Advent: CHRISTmas Countdown {Free Printables}

Believe it or not, we have never “officially” celebrated Advent. We usually do fun, family things throughout the month of December, but I have never purposefully had an Advent celebration! I have always had good intentions, but frankly, I just ran out of time and didn’t get things together by December 1st!

Well, I vowed that this year would be different! Just when it looked like I was going to fall into the same old tradition of “too little…too late,” I found out about the Advent eBook Truth in the Tinsel…which TOTALLY saved the day! You can read my review all about it here! We/I am so excited to get started with our Advent celebration this year (thanks to Amanda from Impress Your Kids, author of Truth in the Tinsel, who has done virtually ALL of the work for me)!

I was so inspired by this super cute, super easy to implement eBook, that I actually came up with a CHRISTmas Countdown {Advent Countdown} cards to go along with it. But don’t be fooled, these are not just numbered cards!

They actually have clues (riddles) FOR the Truth in Tinsel clues! This will add a fun spin on an already great idea! Plus, it will get my older kids a little more engaged in our activities (though they are already all thrilled about the idea of doing a simple craft each day already)! So, here is how it all works:

1) Set up the countdown calendar. Print and laminate the Advent Countdown cards on cardstock. I have formatted them so that you can print them back to back so that the riddles actually appear on the back of each card. Once I printed, laminated, and cut my cards, I slid them into a Classroom Card Scheduler that I found in the dollar section at Target a few months ago. (When I saw them, I stocked up!) Here is a similar one, though mine measures 21”x14.5'” and has 8 pockets. I arranged the cards so that they resemble a Christmas tree and hung it with thumbtacks on the bottom of a peg board.

2) Gather and prep supplies. Once the calendar is made, gather your supplies so that you don’t have to frantically search the house for them each day. (Many of the required items can be found around your home!) I also printed, laminated, and cut the Truth in Tinsel clue cards, which are an integral part of the plan!  ;-)

3) Prepare to have fun! Here is what we will do each day. The kids will go over to our CHRISTmas/Advent Countdown board and read the riddle on the back of the appropriate card. The answer is the Truth in Tinsel clue. For example, Day 1’s card says “I am  bright and give off light. What am I?”

Once the kids guess, candle, which is the Truth in the Tinsel clue, we will have a scavenger hunt of sorts. The kids will run around the house and find the Truth in the Tinsel clue card with the candle on it, which will be hidden near a candle. (Each day before we start, I will hide the Truth in the Tinsel clue card in a place related to the clue for the kids to find.) I’m not sure how tough I will made it for the kids to find the clue cards, but here are some ideas for Day 1:

Once they have found the clue card, we will begin the Truth in Tinsel activities! After we have completed the activities for the day, we will place the countdown/riddle card back on the tree, turned backwards, so that my little guys have another visual of how many days there are until Christmas…so they will will stop asking me!  LOL!

You can download the Advent Countdown cards from my Advent Activities page.

Can you tell I am excited to get started? I can’t wait!!! I will also be using The ADVENTure of Christmas by Lisa Whelchel. I would recommend adding this book to your Christmas collection regardless of how you decide to celebrate Advent! Not only is it filled with activities, but it provides "Teachable Moments" where you can expound on some of the Christmas traditions and answer questions like...why do we hang ornaments on a tree at Christmastime?

Oh, I just love this time of the year!!!

More Truth in the Tinsel:

• Buy Truth in the Tinsel eBook
• Read my Truth in the Tinsel review
• Download my (free) coordinating Advent Countdown printable
• Read my Truth in the Tinsel {in action} post
• Our Truth in the Tinsel ornaments from Day 1-6
• Our Truth in the Tinsel ornaments from Day 7-12
• Our Truth in the Tinsel ornaments from Day 13-18
• Our Truth in the Tinsel ornaments from Day 19-24

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{This post may contain affiliate or advertiser links. Please review my disclosure policy.}

We Choose Virtues {Cyber Monday Sale}

If you missed the Black Friday sale at We Choose Virtues, you can still cash in on the savings with their big Cyber Monday sale!

Take 30% off your entire shopping cart with promo code “MONDAY”.

The sale will last for 24 hours on Monday, November 28th. Be sure to head over and check out all of the We Choose Virtues products designed to inspire character that lasts!

