11 Activities to have the Best Advent Ever!

If you are already getting stressed thinking about Advent, we are here to help!

Before you get overwhelmed by all the options and resources available to help your family engage in the Advent season, check out this list of 11 activities to help you have the BEST (and easiest) Advent ever:

Make Advent Candles

Kick off your Advent preparations by making your Advent candles! Our Advent Candle Kit is a hands-on way to engage kids in the season of preparation and is such a fun tradition (our customers have told us it is now a Thanksgiving tradition)!

Our candles are made with 100% pure beeswax sheets…they’re very easy to make and smell heavenly when burned. The kit also includes a detailed information sheet on the beautiful symbolism of beeswax candles.

–>In one click, you can get the Advent Candle Kit along with our best-selling resources in our Advent Survival Kit!

Bless your Advent Wreath

Once you’ve made your Advent Candles, gather as a family to bless your Advent wreath! We like to bless the Advent Wreath on the evening before the First Sunday in Advent.  Then every week, you will say an additional prayer as you first light a new candle on the Advent Wreath.

You can download the official Blessing of the Advent Wreath HERE.

Get an Advent Calendar

Advent Calendars are now everywhere–it seems like nearly everyone (Catholic or secular) has a calendar for this liturgical season! While there are plenty of Advent calendars, this one is distinct–it’s a uniquely Catholic Advent calendar!

What do we mean by that?

Well, this calendar not only counts down the days to December 25th, but it also helps you continue to celebrate the entire Christmas season!

Since we think this Advent & Christmas Seasons Calendar is so important, we are offering this calendar for FREE with every order! If you order anything (maybe an early Christmas gift?), you will automatically receive this calendar!

Start AND COMPLETE a Jesse Tree

When we started Holy Heroes 12 years ago, the Jesse Tree was something we wanted to tackle right away. What if we could create an approachable way for families to start and finish the Jesse Tree? And not just once, but again and again until it could become an Advent family tradition.

After many years of feedback, trial, and error, we have come up with FOUR ways to help families complete their Jesse Trees. We know that every family is different so not every option might be right for yours–but with several options to choose from, we are confident we can find one that works!

While there are so many ways to do a Jesse Tree, we have a list of 4 easy ways to do a Jesse Tree and below you can find our complete collection of Jesse Tree resources:

Make a Sacrifice Manger

Another fun craft to engage children with the Advent Season! Make Sacrifice Managers as a family and then spend the liturgical season making small sacrifices. Each time you make a sacrifice, add a piece of yarn or straw to your manger. Then on Christmas Day, your manger will be soft and welcoming for Baby Jesus!

If you need ideas for sacrifices that you can make during the Advent season, we have created a list of ideas! Check out the list and brainstorm some of your own.

Read an Advent Read Aloud

Prepare for the coming of Christmas by walking through the Advent season with a Catholic family!

In this beautiful picture book, Joan, Joe, Emmanuel, and Gianna are surprised when their parents suddenly begin bringing things into their home at the beginning of December. Evergreen branches, candles, and new foods keep appearing throughout the house. They are quickly told that this is part of “Advent” and that the family is preparing for the Christmas season. 

The four children have a lot of questions about Advent! Join the kids as their family celebrates Advent as a time of prayerful waiting and expectation, full of fun traditions and treats! 

PLUS–we created a read-aloud of this Advent picture book that you find below:

Make Christmas pudding

The author of An Advent Hope picture book shared her favorite Christmas pudding recipes as a fun activity for families to do together after reading the story! And she sent back not one, but three Christmas pudding recipes she would recommend to the Holy Heroes community!

You can find the three recipes that Madeleine shared with us HERE.

Sign up for Advent Adventure

A great way for kids to remain engaged with the Advent season is through Advent Adventure!

This FREE program provides daily videos, printables, activities, prayers, and more for kids ages 4-12 throughout Advent! Beginning on the 1st Sunday in Advent, this is our largest FREE program every year so join thousands of Catholic families by signing up today!

If you’d like to share this amazing free resource with your parish, school, or friends, let us know and we will send you Advent Adventure flyers!

Make a Nativity Scene Craft

Help the Blessed Virgin Mary & St Joseph journey to Bethlehem … color a stable for them to stay in … then cut out and color the angels, animals, shepherds, and–of course–the Three Kings!

This day-by-day craft is great for the youngest children to prepare for Christmas and then continue the celebration through Epiphany! So cute!!

Bless your Crèche or Nativity Scene

Whether you are making your own Nativity Scene or setting up one you’ve had for a while, make sure you bless it! You can find the Blessing of the Nativity Scene HERE.

Bless your Christmas Tree

Yup, there is even a blessing for the Christmas Tree! Once you’ve decorated your Christmas Tree, bless your Christmas Tree as a family. You can download the Blessing of the Christmas Tree HERE.

BONUS: don’t forget about Epiphany!

Did you know there’s a beautiful Catholic practice of having a home blessing on the Feast of The Epiphany of the Lord? This Feast is celebrated the first week of January every year.

Blessing your home on Epiphany is a wonderful way to inspire your children as you continue the celebration of Christmas.

The Catholic Church offers a profound blessing liturgy to be celebrated by the head of the household with those who live together all gathered in prayer asking for the intercession of the 3 Magi who left their homes to search for the newborn Savior of the World!

You can find more information about the Epiphany Home Blessing HERE.