Using holidays to point my children to Jesus is very important to me. That’s why we’ve made such a big deal about Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, Ascension Day and even Valentine’s and St. Patricks’s Day in the past. They’ve all served to provide an exciting opportunity to be purposeful in drawing their attention to the Lord.
There is so much out there for celebrating Advent, but none of it ever seemed to fit my hopes for what I wanted to do with my kids. Either they were too simplistic or too complex for my young children to understand. I’m just a smidge particular. So I ended up spending the last several years pulling my own thing together.
With a new baby this year, I was quick to realize that my creative juices certainly weren’t up to the task of dreaming something up. Instead, I decided to keep things really simple and focus on spending time in prayer, worship and reading them some of my favorite Christmas books. The beauty of God coming down as a man to rescue us from sin is that we can now have a rich, personal relationship with Him. So RELATIONSHIP is our focus this year…
After I had settled that in my heart, I caught wind of a new ebook coming out: Truth in the Tinsel: An Advent Experience for Little Hands. We are on the same page with having a heart to impress the wonder and glory of knowing Jesus into our children. Not only that, we both tend to approach it in a hands-on kind of way! I just knew I would love her book. So getting the opportunity to preview an advance copy was such a treat.
To SUM it all up, what I’ve been looking for all these years is nicely contained in this adorable ebook. I wanted an easy to use resource that has substance (beyond just cute, itty-bitty baby Jesus in a manger), was easy for young children to understand and memorable..
Substance
Amanda writes in her introduction:
“The key to this entire advent celebration is to have a daily focus and meditation on God’s greatest gift. Your children will learn the ins and outs of the story because you’ve facilitated a time to discuss, play and create. And in those moments, God will speak to their hearts and yours.
“The little Baby is no longer in the manger, but alive and sitting on a throne – waiting to have a relationship with you and your children. Help your children get to know Him this Christmas!.”
I love how she ties the Christmas story into the big picture of God’s redemptive work. God loves us and wants to bring us back into his family. Sending Jesus is how he accomplished this! Truth in the Tinsel does a wonderful job at balancing the basics of the story, but also introduces so much more scriptural truth into each day. As I read, I found myself pondering the material and seeing the Holy Spirit speak to me too. Something that touches both my children and myself is always a good sign.
Understandable
This book is specifically geared to reach the hearts and minds of children in that preschool-mid elementary age range. The book does a great job at walking you as the parent through the process of discipling your children.
I love how it is broken down. It is easy to navigate. Each day is explained on one page and includes, “the clue” – which is a picture. As we read the scripture passage to the children, they are to be on the hunt to figure out what the clue has to do with the passage. When they hear the word or see the connection, they are to shout it out! This draws them in and helps them to listen and really grasp the theme for the day. Then there is something “to read together” (the scripture passage), something “to make together” (the ornament craft – complete with detailed instructions and pictures), something “to talk about together” (scripting with questions to draw your children out and also to explain the passage) and a “do more together” section (with an extra activity).
I can see how this repetition in format from day to day will really help the kids understand and the way she words the discussion part is just perfect for helping our young children understand the deeper meanings behind various aspects of the Christmas story.
Memorable
This is also such a wonderful memory builder. Taking big ideas and making them concrete and hands-on lends itself to really solidifying what they are learning. I mentioned that a bit in my last post about Christmas. The simple ornaments do just that. Because we will have three sets of ornaments, I think we will hang one set on our regular Christmas tree, one set on a miniature Christmas tree that I will set up in the boys room and gift another set to my parents.
It also utilizes a ‘countdown’ which my boys always love. There are paper picture clues that you can place in a wooden advent drawer stand if you have one or there is the option to print off the paper clues and make a countdown paper chain (which is what we will be doing!)
Previewing the material was fun, but I really wanted to see how it would work out with my children, so we tried out ‘Day 1’ this morning.
We all gave the first devotional and project a thumbs-up! Now we just have to be patient and wait until December 2nd to start the next devotional!
The beauty of it is that each day can stand alone, so there is no pressure to get it all done. Even though the entire project only took us about 30 minutes to complete (plus about 15 minutes in prep time) I’m sure there will be days that I don’t get to it (Greta still makes life pretty unpredictable). Thankfully, the devotional aspect takes 10 minutes tops and even if we just do that some days, it will still be a treat!
If you have children in the preschool-mid elementary years and are looking for an advent devotional, I highly recommend this one. The price can’t be beat.
Anyone want to join us?
You can order the book here at their website.
Disclaimer: Truth in the Tinsel and Amanda at Oh Amanda provided me with a free copy of her ebook to review. The opinions shared are completely my own. I would have been recommending it anyways after I had purchased it today.
Heather, have you seen any other devotionals similar to this, maybe with a craft/project a few times a week, not necessarily with every lesson? The kids have been doing this with Kerry after dinner and it is *perfect* for them to do together. We’d really like to continue it (without me having to constantly prepare something extra!)
Heather, thanks for recommending this. I was going to do a Jesse Tree with them this year but this is really perfect and so much more age appropriate. We did day one tonight as a family and everyone loved it. (Starting early to allow for the unexpected 😉
Thanks for sharing! I’m going to try this with my kids. Simple, hands-on, and meaningful… just what I need!
Thank you so much for sharing! I was already looking for something a little more age appropriate for my preschoolers than the Jesse Tree. I just bought this and it is perfect!
I love the smiling faces with the finished craft! And the superman outfit just makes me smile… Great photos!