Advent activites for your family

D lights the first Advent candle a few years ago.

Advent is here and with it our six-week break from homeschooling. Instead of doing school work, we do an activity each day preparing for Christmas. Some are distinctly religious. Others are not. Here are some ideas for activities you can do with your family.

Learn and sing Advent hymns 

Sunday at Mass, D was amazed that I knew many of the verses of O Come, O Come, Emanuel by heart. Well, that was the only Advent hymn I learned in Catholic school, and I don’t recall singing any other one at Mass in the 70s and 80s. It wasn’t until I started praying the Divine Office as an adult that I learned some of the beautiful hymns I had been missing. Here are some you will want to learn along with your kids, if you don’t know them already:

• People, Look East. This song by poet Eleanor Farjeon helps you to see all the preparations for Christmas–including setting a merry  table–as preparations for Christ. This is a good one to start your Advent.
• Wake, Awake, the Night is Dying
• Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
• O Come, O Come Emanuel.  Sing this one beginning December 17, when the Church prays the O Antiphons.
• Behold, a Rose of Judah. My personal favorite for Advent, save this one for the last week or two before Christmas.

Read the rest of the ideas at Contemplative Homeschool.