6 Easy Ways Your Family Can Start Practicing Advent This Season

Contributing Writer

Updated November 26, 2024

Advent marks a season for Christians to prepare for Christmas, celebrating the birth of Jesus. During the four weeks leading up to the holiday, believers meditate on themes like hope, peace, joy, and love. The word “Advent” means “coming” or “arrival” in Latin and reminds Christians of the anticipation we should feel with Jesus’ second coming.

Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, and many main Protestant churches like Presbyterians and Methodists observe Advent. A few Baptist and non-denominational churches also include some Advent elements. They practice lighting candles on an Advent wreath, reading Scripture, and giving messages along the four main themes.

Before I got married, I didn’t celebrate Advent and I knew little about it. My wife had some experience with German culture and more liturgical traditions, so we started doing the calendars together. Over time, our church participated in Advent, complete with sermons and lighting candles, and my wife and I do the calendars and activities with our kids every year.

Perhaps you’re like me. Your family doesn’t celebrate Advent. Maybe you’d like to, but don’t know where to get started. Below are six ways your family can start practicing Advent this Christmas season.

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1. Advent Wreath

Creating a family Advent wreath can be a great place for your family to start embracing Advent. You’ll need four candles — most people have three one color and a fourth pink — and a green wreath or something similar to symbolize life and hope. Arrange the candles in a circle with candlesticks. The pink candle represents joy. Each week leading up to Christmas, set aside a time as a family to light the candle, adding another each Sunday.

Along with lighting the candle, take turns as a family reading a short passage from Scripture that talks about the coming of Christ, and then offer a prayer for the theme of the week. The first candle means hope. The next Sunday, light the second candle for peace, the third for joy, and the fourth love. Encourage each family member to share something related to the theme, like a story or recent time that connects with peace, joy, or love. Remember, there’s no wrong answers. Set aside this time for discussion and exploration. Kids will often have very insightful things to share.

In addition, decorating or crafting the wreath together can get the children involved and create a bonding experience. Using small ornaments, hand-made pieces, or natural leaves and sticks, try to infuse each part with meaning. Creativity and prayer helps the whole family anticipate the joy of Christmas and make sure you’re focused on the reason we celebrate — Christ.

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2. Jesse Tree

Like the Advent wreath, constructing a family Jesse tree takes your family through Advent and the biblical redemption story. To begin, choose a small tree or a few branches arranged in a vase to serve as the Jesse Tree. You can even get posterboard and construction paper and make one for a wall in a central area of the house. This tree will represent the family lineage of Jesus. Each day of Advent, choose a symbol or ornament to symbolize a key story from the Bible leading up to Christ’s birth.

For example, on the first day, your family can read Isaiah 11:1 for the principle behind understanding Jesus’ family line. “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a branch will bear fruit.” Follow a reading plan where you and your children explore stories about Christ’s family line. This could include Ruth and Boaz, David, Solomon, and the kings of Judah. You can even tell stories from the Old Testament that foreshadow Jesus, such as the Creation story or that of Joshua (the same name as Jesus, Yeshua) conquering the Promised Land. After each story, place an ornament on the tree or create one to represent it, like a crown for David.

Discussing these stories fosters conversation around how God enters history, makes promises, and fulfills them through real people and places. The Jesse Tree traces this lineage and history to point to the ultimate fulfillment of all promises — Christ.

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3. Advent Calendar with Verses

My wife and I began with an Advent calendar. We often purchase one from the store or online, and you can get ones with chocolate or little toys depending on the brand. Your family could also choose to make a calendar with small envelopes or bags numbered 1 through 24. Creating one together becomes a great family night, especially getting creative with the kids. Either way, come up with a way to incorporate Scriptures for each day. When opening the calendar for the day, gather and read that day’s verse aloud and take a moment to discuss the meaning together. Search online for collections of Advent-connected verses.

