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2020 Catholic Advent Calendar for Families

ADVENT ACTIVITIES FOR FAMILIES

2020 Calendar

It's been a different kind of year, wouldn't you say? So I knew I couldn't just grab my same old activity slips for our Advent Calendar this year. There are a few things we can't or shouldn't do that had to come off the list. Here's a compilation of what we hope to do this Advent 2020 for inspiration or print and do it all with us! Don't feel like you have to do it all. You can highlight your favorites and come back to the list next year for the rest. There are a few activities you'll have to prepare or purchase supplies for, so be sure to review them before tucking them into your calendar system. There are so many ways to display these and ideas for winter fun, I'd love for you to comment what are your traditions.

* A list of Advent & Christmas book recommendations for families is at the bottom of the post.

 Traditional Advent Activities to Consider

Advent Calendar - Countdown

Jesse Tree

Nativity Scene (move pieces in parts, see Sundays)

Straw for the Manger

Advent Candles

 

O Antiphons

Advent Journal or Devotional

Shepherd on the Search (vs Elf on Shelf)

            12 Days of Christmas

The following ideas can be printed and cut into strips to tuck into your Advent Calendar system. You could also glue into a paper ring garland to tear off each day. Otherwise, use as inspiration for activities during Advent.

 

S Nov 29

Light 1st (violet) Candle: Hope. Add Angel to your Nativity Scene.

Go to Mass, or watch online and make a Spiritual Communion.

Create an Advent Music Playlist

Setup Nativity Stable and Container of Paper Straw (Add a piece to manger with every good deed)

Setup Jesse Tree and begin daily scripture readings

Decorate your Tree (if you don’t wait until Christmas) and put up Winter Decorations

*We bought Roll Your Own Advent Candles, and it was so much fun!

 

M Nov 30

St. Andrew (Patron Fishermen, Singers, Sore Throats and more)

Begin St. Andrew Novena* aka Christmas Anticipation Prayer

*St. Andrew Christmas Novena: It is piously believed that whoever recites the St. Andrew Christmas novena prayer 15 times each day from the feast of St. Andrew (November 30th) until Christmas Eve will obtain the favor requested. You could make a Prayer card with 15 counting beads. 

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen

Snack: Seasoned Goldfish Crackers

Practice Christmas Carols

Go Ice Fishing

 

T Dec 1

Begin creating Christmas Cards, consider handwritten letters. Pray for these families.

Young children can color Christmas pictures to send.

Write a Letter to Saint Nicholas with prayer intentions, needs and wants. Put in Stocking/Shoe.

 

W Dec 2

Create Paper Snowflakes and tape to windows!

Winter STEM Project (such as Crystal Snowflakes)

Talk about being unique, like a snowflake.

 

Th Dec 3

St. Francis Xavier (Patron of Missionaries)

Donate to a Mission Fund, or Adopt a Family in need for Christmas.

Donate items to a shoebox missionary organization or church mission project.

Talk about your family’s mission for 2021.

 

F Dec 4

1st Fri Mass - Sacred Heart of Jesus

Renew your consecration to the SHJ

Observe a day of Fasting and Abstinence for Souls

Build a Christmas Light Blanket Fort

 

S Dec 5

1st Sat Mass - Immaculate Heart of Mary

Renew your consecration to IHM

Make a Snow Grotto for your garden’s Mary Statue

Put out your shoes/stockings for St Nicholas

HGC: St. Nicholas Day Ideas and Printable

Su Dec 6

Light 2nd (violet) Candle: Love/Faith. Add Drummer Boy, Trees, Misc to Nativity Set.

Go to Mass, or watch online and make a Spiritual Communion.

St. Nicholas Day: Check your shoes/stockings. Celebrate with Chocolate & Oranges!

M Dec 7

St. Ambrose (Patron of Beekeepers, Beggars, Learning…)

Snack: Honey Graham Crackers w cream cheese, berries and honey

Make Homemade Lozenges: Honey Ginger Throat Drops

Donate to a food shelf or homeless shelter.