We are enjoying the We Choose Virtues Faith-based parenting cards and posters shown above! Not to worry, I have a review coming soon that explains how we are incorporating them into our day!

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{This post may contain affiliate or advertiser links. Please review my disclosure policy.}

Truth in the Tinsel: An Advent Experience for Little Hands

As you may know, part of my Mission of the Month for November is to come up with a plan for our Advent celebration. Well, unfortunately my planning efforts have not been going so well. In fact, as of a few days ago, I had no plans at all…that is until Amanda from Impress Your Kids revealed her new eBook, Truth in the Tinsel: An Advent Experience for Little Hands.

Intrigued, I signed up to review a copy of Truth in the Tinsel. Let me just say, I am SO impressed with the content of the eBook and I am thrilled because Amanda has done ALL of my Advent planning for me {and I think her plans are even better than what I would have tried to piece together on my own!}

The 46 page eBook provides Advent activities for all 24 days leading up to the celebration of Christ’s birth! Each day consists of five parts:

1) The Clue – There 24 picture and word clues available to download, print and insert into your own Advent calendar. Unless you are like me and have done NO PLANNING and have nothing ready to use, Amanda also includes a printable Advent paper chain that can be used in lieu of a “fill-able” Advent Calendar.

2) The Scripture – There are Bible verses included for each of the days of Advent. You can read from your own Bible or you can simply click on the hyperlinked scripture so that you can easily read it online!

3) The Ornament – Each day you will make a special ornament that is related to the clue. The ornaments are totally child-friendly…just like the title indicates: Advent Experience for Little Hands! Amanda includes printable templates to be used for some of the ornaments as well as supply lists for the needed materials (many of which you probably already have)! What I really appreciate is that there are color photographs of each of the ornaments and steps to make them, which is great for us visual folks!

4) The Talk – Amanda guides you in facilitating a discussion with your child about the verses read and the craft made. That means you don’t have to think about what to say…Amanda guides you through it!

5) More – Amanda even includes “extra” activities that you can do each day in addition to the suggested ~30 minutes! That way you already have suggested activities if you and your child(ren) want to dig a bit deeper!

With Truth in the Tinsel, Amanda has truly thought of it all…from supply lists to alternative schedules for hectic December agendas…from hyperlinked Bible scriptures to colorful, easily to follow photographs and descriptions…from printable templates to an alternative for those of us (me included) who don’t have a “fill-able” Advent calendar! I am so very thankful for all of Amanda’s hard word!

I WILL be busy this December, but because of Truth in the Tinsel, I will be busy enjoying and experiencing Advent with my kids rather than busy spending tons of time planning and preparing for it!

The little Baby is no longer in the manger but alive and sitting on a throne-waiting to have a relationship with you and your children. Help your children get to know Him this Christmas! - Amanda, Truth in the Tinsel

Will you join me and many others in taking 30 minutes a day for 24 days this December to find the truth in the tinsel by helping our children get to know Jesus this Christmas?

You can purchase Truth in the Tinsel for ONLY $4.99. However, today, you can get it at the special Black Friday price of ONLY $2.99, which is a steal for all that is packed into this eBook.

Be sure to check out Truth in the Tinsel on Facebook and join us as we share our experiences and encourage one another as we teach our kids the truth in the tinsel!

More Truth in the Tinsel:

• Buy Truth in the Tinsel eBook
• Read my Truth in the Tinsel review
• Download my (free) coordinating Advent Countdown printable
• Read my Truth in the Tinsel {in action} post
• Our Truth in the Tinsel ornaments from Day 1-6
• Our Truth in the Tinsel ornaments from Day 7-12
• Our Truth in the Tinsel ornaments from Day 13-18
• Our Truth in the Tinsel ornaments from Day 19-24

I received free copy of Truth in the Tinsel in exchange for my frank, unbiased review. All opinions expressed are my own and were not influenced by the free product provided.

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{This post may contain affiliate or advertiser links. Please review my disclosure policy.}

Christmas Grid Games {FREE}

With Thanksgiving {literally} just around the corner, I already have Christmas on the brain! So, I wanted to share some of the Christmas Grid Games that I created to use along with our Education Cubes!

