Use Advent Celebrations to Teach Patience
The holiday season is officially here. For the three- to seven-year-olds in our lives, the excitement and anticipation of holiday events can be excruciating. Developmentally, children of this age don't have a solid concept of time. Today, tomorrow, next month, next year, in five days--these are abstract ideas to our youngsters.
Waiting for Christmas when the tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving, well, is difficult. Tension builds until it's almost impossible for children to stay in control of themselves. No wonder for the holiday song, You'd Better Watch Out!
One tradition that can help build a sense of time and understanding of the Christmas holidays is the celebration of Advent. Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas and continues through Christmas Day. This year Advent begins December 3.
Activities using Advent candles and an Advent calendar provide a method for a daily countdown of the season.
Many people use five different colored Advent candles, each candle representing a weekly aspect of the Nativity, such as the prophets, angels, shepherds and wise men. A circular arrangement of a gold, white, green and blue candles with a red candle in the center form the Advent wreath. Every night the candle for the week is lit, along with the previous weeks' candles. After the candles are lit, a Bible verse and hymns or carols are sung. Part of the celebration includes changing the date on the Advent calendar and selecting a surprise treat.
There are many versions of the Advent calendar, from intricate handmade versions with pockets to hold surprises for each day to a simple paper calendar. Traditionally, the pocket of the calendar held a small goody such as a coin, a piece of candy or a marble. Our family enjoyed handwritten slips of paper in the pockets with suggestions such as make some popcorn, bake some banana bread for the neighbors, play a board game, call grandparents or watch It's a Wonderful Life. A paper calendar works well by adding a sticker to each day and selecting a surprise from a gift bag.
The daily celebration of Advent takes only a few minutes: the time needed to light candles, read a passage of scripture, sing songs, change the calendar, select a treat and extinguish the candles.
Here is a brief outline of Advent celebrations. Since young children love repetition, read the same Bible verse for a week. Older children may enjoy reading the verse as their part of the celebration.
Advent Sunday: The Prophets
Light gold candle, read Isaiah 9:2-7, sing O Come O Come Emmanuel, change calendar.
Second Sunday: The Angels
Light gold and white candles, read Luke 2:8-14, sing It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, change calendar.
Third Sunday: The Shepherds
Light gold, white and green candles, read Luke 2:15-20, sing While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks, change calendar.
Fourth Sunday: The Wisemen
Light gold, white, green and blue candles, read Matthew 2:1-12, sing We Three Kings, change calendar.
Christmas Day: Jesus
Light gold, white, green, blue and red candles, read Luke 2:1-20, sing Joy to The World.
(Word of caution: Please treat matches and lit candles with care. Keep matches out of children's reach, and place candles away from flammable objects.)
A daily celebration of Advent can help your children learn about waiting and anticipation in a beautiful and meaningful way. Happy holidays!
Next week: Ten Conversations
Kids Talk™ is a column dealing with early childhood development issues written by Maren Stark Schmidt. Mrs. Schmidt founded a Montessori school and holds a Masters of Education from Loyola College in Maryland.
She has over 25 years experience working with young children and holds teaching credentials from the Association Montessori Internationale. She is also Creative Director for a video-based reading series for children ages three to six, The Shining Light Reading Series. Contact her via e-mail at maren@shininglightreading.com.
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1 Comments:
Thought I'd share these comments from a Kids Talk reader:
Just a few of the of ideas I've picked up over the years for counting down advent.
Wise men walk: Cut out small stars (1 1/2" across) from numbering 1-25; 26-31; 1-6 and if advent starts in November, as it sometimes does for those dates, as well. Then tape them around the house at kid's eye level, beginning near the kitchen table. Then find and cut out pictures of the wise men from a Christmas coloring book, as well as the shepherds, an angel, Mary & Joseph, Baby Jesus, a candle and a Star. I place the Star picture over the number signifying the date of the first Sunday of Advent; the angel over the 2nd; the shepherds over the 3rd; a candle over the 4th; Mary & Joseph over Christmas day and Baby Jesus on January 6th (12th night). I use the wise men to follow the star around the house, tracking their journey as they followed the star to get to Jesus on 12th night.
Candy Countdown: I count out the # of days from the 1st day of advent to Christmas, then count out that many pieces of leftover Halloween candy. We only have one son who doesn't care that much for sweets, so there's always MORE than enough. I place a long piece of holiday colored or printed plastic wrap, allowing about 3"-5" per day, depending on the size of the candy you are using. Then I lay the pieces of candy evenly along the piece of plastic wrap. (Hint: Do this when toddlers are napping and pets are outdoors!) Fold in one side of the plastic wrap over the candy then the other side. Then use curling ribbon to tie off the top and bottom and in between each piece of candy. Then use a push pin or a nail to hang it up on the wall, also in the kitchen area. Cut off a piece of candy for each day of advent.
My friend who has 3 kids, lets the kids take turns cutting off the candy each day. My one son gets it all to himself and loves the ritual, though half the time doesn't eat the candy!
I've been doing these since my now 7 year old son was 2 or 3. He loves them and looks forward to the ritual of counting down the days!
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