Teach Advent to Your Family
Busy parent looking for easy ways to teach your kids about Ash Wednesday?
Easy Ways to SLOW DOWn and Teach Your Family About Advent
Well it’s not even Thanksgiving and Hobby Lobby is already clearancing their Christmas decorations. Believe it or not, next Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent (it completely caught me by surprise this year). It’s so easy to race through the “holidays” from one plan to the next. This is the wisdom of the church year in giving us space to focus on one season at a time. Twice in the church year a massive holy day is preceded by a season of preparation. Many of us are used to giving something up for Lent (to prepare our hearts for Easter). But it can be so difficult to wait in the season of Advent. We want carols, lights, hot cocoa, and presents! These are all wonderful joys; but if there’s one thing you do this Advent season I want to encourage you to slow down, to wait in the longing for Christmas. This is the very reason for Advent. And for your kids (and mine!) that can’t wait for Christmas day and celebration and presents there are ideas below to help them (and you!) to slow down and anticipate the coming of Jesus. There’s several ideas below but I want to encourage you towards simplicity. Pick one or two that jump out. Go for quality over quantity. We’ll republish this blog next year and you can try out the others.
Attend aDvent Services
Okay I’m goin to cheat a little right off the bat and suggest you do this in addition to 1 or 2 other ideas. The Christian life is life in the local church. If you’re not already part of a congregation I want to cordially invite you to join us a Trinity San Antonio. We have a few Advent services this year. As well as our usual Sunday service, which we’d love to have you at! There’s tons of options below or you can read through them here.
Thanksgiving leftover potluck and wreath making: Bring your Thanksgiving leftovers and make an Advent wreath with provided real greenery. Sunday, November 27th; after service; at the Woehler Family Center.
Advent Midweek Service with Meal and Crafts: Join us in a brief worship service and a shared meal. Crafts for the whole family too! Wednesday, November 30th; 5:30PM; at the Woehler Family Center.
Saint Nicholas Party: Food and bonfire as we honor the spirit of generosity modeled by the historical Saint Nicholas of Myra. Wednesday, December 7th; 5:30PM; at Pastor Matthew Ballmann’s home.
Las Posadas: This has become a highlight for the whole year for my family. We’ll recreate the story of Joseph and Mary going inn to inn trying to find a place to stay. There’s songs, Mexican hot chocolate, a Mariachi band, piñatas, costumes, and of course buñuelos! Wednesday, December 14th; 6:00PM, outside the Woehler Family Center.
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service: Worship and anticipate the arrival of Christ ending in a beautiful candlelight moment. Saturday, December 24th; 4:00PM, at the Woehler Family Center.
Christmas Day Service: This year Christmas is on a Sunday! What better day to gather for the Divine Service than Christmas. Please join us at 10:30AM on December 25th at the Woehler Family Center.
PRactice Generosity
There’s no better season to give to others than Christmas, when God gave us His Son. The best thing about this idea is it can be as simple or complex at you like. You could:
Tell your kids to secretly give their family and friends gifts. Kids get a big kick out of the anonymity and it keeps the focus off ourselves.
Spend some time at a local retirement community. Often the elderly unfortunately get too few visitors and this can be difficult season for many to be alone. Kids are also a great addition to a visit and it can be a great opportunity for conversation.
Put together bundles for the homeless. Buy some warm clothes, socks, toothbrushes, and other essential items. Pack them up in bundles and put them in your car. When you see someone in need give the bundle! Or make a trip to a local shelter to deliver several.
Invite someone over for dinner. Those of us with families can take for granted our daily opportunity for community (or chaos). Invite a neighbor, a single friend, a military member you know over. They may not have a place to celebration traditions and opening your home can be a great way to share.
Read an Advent Devotional
Reading a daily Advent devotional at the dinner table is a super easy way to reorient ourselves around Jesus. There’s no shortage of good ones out there. For younger kids I’d recommend Counting to Christmas. We have copies of this at church on Sundays, our gift to you! Still doable with younger kids but one for older kids, or you and your spouse, is God Is in the Manger. This book features reflections from Dietrich Bonhoeffer that you can read in a few minutes.
This can be combined with the classic Advent Candles and wreath. Kids love to light and snuff the candles each night to countdown the days to Christmas.
You could also read from the Lectionary (remember we’re going to Series A this Advent). Here’s a handy link. Consider reading the passages multiple times each week.
While not a devotional this is a great season to learn about the historical Saint Nicholas. This is a beautiful book to read to your family.
Make an Advent Craft
Here’s a few ideas:
Buy (or make!) an Advent Calendar to countdown the days to Christmas
Make some Advent “stained glass” (these are paper crafts also some coloring sheets are there).
