As the days grow gradually shorter and the year turns towards winter, our thoughts often wander towards Advent and Christmas preparations. It can be very easy, especially as mothers, to feel that we ought to make the season magical in a hundred different ways. But may I be the gentle voice reminding you that a more soulful Advent really is possible; one that is genuinely rich, beautiful and meaningful without becoming yet another list of things to keep up with.
Perhaps the first step is simply to decide what “enough” looks like for your family. Light a small candle. Read one verse of Scripture. Step outside together and notice the cold air, the bare branches, the winter sky. Make presence the plan. Children may forget many of the carefully organised activities, but they do remember the warmth of home, the reverent hush of candlelight, the rhythm of familiar traditions, and the feeling of being deeply loved.
If you would like a simple framework to help you hold that course, Celebrating the Seasons with Children: Nature Advent Calendar was written for exactly this kind of Advent. Each day offers a short Scripture reading, gentle indoor and outdoor invitations, and an easy journaling rhythm for you and your child. Nature study, faith, creativity and seasonal observation are woven together in a way that allows Advent to become something you actually live, rather than something to be ticked off the never ending to do list.
Keeping an Advent journal is an especially precious part of the curriculum. These simple records of what you noticed, read, made and experienced together become little time capsules of family life, and treasures to return to in years to come.
Celebrating the Seasons with Children: Nature Advent Calendar is available now on the Raising Little Shoots website, and you can enjoy 20% off with code ADVENT20
From my home to yours,