 

T Dec 8

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the BVM (Mass)

Give time or gift to a New Mother/Baby, or a Women’s Pregnancy Center

Make Homemade Play Dough, with scents of the season oils or spices. Use cookie cutters.

 

W Dec 9

St. Juan Diego: Make a Paper Bag Tilma

Send Flowers (or card) to Someone who may be Lonely

 

Th Dec 10

Holiday Dice Game: Roll-a-Snowman, Roll-a-Holiday Story

Create Your Own Holiday Song Mad-Lib or Joke

Hanukkah: Jewish Festival of Lights (Dec 10-18), read about this tradition and light your Christmas Tree!

 

F Dec 11

Drive to see Christmas Lights (bring blankets, hot cocoa and popcorn)

Watch a Classic Christmas Movie

 

S Dec 12

Our Lady of Guadalupe (Patron of Americas, Mother of Mercy & Love)

MakeTissue Paper Roses

Create an OL Guadelupe Sun Catcher (<as detailed in link).

 

Su Dec 13

Go to Mass: Gaudete Sunday (wear pink), or watch online and make a Spiritual Communion.

Light 3rd (pink) Candle: Joy. Add Shepherd, Sheep and Animals to your Nativity Set.

Create cotton ball or pom-pom sheep for your Nativity set.

Snack: Shepherd Hooks (candy canes) and Cocoa

Candy Cane Bomb a parking lot (hook on car doors)

Feast of St Lucy: Paint a St. Lucy Peg Doll; Bake Saffron Buns or Cinnamon Roll Wreath and add candles

 

M Dec 14

St. John of the Cross (read about him)

Make Cinnamon Ornaments for tree, cut in cross shape.

Send Greeting Card to a Priest to thank and encourage.

 

T Dec 15

Paint a Nativity Scene on your Window (mix tempura paint and dish soap evenly)

Make Paper Chain decorations or Popcorn Garland

 

W Dec 16

Visit a Living Nativity

Build a Lego Holiday Village

Help someone in your “village,” such as shovel a driveway or take over a chore.

 

Th Dec 17

Create Homemade Gifts

Make Ornaments: Wood Burned, Shrinky Dink, Origami, Bird Treats, and so many ideas online!

Read the Legend of "The Spider who Saved Christmas" by Raymond Arroyo, and create a spider ornament and add gold tinsel to your tree.

Make “I Spy” Nativity Ornament or Jar. 

F Dec 18

Pajama Day

Family Game Night

Sleep Under the Christmas Tree


S Dec 19

Cookie Baking Day!

 or Build a Gingerbread House


Su Dec 20

Light 4th (violet) Candle: Peace. Add Mary & Joseph to the Nativity Set.

Go to Mass, or watch online and make a Spiritual Communion.

Read an Advent Devotional Aloud

Design Bookmarks to hide in Library Books.

 

M Dec 21

St. Peter Canisius (Known for Adding to the Hail Mary, Advocating for Adoration, and Writing a Catechism)

1st day of Winter: Go for a Winter Walk Outside

Spend time in Adoration.

Pray the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary

Read Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)#522-526 [longer #422-534]

 

T Dec 22

Build a Snowman, Snow Fort, Snow Painting…

Indoor fun: Pin the Carrot on the Snowman, Marshmallows & Trebuchet

Snuggle up with Cocoa/Tea/Nog by the fire or tree and Read Aloud

 

W Dec 23

Go Christmas Caroling door to door, video chat, or sing with your family.

Christmas Movie Marathon

Donate Movies to a Hospital

Tape a Popcorn Bag to a DVD rental box, or add a $1 bill in a return.

 

Th Dec 24

Christmas Eve (Vigil Mass)

Light 5th (white) Candle: Christ Light.

Read the Christmas Story from the Bible

Have a family Nativity Play (record to share with family)

Create a Christmas Music Play List and have a Dance Party!

