Holiday Activities

A friend of mine e-mailed me requesting a post on activities for the holidays. (I felt very important!) So, here goes!

Send a card to a family of a deployed soldier. It’s due by Dec. 1st so don’t delay!

Start doing the 5 kernels of corn tradition with your family this Thanksgiving. As you gather around your abundant Thanksgiving meal, let each person offer 5 things for which he/she is thankful. Here’s an idea to guide the conversation.

Choose a gift from the Samaritan’s Purse Christmas Catalog. Better yet, let your children choose one from the kids’ section. Although the deadline for Shoeboxes has already passed for 2008, plan to do one or more next year. Kids love to pick things out to go in the boxes, especially for kids their own ages!

Sponsor a child through Compassion International like the Wilsons did and turn it into a Family Night!

Consider celebrating Advent if you don’t already. Here are some fun ideas and ways to make the calendars and implement Advent in a sugar-free way. You can just Google “Advent crafts” to get many, many more ideas.

This is my favorite website for homemade and inexpensive craft, party and gift ideas.

Sign up for this newsletter, or search through the archives for more great ideas. Here are some to get you started.

Consider making gifts to give this year. Grandparents love homemade stuff anyway!

Help your children go through their toys to get rid of forgotten ones and donate them to charity or to your new Compassion child. Also, consider helping them choose one that is special to them add in the pile. A lesson on sacrificial giving never hurt anyone. Perhaps you can take them shopping to select a Toys for Tots gift and allow them to help pay for it.

Read the Christmas story either on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning before opening presents. Purchase or make a nativity so the kids can act out the story while it is being read. Then ask them to tell the story on their own.

We ask the boys to help pass out the gifts as a reminder that it is better to give than receive. Also, the boys have started helping me choose gifts for our loved ones this year. I love seeing their perspective on what to choose. Children have a wonderful gift of discernment and sometimes know better than we do what a person would like.

I hope that these ideas are a springboard for your own creativity! What a wonderful way to pass on a legacy of faith to your children. Thanks for the idea Jennifer P!