We usually play our Grid Games along with our Education Cubes and the coordinating insert cards. Using standard dice is possible with some of the games. However, we think it is much more fun with the Education Cubes! To play the first game, roll the cube and count the number of objects on the cube. Using counters of some sort, cover the same number of objects on the grid until it is full. Super simple, but my kids LOVE it!

(PLEASE NOTE: There are coordinating Education Cubes insert cards for ALL of the grid games shown above! Members can find them by clicking on the “Christmas” link on the “Other” page.)

Helpful Hints: I prefer to slide the game into a page protector and use it on top of a magnetic cookie sheet. We use our puff ball magnets as counters to cover the grid. As an option, you could use dry erase markers and simply mark off the objects on the grid rather than using counters. Click here to see one of our grid games in action!

Download the Christmas Grid Games Here!

Download all other Grid Games Here!

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Arthur Christmas {Movie Review}

I had seen the previews for Arthur Christmas and my husband and I actually talked about surprising the kids and taking them to see it. (With five kids, we don’t make it to the movie theater that often!) So, when I was asked to attend a special theatrical screening of Arthur Christmas for review purposes, I {of course} agreed!

The 3D, CG-animated family comedy Arthur Christmas, an Aardman production for Sony Pictures Animation, at last reveals the incredible, never-before seen answer to every child's question: 'So how does Santa deliver all those presents in one night?' The answer: Santa's exhilarating, ultra-high-tech operation hidden beneath the North Pole. But at the heart of the film is a story with the ingredients of a Christmas classic - a family in a state of comic dysfunction and an unlikely hero, Arthur, with an urgent mission that must be completed before Christmas morning dawns. -- (C) Sony Pictures

My thoughts: My kids are well aware of the fact that Santa is not real and that Jesus is the real reason for the Christmas season. However, we still enjoy watching many of the secular Christmas shows and movies that come on during this time of the year. Although many of these such shows are not faith-based, they often have Biblical truths embedded within them. And this was definitely the case with the movie Arthur Christmas!  After the movie we discussed and related the movie to the parable of the Lost Sheep in Luke 15. Much like the shepherd left his flock to search for the one missing sheep, the selfless Arthur, one of Santa’s sons, was determined to deliver a Christmas gift to the one child who was overlooked! Even through adversity, Arthur continued on his quest to make sure that the little girl had a gift from Santa on Christmas morning! One of my boys emphatically announced that the movie taught him to never ever give up and that with God anything is possible!

While we were able to find little nuggets of truth throughout the movie, there were a few other things that stood out to me that I would want to make parents aware of. The movie starts out with Arthur announcing that Santa is the greatest man ever! Now, my kids and I, of course, disagree with that! The movie is rated PG for mild rude humor. Such humor is mostly from the mouth of the 136 year old Grand-Santa. One of his comments is about wives and the “stuff” that they do while their husbands are at work. I felt that the implication was a bit derogatory towards stay-at-home-moms. Grand-Santa also made a comment about how it was once said that it was impossible to teach women to read. The implication is that if women can learn to read then delivering a gift to the one missed child is not impossible either. The comment seemed a bit demeaning to me. Aside from the “rude humor” there was also a point in the movie where Arthur pretends to be an alien and the sleigh is mistaken for a UFO.

Overall, my kids and I REALLY enjoyed the movie! I found that the mild rude humor was easily overlooked. In fact, it went right over my kids heads! I would definitely let me kids watch Arthur Christmas again!

Take a peek at the movie trailer:

Arthur Christmas opens in theaters on Wednesday, November 23rd!

For more information be sure to visit the official Arthur Christmas site or check them out Arthur Christmas on Facebook!

My family and I received free admittance to see the Arthur Christmas movie screening in exchange for my frank, unbiased review.

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“God’s Runaway” DVD Winner

Thank you so much to everyone who entered to win the giveaway for the Jonah Art DVD, “God’s Runaway” from See The Light.

We have a winner! Congratulations to to commenter #16, Jsqueen!

For those who didn’t win, be sure to head over to See The Light to check out all of their awesome Biblical Art Lesson DVDs, which would make GREAT Christmas gifts for your children!