Start on December 1 with a verse like Isaiah 9:6: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.” The passage prophesies Jesus’ birth and sets the tone for the season. Through daily readings, children and adults both explore Scriptures leading up to Christ’s arrival, like Micah 5:2, which predicts the Messiah’s birthplace: Bethlehem.

Each daily verse reminds the family of God’s love, his faithfulness, and joy about how Jesus came to provide salvation for us in the past. And you can also talk about how God will fulfill his promise to return in the future and make all things right. Through these scriptures, you keep Christ at the center of the season and create a great, fun rhythm kids look forward to.

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4. Nativity Nights

My wife and I began to have weekly Advent devotional times when our kids were young. Every year we would find kid friendly lessons on hope, peace, joy, and love, print them out, and work through them with our children. These “Nativity Nights” can be an easy and powerful way to start celebrating Advent together.

Each week, gather at the table or even around your nativity set for this Bible study time. Begin the first week by discussing hope. Isaiah 9:2 says, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.” Reading and reflecting, talk with each other about how Jesus brings hope into our lives and the world. These Nativity Nights go great with lighting the Advent candles, if you choose to do so. In prayer, ask God for hope to grow in each family member’s heart.

The second week shifts to peace with a verse like John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” Discuss how God’s peace differs from the world’s. In the third week, explore the joy of Christ’s coming, possibly using Luke 2:10, the angelic declaration at Christmas: “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”

On the fourth week, focus on love and have conversations about one of the many verses about God’s love, such as, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son” (1 John 4:9).

These Nativity Nights bring the Advent season to life for the whole family.

5. Create a Names of Jesus Countdown

A fun way to begin a family Advent celebration is to create a “Names of Jesus” countdown. The Bible expresses several names for Jesus throughout the Old and New Testament; each name adds meaning and context to Jesus’ role and person. To start, list 24 different biblical names or titles of Jesus, such as Prince of Peace, Light of the World, and Emmanuel. Then prepare small cards with each name and the relevant verse. You can display these names on a wall or tree or in a daily calendar like we mentioned above.

Beginning December first, gather each day as a family to reveal the name of Jesus. As an example, you can read Emmanuel, meaning “God with us,” from Matthew 1:23. Talk together about how this name expresses how God desires to be close to us through Christ coming as a man to relate to us. On another day, share the Good Shepherd from John 10:11, where Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Discuss how Jesus cares for us as a shepherd, and we are the sheep.

While the names go by, each one reveals more about Jesus’ character and purpose, helping you make Advent build through discovery. Kids can read verses or decorate the names.

6. Write and Reflect Gratitudes and Blessings

Jesus has already come, and for that alone we should bring him praises and thanks. In addition, he has promised to return to set this broken world right and holy again, which we praise him for in advance. Beginning a gratitude and blessings practice during Advent helps your family focus on God’s goodness and prepares your hearts for Christmas. Set aside time each day to gather as a family somewhere without distraction. Have everyone write down something they are grateful for or a blessing they’ve experienced. You can do this in a special shared journal. Or you can cut slips of paper and place them in a “blessing jar.” If your family has a whiteboard or easy access to one, that is also a great option.

Start each gratitude session with a Bible verse that expresses thankfulness to God. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Take the verse and talk about the importance of being grateful in all situations, not only the good ones. Also point out how believers can find God’s will in Christ Jesus. Encourage each family member to share something specific God has done or provided. Especially take difficult circumstances and discover ways to be thankful with them, not denying the hardship or pain but seeing God’s hand in the midst. Practicing thankfulness shifts the attention away from holiday stress or what people will get as gifts, and toward God in every moment.

Peace.

Britt Mooney Britt Mooney lives and tells great stories. As an author of fiction and non-fiction, he is passionate about teaching ministries and nonprofits the power of storytelling to inspire and spread truth. Mooney has a podcast called Kingdom Over Coffee and is a published author of We Were Reborn for This: The Jesus Model for Living Heaven on Earth as well as Say Yes: How God-Sized Dreams Take Flight.