Christmas Countdown: Day 1

Well,

the Countdown to Christmas has

officially begun in our house today...

Seems like we

G-R-A-D-U-A-L-L-Y

get our home into the

Christmas Spirit,

at least in terms of decorating,

but I made certain to have...

...our Advent Calendars

up and ready to go!

The kiddos each have there own...

 

 ...Mini-Bubble Wrap 

Christmas Tree

Advent Calendars...

(See the bigger version we made one year

by clicking HERE)

 ...and our big family 

advent calendar contains cards from 

The Truth in Tinsel...

(If you are still looking for a guide

for Advent activities for the kiddos,

I HIGHLY recommend checking

the e-book out...)

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So how did Day One's activities run?

The kiddos found our

Elf in the Shelf...

...hanging out on our dining room lamp.

Chester

(our elf's complete name is

Chester Thomas Elf-

"Chess" for short)

was giving the kiddos a clue

about our Advent devotional...

Day One:

 

 Candle

(aka Jesus bringing light into the world...)

We read and discussed Isaiah 9:2-7

and then...

 

...got to work making the recommended...

 ...Light Ornament.

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Next, we set up our

Manger Behavior Management...

 ...using paper bag bottoms,

material, yarn, glue, markers, and

clothespin dolls.

(This idea was inspired by THIS

wonderful activity over on Catholic Icing.)

The kiddos will hopefully have mangers

FULL of yarn "hay" because of the

good deeds they have done for Jesus...

***************************************

Finally,

I added in a bit of the "secular" 

with the "sacred" by reading...

 ...Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer

to the kiddos.

(Hey, Rudolf had a LIGHT 

on the end of his nose, right?)  ;0)

The kiddos then each received...

 ...a little Reindeer craft kit...

...to create a Christmas keepsake.

A fun and busy evening was had by all...