At the end of our Thanksgiving weekend, my mom unveiled brand new and BEAUTIFUL advent calendars for each family. They are from Pottery Barn Kids (looks like they are gone now, but I did see some on ebay).
They are lovely to look at, but more importantly she stuffed each day with 2 papers that make this holiday season more meaningful. The first is a scriptural question about the birth of Christ. There is something so powerful when you ask kids questions and challenge them to find the answers. They have loved delving into the Bible and getting to know the story of Jesus' birth in a new way and we love the discussions that stem from it.
My mom cannot remember where she found the scriptural questions, so if they are yours, please let me know and I will take them off here and link to your site. I searched for them online and could not find a source. The scripture references include those from the Bible and Book of Mormon, which we use as we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you want to stick with the Bible only, you can easily create a few of your own questions at the end.
1. Who told Mary she would have a baby? Luke 1:26-33
2. Where was Mary living? Luke 1:26-27
3. Where did Mary go for a visit? Luke 1:39-40
4. What did Elisabeth and Zacharias name their son? What relation was he to Jesus? Luke 1:57-63
5. Where did Mary and Joseph go on their journey? Why did they go there? Luke 2:3-5
6. Who was the famous leader of the land who gave the decree? Luke 2:1
7. What is another name for Bethlehem? Luke 2:4
8. Why didn't Mary and Joseph get a hotel room? Luke 2:7
9. Where were the shepherds when they heard of Jesus's birth? Luke 2:8
10. What message did the angel give the shepherds? Luke 2:10-12
11. Who else came with the angel to the shepherds and what did they say or do? Luke 2:13-14
12. After the shepherds went to see Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus what did they do with the information? Luke 2: 16-18
13. Who was the ruler of the land of Judea when Jesus was born? Matthew 2:1
14. What did the wise men from the East ask the king? Why did their question trouble the king? Matthew 2:1-3
15. Who did the kind send to find the young child, Jesus? Matthew 2:7-8
16. What guide did the wise men have to find Jesus? Matthew 2:9-10
17. When the wise men came to the home of Jesus, what did they do first before giving him their gifts? Matthew 2:11
18. WHO and HOW were the wise men warned not to go back to Herod after visiting Jesus? Did they obey the warning? Matthew 2:12
19. Why did Joseph take Mary and Jesus and move to Egypt? Matthew 2:13-14
20. What terrible thing did King Herod do after he found out the wise men went home without coming back to him? Matthew 2:16
21.To what city did Joseph move Mary and Jesus after they left Egypt? Matthew 2:23
22. What are some of the other names for Jesus Christ taught to us by an Old Testament prophet? Isaiah 9:6
23. Who is "the Word" written about in St. John 1:14? (hint see the footnotes)
24. In ancient America just before the birth of Christ what did the unbelievers decide to do to all of the believers unless a sign would show itself? 3 Nephi 1:9
25. What signs happened in ancient America the night that Jesus was born half way around the world? 3 Nephi 1:15-21
The second paper she included was a gratitude challenge. Each paper asks you to think and be grateful about one thing, then perform an action. For instance..."Think of how much your car means to you. Today, take care of it by cleaning it out and take a drive as a family." Others are much more simple but cause us to pause and reflect. My mom also included a jar of candy, and if they gratitude challenge is performed, they get to eat a piece. So far, we have loved this as part of our Christmas!
Find the gratitude challenges HERE.
More Christmas ideas, HERE.Labels: Christmas, holidays
