farming and simple country living. When Jeff, the kids, and I moved from the city to the country, I incorporated my city life with my country background. My mom laughs at me when I cut my grass on my John Deere tractor while drinking my Starbucks Mocha and wearing my fancy sunglasses. And when I am shampooing my carpet in my high-heeled black boots. I just love those boots! But I would love to share about how I got to be the way I am today, The Victoriously Organized Woman! I used to work as a supervisor at bank for years. I had to dress up everyday. After the birth of our second child we decide I should be a SAHM. One of the best decision I've ever made. But I made a bad decision, too. I hardly ever dressed up anymore. I hardly ever wore make-up. After about a year I looked in the mirror and said, "OH MY! Jeff has to come home to this!?!" He is so wonderful he said he liked me that way, "natural". Well , I realized that I didn't. It made me feel bad about myself. I felt disorganized, tired and stressed and a little "rough" looking. I felt I just couldn't get it all done. At this time I was diagnosed with Meniere's Disease. I wasn't able to do certains things. Like mop the floor of my completely hardwood floor home that I was obsessed about keeping clean. The doctor told me I couldn't have salt, caffeine, or stress! "What?! Are you kidding!?" So , then I decided to change my routine,thought pattern, and cooking. I began to get up early, shower and dress, put on make up. Always being ready to leave whenever I needed to. I established routines that helped me eliminate extra cleaning and stresses. I was able to make more time for myself and make more time for my family. And the family had more time for each other. I made more time for God and others. This made me feel better about myself. I am so happy about how this changed my life I want to share it with everyone.
