Advent - Day 22

Day 22's activity turned out to be a real hit: Favorite Ornament Show and Tell. Everyone got an ornament off the tree. Then, when we sat down to share, both Robby & Catherine wanted to change their ornaments. Robby chose an ornament his mother cross stitched, with the Alpha and Omega symbols on it. He explained to the girls the Greek language, and Jesus being the beginning and the end. Maybe some of it sank in.

Catherine chose a bell, demonstrating how much noise it can make. She also described the bell: it was green, had stars on it, had a gold bow, etc. You can tell that she sits through a lot of Show and Tell at school.

I chose the Mickey Mouse ornament because I am excited about our trip to Disney World. Sabrina chose the American Flag which we put on the tree. She demonstrated how you can wave the flag and told us what colors were on the flag.

As a side note, if you are even remotely considering an advent project for next year, I recommend doing an Activity Advent project like this. The girls love opening the envelopes every night. The element of surprise makes something as simple as stapling together scrap paper into a chain a great family project. I tried to pick projects that were low cost (most were free - of course I have a huge stash of craft supplies I can raid) and took very little time (ten minute maximum).

As would be expected, some activities worked better than others. Twice we have had to double up and do two projects on one day. Next year I will keep a list of what activities I have planned for each day so that I will know. This year I simply shoved the activity cards in envelopes back in November and have no idea what the activity is until we open it. We have been opening them after dinner, so sometimes we are just too exhausted to do the project. If I knew what the project was, then I can have it ready so Robby can do it with the girls while I clean up after dinner.

The best part about this project is that we are creating family memories: the girls frequently ask "when are we going to do the number." They talk about what we have done and want to do it again. I think they are getting the message that Christmas is getting closer. It is visually obvious as we are down to only two more envelopes, having started with 24.

So, next November I encourage you to create an Advent Activity System!