 

F Dec 25 Christmas Day

Have a family procession, carrying in Baby Jesus for the Nativity Set.

Celebrate with a Birthday Party for Jesus!

 

Begin 12 Days of Christmas Celebrations and Traditions

- Light 12 Christmas Candles, adding one each day to your dining table or window sill.

- Some families wait until Christmas Eve to light their tree

- Hide your Wise Men (3 Kings), and/or a paper star, in a different spot each day to find

- Donate toys you no longer play with to make room for any new gifts.

- Spread the Good News:

                *Send Your Christmas Cards

                *Leave a Letter and Treat for your Mail Carrier

                *Call a friend and family member you didn’t see during the holidays.

 

Sun Dec 27  The Holy Family

Go to Mass, or watch online and make a Spiritual Communion.

Have some down time focusing on family.  


M Dec 28 The Holy Innocents

Pray for an end to abortion and a special grace for expectant mothers to chose life. 


F Jan 1 New Year's Day

Pick a Saint to pray with throughout 2021

Create a Family Mission Statement for 2021

May your resolutions be Spiritual first!


Jan 3/6  Feast of the Epiphany

Add Wise Men to your Nativity Set.

Bake a Kings Cake with plastic baby hidden inside.

Epiphany Chalk Blessing on your door 20+C+M+B+21 (search prayer online)

 

 HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS & BLESSED NEW YEAR!

BOOKS I RECOMMEND FOR YOUR ADVENT READING 

{affiliated links are to support my time spent sharing these resources and keeping them free}

The Legend of St. Christopher by Margaret Hodges

Tommie DePaola has so many excellent books, and several for the Christmas season.

SAINT NICHOLAS STOCKING GIFT IDEAS
Traditional: Coins, Oranges, Chocolates and Candy Canes

I love keeping crafting and activity ideas on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/HGCatholics/advent-christmas/

Here’s a fun Advent Calendar to make: http://homegrowncatholics.blogspot.com/2012/11/advent-stocking-tree.html

 

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Marian Activities for the Family

There are many Marian feasts throughout the year, but I find that the month of May is a time when we focus particularly on crafts and activities to honor Our Lady Mary. I listed as many as I could recall on this post below, and plan to add to this post frequently. I hope you'll share a comment of your personal favorites, and anything that peaked your interest on my list. Bookmark and Pin this one!

ALL MARIAN ACTIVITIES TO PRINT: CLICK HERE FOR THE PDF FILE

MARIAN CONSECRATION
While the Blessed Mother Mary has been a huge part of my entire life, growing up in a very Marian family, it wasn't until I was 40 that I read "33 Days to Morning Glory: A Do-it Yourself Retreat" and made an official Consecration to Mary. I highly recommend that book for teens and adults. Afterwards, I really wanted to do the same for my children and found two wonderful books for it. I am reading one to my 0-7 year olds, and the other to my 8-18 year olds. Then we will have a special consecration day utilizing many of our past Marian activities posted on this blog. 
This book is perfect for toddlers and young children. Simple daily reading and prayer. Beautiful artwork.

This book is perfect for children and teens. It integrates lessons from popular children's stories and our whole family really enjoyed the lessons, conversation starter questions, Did You Know section, and prayers. 

MARY'S LITTLE FLOWERS TEA PARTY
Our girls enjoyed a year of Little Flowers club, and it ended with the most beautiful tea party. I think this is a must for anyone with a young girl, but I know my boys would appreciate it also. We played games, drank tea, had a delicious luncheon and prayed together. We have done this on a few occasions with friends, dressing up and putting out all the linens, vases and tea cups. 

We've also simplified it at home for afternoon read aloud time.
This is a perfect time to pick out a short story to read, or perhaps your Marian Consecration reading. The book pictured is "The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories" by William Bennett.

