My Favorite Advent Calendars

December starts tomorrow! The first of December is the traditional day that Advent calendars begin, and I’ve gone a little overboard this year and have four separate calendars going for my family. Possibly five if I don’t get off the internet soon.

Here is a list of my favorite Advent calendars, buildables, and printables, including several I am using this year, and a shameless plug for my own creation.

**Click on the photos to take you to the Advent calendar you want to explore.

Let’s start with my very own Advent card printable. I have a new secondary blog called Bad Mister Kitty for artwork and printables, and this card set is available for free over there.

Bad Mister Kitty’s Advent Cards ~~ 25 days to unravel the marvel and the mystery of the birth of our Savior

Hattifant’s Woodland Cuties Printable Advent Calendar. Head on over to her website and check out everything. You’ll fall in love, I promise.

Mr. Printables Christmas Street Advent Calendar ~~ Stay awhile and check things out on this website, too. It’s another one of my favorites.

This is my Mr. Printables Christmas Street Advent Calendar. I printed it on colored cardstock. These boxes are filled with Lego pieces that will make a total creation by Christmas Day.

Pure Sweet Joy’s Tiny Box Advent Calendar

Lumberjock’s Santa Down the Chimney Advent Buildable ~~ Plans can be purchased on furnitureplans.com. This is adorable.

Home Naturally’s Rustic Spiral Advent Calendar. No instructions or building plans, but nonetheless a beautiful way way to anticipate the birth of Jesus.

Little Bins for Little Hands’ Lego Advent ~~ includes many, MANY Christmas Lego ideas for a new build every day in December. Legos fit perfectly into any tiny box Advent calendars.

Your DIY Family’s Mini Forest Advent Calendar uses simple supplies to make a delightful little Christmas forest.

Hello, Wonderful’s Santa Advent Favor Boxes. If it isn’t obvious, I love tiny boxes.

 

The Full Routly’s Advent Nativity Set. A 25 piece nativity set is almost impossible to find. I printed this set onto cardstock, colored each piece, and adhered them to felt to use on a felt board.

This is our printed and colored set on the felt board. The kids love to put together the whole nativity scene and add in butterflies and bugs and rocketships and aliens. It’s quite a sight.

 

RedBirdBlue’s Printable Christmas Story Advent Calendar. This is a beautiful set and story, and the silhouettes look great in both color and black and white.

 

Which one is your favorite?! I can’t choose, can you?

Resurrection Eggs

Easter’s coming! Easter’s coming!

Lent/Easter and Advent/Christmas are my two very favorite seasons of the church year. I like the tradition and ritual, the preparation, and resultant peak of joy as each season ends with a beautiful celebration of Jesus.

To that end, I like to walk my kids through the preparation process with activities, devotions, scriptures, and crafts to help them understand Jesus on a new level.

I’m not a huge fan of the word ‘sensory,’ but there’s really no other way to describe Resurrection Eggs. They consist of tiny treasures that tell the Easter story through sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing. The kids were enthralled as they opened each egg last Easter. We opened them all in one sitting, telling the story as we went along, but they can be opened over the course of 12 days also.

Half the fun was gathering the props. I tried to find actual trinkets, but printouts on paper would work also.

 

Egg 1. Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey. The crowd that greeted Jesus spread their cloaks and palm leaves on the road.

Prop: Palm Leaf (leaf clipped off a fake floral arrangement)

Verse: Matthew 21: 1-11

Egg 2. Mary pours perfume on Jesus’ head.

Prop: Perfume bottle (ours came from a playset, plus I sprayed the inside of the egg with some of my body spray)

Verse: Mark 14: 3-9

Egg 3. Jesus washes his Disciples’ feet.

Prop: Towel

Verse: John 13:3-17

Egg 4. Jesus eats the last supper with the Disciples.

Prop: Bread (tore it off a loaf just before we opened the eggs)

Verse: Mark 14: 22-26

Egg 5. Judas betrays Jesus, accepting 3 pieces of silver for turning Jesus over to the chief priests.

Prop: Three silver coins (three dimes)

Verse: Matthew 26: 14-16, Matthew 26: 47-50

Egg 6. The soldiers fashioned a crown of thorns and mocked Jesus.

Prop: Crown of Thorns (small gauge wire fashioned into a thorny ring)

Verse: John 19:1-3

Egg 7. The soldiers strip Jesus and cast lots for Jesus’ clothing.

Prop: Jesus’ Clothes, Dice (shirt and pants cut from felt)

Verse: Matthew 27:35

Egg 8. Jesus is crucified on the cross.

Prop: Cross and Nails (toothpicks held together with a small piece of wire)

Verse: John 19: 16-19

Egg 9. Jesus is thirsty and is offered vinegar to drink.

Prop: Cotton soaked in vinegar

Verse: Matthew 27: 45-50

Egg 10. Joseph or Arimathea took the body of Jesus and laid it in a stone tomb. The body was customarily wrapped in a shroud and spices.

Prop: Spices (peppercorns, nutmeg, and cinnamon stick from a Penzey’s medley)

Verse: John 19: 38-42

Egg 11. Jesus is buried in a tomb that has never been used before. A stone is rolled over the entrance.

Prop: Stone

Verse: Matthew 27: 57-66

Egg 12. Jesus is Risen!

Prop: Empty Tomb!

Verse: Matthew 28: 1-10

I did this activity with 5 kids, aged 2-10, and they all enjoyed it, especially the surprise of opening each egg and the discussion that followed each sensory experience. I have seen other egg sets with more eggs and more verses and props, and by all means, let your imagination take this project to any height you wish.

I hope you have a blessed Lenten season and a beautiful Easter.