Here are the majority of our advent activities for this year. The first four themes are here, the last four are here and the full list is here.
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ANGELS
We will look at the messages the angels brought and focus on their rejoicing at that good news.
– Angel pancakes (not pictured)
– Decorating polystyrene angels
– Painting with angel cookie cutters as stamps
– Pom pom and wooden peg angels (idea from these fairies)
– Angel wing match (matching pairs of words with the same silent letter – k, h, w, b, g and t)
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CAROLS
Linked to our theme of angels, we will enjoy the music of Christmas carols as well as the message they tell.
– Wooden spoon carolers, which we will both make and use as puppets
– Matching lyrics of carols
– Salt tray with sheet music of carols underneath
– Singing together
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SHARING THE GOOD NEWS
Again this theme is linked to angels – just as they shared the good news we also want to share it. I have chosen to incorporate bells into this theme as they bring attention to those sharing the good news. I also want to reinforce and have the little man retell the Christmas story in different ways so that he is proficient at sharing it.
– Christmas bingo
– Bell Hershey kisses memory. We have two versions, one using pictures and another using lower and uppercase letters (idea from here)
– Bell scoop transfer (idea from this bauble transfer)
– Storybook prompts for the little man to write his own Christmas story
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SHEPHERDS
Once again the shepherds shared the good news, and glorified and praised God for what they saw, so we will focus on doing the same.
– Sheep and shepherd tic-tac-toe
– Multiplication by counting groups of stars, angels, sheep and shepherds
– Paper bag sheep with painted wool and details to glue on
– Marshmallow sheep (idea from here)
– Paper people sheep and shepherds to decorate
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WISE MEN
The wise men were joyful and worshipped Jesus, giving him gifts, so we will encourage each other in how we can worship Jesus also.
– Wise men chalkboard silhouettes to draw on
– Cut and paste wise men craft
– Felt crowns to decorate
– More and less than with gold coins
– Wise men bottles with stars (we have one bigger one to represent the star that the wise men followed), glitter, water and oil (idea from here, under science activities)
– Explanation of the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh (not pictured)
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STARS
This theme is linked to the wise men and the star that they followed.
– Crayon resist star painting
– Star search and find (there are chocolate stars hidden in with the Hershey kisses)
– Wool wrapped star ornaments
– Star cinnamon ornaments (not pictured)
– Star sandwich (not pictured)
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GIFTS AND KINDNESS
This theme is also linked to the wise men and we will use it to encourage each other to be selfless and kind toward others.
– Gift-wrapping station (idea from here)
– Wrapping candy using cut out paper to look like a wise man (we have used small boxes of skittles)
– Washi tape tree cards, both to make and to write in and give to others (inspired by these cards)
– Small presents for some of the little man’s friends
– Painting presents using a square stamp and ribbons
– Coming up with ways to be kind (not pictured)
xo
emilia keriene 