It is hard to believe that we have been doing an acts of kindness advent calendar for four years. It all started when I was concerned that the boys were becoming rather immersed in the commercialisation of Christmas and of advent. I wanted them to understand and learn about Christmas and advent being about giving, so came up with the idea of an alternative advent calendar.
I love Christmas and the Advent. I really want to celebrate advent and use the time to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and make it about giving and have a joy filled time with my family. I want advent to be about more than just opening a door on an advent calendar and getting a piece of chocolate, I want it to be a time where we cement our family traditions and give joy to other people.
I am delighted to share with you these free advent acts of kindness printables. This year we have gone with an adorable bauble design. Wow, I can not believe that we have been doing acts of kindness at advent for the last three years!
Advent is the perfect for focusing on the joy of the season, but it can also seem really commercial. A couple of years ago we started our Advent acts of kindness, an alternative advent for kids to try and refocus this time away from receiving to giving. Lasy year we made a Reverse Advent Calendar.
As you have probably guessed we LOVE advent and Christmas here in The Mad House. Last year we provided you with two sets of advent acts of kindness free printables. One Christmas tree shaped and the other in a tag style. This year we have a real treat for you with our advent acts of kindness free printables. These are perfect for using in conjunction with The Kindness Elves.
Advent is the perfect for focusing on the joy of the season, but it can also seem really commerical. last year we started our Advent acts of kindness, an alternative advent for kids to try and refocus this time away from receiving to giving. We do our acts of kindness in addition to our other advent activities.
Christmas, we love it. But as much as I love Christmas and the build up to it, it is important to me to focus on my family and not just on the commercial aspect of just Christmas Day. Part of the way we do this is by having advent activities that we do. It helps me to focus on my family each day in this busy busy period of the year. So here is our ultimate advent activity list for 2015.
As you probably gathered I believe in the wonder and joys of Christmas and want to welcome my boys to the warm arms of tradition. I want them to relish advent each year, which is why I made our advent stockings last year. I wanted to make each day special in its own right, without is just being a countdown to Christmas day itself. Write and post your letter to Father Christmas Help ice the Christmas cake Make Christmas cards Make shapes with the cookie cutters and playdough Make Christmas shrinky dinks Make paper snowflakes Go to Carol Service Colour in some Christmas pictures Make some Christmas fairy cakes Make paper chains more »
joy / joi/ • n. a feeling of great pleasure and happiness: tears of joy the joy of being alive. ∎ a thing that causes joy: the joys of Manhattan. • v. [intr.] poetic/lit. rejoice: I felt shame that I had ever joyed in his discomfiture or pain. 2009 has brought me lots of joy, I have shed the above tears and I have a family that brings me joy every day. In the bible joy is more than an emotion it combines a sence of happiness with a state of blessedness. For me this advent has been a time of biblical joy. I have found the time to find more »
I have been a busy bee over the last week. I have been making an advent calender for us, one that meets our needs and that I hope will be used for many, many years to come. I have been inspired by one I saw on Living with Kids, but of course my version is homemade and as inexpensive as possible. I used a fleece from Ikea, little peg clips from poundland and everything else we already had in the house. I stitched 24 mini stockings, put some ribbon trim abound the top. I then cut out 24 green felt stars which I stamped with the dates. I punched a tag out of more »