 This is a classic shower game, where one is blindfolded and must find as many safety pins in the rice as they can. The person who finds the most in a minute wins. 
 My daughter and I created this Tea Bag hide and seek game. There are two identical sets of pretend tea bags (brown paper stuffed with a cotton ball and labeled with a kind of tea). You could of course use real tea bags. Two groups are formed and they get a page protector with instructions and a dry erase pen. Tea bags are hidden, and the groups find one of each tea and check it off their list. If they find the double, they must put it back quietly. First to find them all, wins.

*I apologize, I did not save where I got these images from.  I will gladly credit as soon as I know.
Find this and all Marian printables in the PDF linked at the top of the post.

MARY'S LITTLE CROWNS CLASS
My popular blog: Mary's Little Crowns Class includes printables to make a paper Mary Statue, Mother Thrice Admirable rosary to color, Offering Basket, and Marian Princess Crowns. It comes complete with a script and prayer card to print and use for a class.
Click on this image to go to the complete lesson plan for a 
Schoenstatt Mary's Little Crowns lesson plan.

MARIAN CRAFTING
Mary Statue 
Print on 65lb cardstock. Color, cut and staple. Add sticker stars for extra flair.
Find this and all Marian printables in the PDF linked at the top of the post.


Cut dotted lines and slide the cut areas together, or staple or glue.

  
Find this and all Marian printables in the PDF linked at the top of the post.

 Peg Doll Mary
There are so many appearances of Mary around the world, so I suggest you try painting your favorite Mary on a wooden peg doll, or create a whole set. This version I thought was the simplest style that even little girls could do.

Repair a Statue
Have you ever rescued a saint statue from the thrift store? This statue was given to me by my Great Aunt Lolly. It was faded and chipped, so I gave it new life with acrylic paint and several coats of clear spray paint. It's still a favorite in my home.

Sew a Veil or Mantle for your Mary statue.
We haven't done this project yet, but found the idea in "Sewing with St. Anne" by Alice Cantrell

Embroidery (Saint Anne & Mary)

 The Name of Mary (Paper Mosaic)

Our children enjoyed creating this Ave Maria art, using construction paper scraps. It was a great cutting skills project, discussion about color families, Mary's names, crowns and more.

Decorative Kneeler
 Garden Knee Pad w/ Puffy Paint

Mary's Little Crown

Make crowns for girls with a birthday party pack of tiaras and Marian stickers.

Rosary Hangers

These were a fun project. We began with the children carrying their bare cross during Holy Week. Then in Easter, we decoupaged them with tissue paper and added a small hook.
Make a Beaded Rosary


 
Some of these were made with pipe-cleaner craft sticks and pony beads. They can be a little poky over time, but it made for a quick craft. For something long-lasting, I recommend learning how to do a knotted rope rosary. It's more involved, but the children can gain dexterity from beading.

Q is for Queen of the Universe
This is a blue construction paper cut as a "Q" and a child's footprint in white paint. Then her crown of stars is yellow finger prints. Of course, it is not complete without googly eyes.

Marian Door Hanging
We used a foam door hanger, a printed image of Mary, sticker stars, hot glued on silk flowers, and labeled with the letter "V" for Virgin Mary.

Holy Family Hearts, stained glass windows

My daughter and I taped off our windows with painters tape in the outlines of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (with Divine Mercy rays), Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Chaste Heart of St. Joseph. The final image is the USA. We painted using tempura paints mixed 1:1 with dish soap.  We used wide brushes in swirls and swipes, and the clouds we used a natural sponge. It's been up for weeks and it's been a real joy to walk past anytime of day. 

PRINTABLE PRAYERS

Memorare Prayer

Find this and all Marian printables in the PDF linked at the top of the post.


Morning Offering
 
This and more printable daily prayers found at my post "Commitment to Daily Prayer"

Print this rosary to color, or put on candies to eat, as they follow.
Find this and all Marian printables in the PDF linked at the top of the post.


A Holy Rosary Guide


 
This guide and more on my post "Praying the Rosary"

Hail Holy Queen
Find this and all Marian printables in the PDF linked at the top of the post.



