Advent

As you may know by now, our family is Catholic. Advent is the season of preparation for Christmas and it has four themes: hope, peace, joy and love. Does it get any better than that? We often use advent calendars with our kids. 

We sent Will to a local Catholic preschool and they gave him this advent calendar. Michael would have gone there too, but he was diagnosed with Autism so he went to our local public school, where he could get services to help with this diagnosis.

The advent calendar from Will’s preschool is not like the ones with the chocolates or legos or toys (although clearly, we LOVE those too). This one is copied from the original they sent home from St Mary’s Preschool all those years ago. Each day has a good deed listed and once your child completes it, he or she colors the heart.

Some examples are:

Give someone a hug

Draw a picture for a family member

Do something kind for someone

Share with a friend

You could easily make your own advent calendar like this and customize it to your child.

Maybe they could:

Wrap a present

Facetime a grandparent

Make an ornament for the tree

Regardless of your faith, it is fun to teach your children that no matter their abilities, they can contribute to making the world a better place through acts of kindness.