Advent Ideas

Advent is a wonderful season to focus on with toddlers as there are so many elements that appeal to little ones - advent calendars, candles, Nativity figures that they can handle, and so on. Whether you are starting to build family Advent traditions from scratch, or wanting to make some changes, you can find a great starting point in this series of posts by Karen Edmisten:

• No Panic Advent: Part 1 - the Jesus Stocking
• No Panic Advent: Part 2 - dates for your calendar
• No Panic Advent: Part 3 - O Night Divine blog
• No Panic Advent: Part 4 - keep an Advent file
  
• No Panic Advent: Part 5 - the Jesse Tree
  
• No Panic Advent: Part 6 - including secular traditions
  
• No Panic Advent: Part 7 - Advent Wreath, Advent Calendars, prayers and other traditions

There are lots of ideas here, but as Karen says " do not -- I repeat, do not -- feel pressure to do it all. No one does it all. You might want to pick one or two new things on which to focus -- and then, have fun with them." And remember, nothing engages a toddler more than fun!