Come to the wreath making after Service on November 27th! Or grab some greenery and make your own.
Make your favorite Christmas cookies and combine with the idea about generosity and share with someone.
If your feeling ambitious you could make red and white striped candy canes. You can talk about how they look like a shepherd’s crook (like the shepherds who witnessed the birth of our Good Shepherd or it’s a J for Jesus!), the red for the blood Jesus spilled to make us white as snow.
Listen to Advent Music
Just wait. You can wait to play your favorite Christmas music. I know it’s hard (okay even I cheat). But there are tons of wonderful Advent songs that have us sit in anticipation and longing. Maybe you can even make it practical but talking about patience with the kids. Here’s a playlist to get you started.
Add to Your Homeschool or Supplement School
If you homeschool your kids, add Advent and Saint Nicholas to your classes. Read Advent scriptures. And definitely make sure to include color pages and other fun worksheets. There’s plenty of resources out there even for Lent specifically. Definitely check out: https://www.lutheranhomeschool.com/. We also love the site https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/ (note you do need a free account). You can search for Advent or Saint Nicholas and filter to free (just make sure to review the content before handing to your kiddos). And bust out those purple crayons since that’s the Advent liturgical color.
If you don’t homeschool I encourage you to supplement your kid’s classroom learning. Any of the above can be added as “homework” or done as a mini class after school around the diner table.
More Ideas
If you’re still hungry for more recommendations, check out our previous years’ blogs here and here.
Whatever you do, or don’t, make it intentional and talk about it! Even one little activity with some good conversation will go a long way to bring your children, and your family, into preparation for the majesty of Christmas. Blessings on your Advent season!
About the Author
David Hein is a member of Trinity San Antonio with his wife Mindi and three boys: Kirk, Wesley, and Caleb. He is a first year seminarian at Lutheran Brethren Seminary. The picture below is the closest they’ve gotten to one with everyone’s eyes open.
Teach Ash Wednesday to Your Family
Busy parent looking for easy ways to teach your kids about Ash Wednesday?
Easy Ways to Teach Your Family About Ash Wednesday (And maybe Lent…)
Perhaps you’re like me staring at three unruly boys and wondering how do I teach these lovable miscreants about Ash Wednesday? No matter the number, age, and gender of your children it’s a simple fact us parents are long on aspiration and short on time. So this sleepless parent thought he’d share his findings on some easy ways to teach your whole family about Ash Wednesday (and a little bit of Lent too). Before we dive in, let me offer a piece of advice: make a plan, keep it simple, and participate in Church. If you don’t have a church home I cordially invite you to join us at Trinity at 10:30 AM on Sundays.
Review the Previous Blog Posts
If you haven’t already, read the two great blog posts Pastor Matthew has put together here and here summarizing Ash Wednesday and Lent, respectively. If you’re old hat to the church year or brand new it will help to brush up on the basics for your young, inquiring minds.
Attend an Ash Wednesday Service
One of the best ways we can catechize our children is faithful attendance to church. Ash Wednesday is an especially great one for kids because of the tactile imposition of the ashes. Kids love stuff and textures. The feel of the gritty yet smooth ash on their foreheads is something you can discuss with them to hype the anticipation. Plus you can talk about how we sacrifice a Wednesday evening to gain an encounter with Christ. Lent is all about sacrifice that allows space or resources for God’s work. What better way to start the season than gathering with brothers and sisters in Christ.
Sacrifice and Serve as Family
If you know one thing about Lent it’s the tradition of giving something up: coffee, rich food, social media, Netflix or other streaming services. Too often though we can treat this as our second chance at New Year’s resolutions. It’s certainly good to intentionally work on self improvement; but it falls short of the fuller vision for Lent. Fasting and self-denial are meant to create space for almsgiving (generosity). Maybe your family goes out to eat or orders in once a week; choose to forgo that luxury and instead donate the money to a food bank. Perhaps family movie night is sacrificed for a night of prayer. Consider skipping a kid’s event (sports, drama, etc.) to go serve as a family. There’s endless options; but definitely talk about it as a family and discuss the why.
With older kids consider an actual fast day (Friday is a great choice in remembrance of Good Friday). You could cut out meat, eat simply (bread and water), or consider a full day without a meal (I find sundown Thursday to sundown Friday works well). Again don’t just focus on the sacrifice use the extra time or money purposefully.
Read or Memorize Psalm 23
David’s most famous Psalm is also a great one for Ash Wednesday. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil” (verse 4). We are reminded that the LORD truly is our Shepherd who guides our lives, gives us rest, saves us, and one day we will dwell not in the sadness and pain of death (from dust to dust) but we will dwell in the “house of the LORD”. It’s also a great Psalm for kids to read (short, not too difficult) and a must memorize passage of Scripture.