As an added bonus, See The LIght is offering FREE SHIPPING + 10% off on total purchases of $25 or more.  Offer good through December 9th. Use the code: MERRY2011 

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Apple Print Wreath

Thanks to Pinterest, I was inspired to make this adorable apple wreath with my kids last month after we went apple picking!

 

As with most projects I discover, I tweaked it a bit for our liking. So, here is what we used.

Supplies Needed:

• trimmed apple prints
• little twigs
• foam leaves
• a sturdy paper plate with the center cut out

Directions:

For the apple prints, we used a sliced apple, dipped it in paint and stamped it onto white cardstock.

We let the prints dry overnight before trimming them.

After we trimmed them, I used a glue gun to adhere a twig and leaf onto the back of each apple. In hindsight, I wish I would have used real apple stems rather than the twigs. (We had apple picking and had TONS of apples, which I could have used.) But, I will know for next time.

Next, I used the glue gun and adhered the apples onto the paper plate.

And, voila! An adorable apple wreath to hang on your door!

We ended up having some leftover apples and foam, so the kids decided to use them to make even more wreaths.

We even used a few leftover apples to make a thank you card for the lady who graciously let us have an apple-picking field trip in her backyard!

The idea for the craft (which was posted on Pinterest) came from Craftberry Bush.

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Morphology ~ The Game Where Creativity Wins

I love open-ended toys and games that encourage my kids to be creative! So, after taking a look at Timberdoodle’s 2001 Game of the Year, Morphology, I KNEW it would be a hit with our family! Morphology IS the game where creativity win!

Morphology is a board game where you use your use your creative juices to build words using only the building components included in the game. (The building pieces include 4 wooden people, 16 glass beads, 20 small cubes, 1 string, 8 mini popsicle sticks, 2 plastic circles, and 1 wooden barrel.) The object is to correctly guess the words that your teammates build without speaking, spelling out words, or acting. The first team to move their frog to the Lily Pad wins.

Included in Morphology are the game board, playing cards, the various building components (mentioned above), a die, timer and frog game pieces. While the game is designed for ages 13 and up, my entire family was able to play. We divided the family up into two teams; one adult on each team. We did have to help our 4 year olds a bit. Since they couldn’t read the words on the card, the adult on the opposite team helped out by whispering the word in their ear and giving them some ideas on how to build it. We also gave the little guys extra time to build. Nevertheless, we still had a great time playing together as a family!

The most fun and creative part is being the Morphologist and getting to build with the various building components included! Needless to say, we had BLAST playing Morphology!

To make it easier for the kids to access the pieces, we put all of them on a tray and allowed them to build their word on another tray. Above, my daughter was building a house boat. Below my son was building a bridge.

After playing the game the kids wanted to be “full-time Morphologists” and have some “free play” with the game pieces. Of course I agreed! They actually asked to do this multiple times after we first played the game!

Here are some of their creations:

A butterfly and a person beside their bed (with an upside-down Morphology card for a blanket):

A man & two kids on a see-saw:

A teddy bear & a house:

A frog race:

Santa & a Christmas tree: (Yes, we already have Christmas on the brain!!! I already have our banisters wrapped with garland and lights!)

My Thoughts: We love Morphology! My older set of twin boys seem to make everything a competition and one of them tends to “win” at just about all of the academic competitions they create for themselves. I recently discussed with my husband how I needed to “set up” competitions where my more creative son can “win” too! Morphology has done that for us! This game is right up my creative son’s alley and I just love that he is able to tap into his creative side and experience victory as well! While we all love the game, I especially love what it is doing to boast my son’s confidence!

A big thank you to Timberdoodle for introducing us to Morphology, which truly is the game where creativity wins! We love Morphology and it will definitely be added to the game night rotation!

Be sure to head over and check out Morphology on Timberdoodle! With Christmas right around the corner, give the gift of creativity with this super fun game! For even more Christmas gift-giving ideas, be sure to check out the Timberdoodle 2011 Gift Guide and the gift categories! And last, but definitely not least, be sure to check out the Timberdoodle Facebook page. They are having a Facebook Party on Friday, November 18th from 8-12 PST filled giveaways, Q&A, and chatting with other homeschoolers that you won’t want to miss!

As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received Morphology free of charge in exchange for my frank and unbiased review.

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