MARIAN GARDENS
 Read about gardening, especially Mary Gardens at this link. In our garden, Mary is surrounded by these perennials and more. This picture is from 2015 at it's peak bloom.

 There is a website about Mary Gardens called: Mary Garden of Virginal Consecration, complete with poems and drawings that I think would be a great children's project. It is very through and perfect if you want specific names of plants and their Marian association.
"Snow Angel" Coral Bells,
Pansies or "Our Lady's Delight,"
"Mary's Mantle" [Alchemilla vulgaris]
Bleeding Hearts or "Sacred Heart of Mary."
May Day Baskets
May is the month of Mary, so May Day is a wonderful tradition to share about her with your friends. One year we made single potted flowers in decorated cups. They are also a good Mother's Day gift.

Painted Mary Garden

While we made this floral ring for a candle, it would be a perfect fit around a Mary statue. The base is a round cardboard from a frozen pizza, painted green. The flowers are paper egg cartons cut up, painted and hot glued in place. My daughters created this all on their own as a gift. It still amazes me how beautiful it turned out.
Mary Floral Crown
Chenille Craft Stick (Pipecleaner)

Floral wreath, crown or bracelet
This is an easy to make floral bracelet that you could make large enough to fit at the base of your indoor Mary Statue, or smaller for a crown. We used a stretchy cord for a comfortable fit. Perhaps add a Miraculous Medal to it.

Magnatile Marian Grotto
Another fun idea for those indoor Mary statues. Don't forget a snow grotto for the outdoor statue this winter!

MARIAN TREATS

Edible Marian Grotto
 
A marshmallow and krispy rice grotto is a fun snack project for toddlers! We used the multicolored rice cereal and toddler star puff snacks.

Cupcake Rosary (or Cookies)


MARIAN MEDALS & SCAPULARS
Each member of my family wears a Scapular and Miraculous Medal, or a 4-way Cross Medal. We wear them as a holy shield, a sacramental that reminds us of our consecration to Mary and her protection over her children.
Embroidery (Homemade Scapular)
While I've seen these sold on Etsy, I really enjoyed making it myself for my son's 1st Holy Communion. I stitched onto brown wool the white felt background and some felt hearts, then embroidered the symbols, flames and flowers to create the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary. A labor of love.

 VEILING
Wearing our veils, we feel a little more like humble and holy Mary. Veiling at Mass and in Adoration has been increasing in our diocese and parish. All ages have interest, but I am seeing a beautiful trend in teenagers embracing the tradition. We are doing what we can to encourage it. This is me and one of my three daughters. After we began veiling, my sons asked what they could do, which inspired them to make an effort to dress up for Mass every time. There are days that little girls aren't fond of the long veil, so I did buy wide lace headbands to switch out and spare a scene in the pew.
I asked God what's something simple I could do to honor His True Presence... and He asked me to donate veils to our church. A friend and I pitched in, and have donated about 65 inexpensive veils found on eBay. I also included hair clips that have helped hold them in place very well. We also put out the information cards about veiling from Veils by Lily.
 
*I shared this with message with my church Mom's Group: For any lady, young or older, who has been thinking of veiling but unsure where to start or not ready to invest in the $30+ veils. Bonus hair-clip gets sewn in spot you need it to be, holds in place really nice. FREE as a gift.

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

"Praying the Rosary Like Never Before" by Edward Sri
"33 Days to Morning Glory" by Fr Michael Gaitley
"The Seven Sorrows of Mary: A Meditative Guide"


PREVIOUSLY POSTED
Celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe with ideas from my OLG Post
Celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception with these ideas or more on my SIC Post

*DISCLAIMER: This blog contains affiliated links to products I recommend. This creates a small fund towards my efforts of offering all these free activity posts. It costs my readers nothing. If you decide to purchase anything I have recommended, I hope you'll use the links. I also have a few items for sale on my Homegrown Catholics Etsy shop. Thank you for your patronage.

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