Again with older kids I’d commend following the lectionary as a family. The Ash Wednesday passages are the same regardless of year: Joel 2:12-19, 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10, and Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21. Throughout Lent there are additional readings provided by the historic church. Our church is in Series C of the Three-Year cycle (easy link here). Typically you’ll read the week’s passages twice with the Old Testament reading on Monday and Thursday, Epistle on Tuesday and Friday, Gospel on Wednesday and Saturday; but there is complete freedom in what works for your family.
Make a Lenten Chain
You’ve likely heard of (or eaten) Advent calendars. Those 24 or 25 boxes of chocolates that count from December 1 to Christmas. There’s a beautiful practice for Lent that’s similar. You make a series of paper loops like the image on the right. Each day you’ll tear one off to count down to Easter. There’s an easy link here. You could also go a step farther and write things to pray for. Or perhaps use this Lenten Guide for activities you can add to each loop. Better yet, have your kids come up with their own! Another fun “craft” is making pretzels. They are somewhat bland which is good for Lent and the shape looks like arms folded in prayer.
Listen to Lenten Music
Kids love music. Find or create a playlist of Lenten specific hymns. Sing them as a family. Here’s two to get you started: one and two.
Add to Your Homeschool or Supplement School
If you homeschool your kids, add Ash Wednesday and Lent to your history units. Read Lenten scripture. And definitely make sure to include color pages and other fun worksheets. There’s plenty of resources out there even for Lent specifically. Definitely check out: https://www.lutheranhomeschool.com/. We also love the site https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/ (note you do need a free account). You can search for Ash Wednesday or Lent and filter to free (just make sure to review the content before handing to your kiddos). Or here’s a direct link to some coloring pages. And bust out those purple crayons since that’s the Lenten liturgical color.
If you don’t homeschool I encourage you to supplement your kid’s classroom learning. Any of the above can be added as “homework” or done as a mini class after school around the diner table.
Whatever you do, or don’t, make it intentional and talk about it! Even one little activity with some good conversation will go a long way to bring your children, and your family, into preparation for the glory of Easter. Blessings on your Lenten season!
About the Author
David Hein is a member of Trinity San Antonio with his wife Mindi and three boys: Kirk, Wesley, and Caleb.
How to Teach Your Kids to Pray
Prayer is speaking to God and providing Him the space to speak to us through His Word and by His Holy Spirit. In prayer we share our concerns, joys, and thanksgiving with Him and allow Him to convict, guide, and encourage us.
Prayer is not complicated, but it can be difficult. I believe this is true for everyone but it can be especially true of parents with young kids that wake up at the break of dawn and have boundless energy until they are put to bed at night. How is anyone to find time to pray when you have Sonic the Hedgehog in your house?
A lot of helpful advice could be given here but I want to focus on one simple principle - pray with your children. That’s right. While personal time to pray is important, don’t miss the opportunity to pray with your children. Not only does this help you grow in your prayer life, but it also is teaching your kids how to pray. Here are some ideas of times you can stop to pray:
Before breakfast (take 30 seconds to pray in public and at home)
In the car on the way to school or work or running errands
At lunch
When you pull into your driveway take 60 seconds to thank God for the day and help you invest in your family this evening.
At dinner
Before bed
Anytime!
Now you might be thinking, “I’ve tried that and it’s just too challenging. They don’t focus and I have to get on them every 15 seconds to stop pushing and pinching each other.” I get it. I really do. Here is a secret that has really helped our family prayer times - make use of written prayers.
But aren’t written prayers less spiritual? Some might feel as if written prayers are less spiritual than free form praying, but here is the truth, while they can be prayed in a mindless and rote way, they don’t have to be. In fact this applies to anything in life we do on a repetitive basis. Just because we sometimes fall into reading the Bible mindlessly doesn’t mean we stop reading the Bible altogether. Rather, it means we seek to read it with engaged hearts and minds, asking the Holy Spirit to enflame our hearts with His love. The same goes for written prayers.
Below are four written prayers that you can print and pray together as a family. At first you’ll have to read it but eventually your whole family (even the youngest!) will know them by heart. We don’t do the same prayer every single night but like to mix them up. So a few nights a week we’ll do the Lord’s Prayer and a few nights the Evening prayer. We almost always include extemporaneous prayers as well, I like to give each child a chance to pray using their own words.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Morning Prayer
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
Evening Prayer
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
Prayer Before a Meal
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Lord God, heavenly Father, bless us and these Your gifts which we receive from Your bountiful goodness, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
I encourage every family to pick up the Lutheran Prayer Book which has written prayers for morning and evening of every day.
