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You are here: Home / Advent / Creative and Engaging Advent Devotions & Activities for Families

Creative and Engaging Advent Devotions & Activities for Families

Adam Walker Cleaveland 2 Comments

This is the first truly “family friendly” devotional for Advent that I’ve found. There was something to which everyone in the family could relate – from our preschoolers all the way through adults. The coloring pages were wonderful! Even my little two-year-old was able to participate. My kindergartner read the devotional book as part of her reading practice at night. It was great that the words were easy and straightforward!
– Rev. Meredith Keseley, Senior Pastor, Abiding Presence Lutheran Church, Burke, VA

We are excited to announce the launch of our newest family Advent devotional resource: An Illustrated Advent for Families (2017 edition)!

Family Advent Devotional

This is our third year of providing families with a resource for engaging their children in faith formation at home during the Advent season. Our Illustrated Advent for Families and Illustrated Lent for Families have been used by thousands of families around the world, and we’re looking forward to sharing this new edition for 2017.

It can be difficult to find meaningful ways to engage our families in faith formation. It can sometimes feel awkward, we don’t always know what to do, and sometimes we have a hard time talking about our own faith stories.

FREE SAMPLE: Click here to download a free sample of An Illustrated Advent for Families.

An Illustrated Advent for Families

An Illustrated Advent for Families is one way to do that – to slow down, ask questions, have fun, be intentional about how you spend your time, and try new things. There are coloring pages for your children, but we’ve often found that parents enjoy coloring them as much (if not more…) as their children enjoy the coloring. There are simple but meaningful devotions for families to do throughout Advent, an Advent Wreath activity, and our Advent Calendar.

Keep reading to learn a bit more about the activities in this year’s edition, and to hear testimonials from people who have used our previous editions of An Illustrated Advent for Families.

Our family, like many, struggles to find opportunities for prayer and faith formation. My children were attracted by this resource, and even asked about when we were going to do the next portions. As a widow with three elementary-school-aged children, I was grateful for this resource, because it had a marvelous combination of flexibility and structure, and let me find ways to fit activities in as it became possible.
– Elise Erikson Barrett, Consultant with Indianapolis Center for Congregations

Family Advent Devotional

Family Advent Devotional

This year, our family devotions will walk participants through Advent by focusing on a different Advent hymn each week. The hymns will be accompanied by a set of Advent scripture texts and the traditional Advent themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.

Incorporated into the devotion is a time for coloring the Advent Wreath candles if you would like to do so, however that can also be used as a stand-alone activity.

These weekly devotionals are written so they can be used by children of all ages (and adults as well), and we believe you’ll find questions and discussion topics in each of the devotionals that will work for your children, no matter the age. Each devotion includes scripture, an Advent hymn to listen to, a brief reflection and discussion questions, an activity a family can do over the week and a short prayer.

Having a weekly Advent activity rather than a daily one was helpful for our family. We liked spending a more meaningful block of time on this activity once a week rather than trying not to squeeze in a daily activity that was shorter but less meaningful. We have felt guilty in the past for missing a day of other Advent devotions, and knowing we had a week to complete the activity removed the pressure and stress.
– Emily Barlow, volunteer worship planner at The Well, Long Beach, MS

Coloring Pages

Advent Coloring Page
Hope Coloring Page
Advent Coloring Page
Love Coloring Page

Obviously, we love coloring here at Illustrated Ministry. But it’s not just that we like getting messy with markers and crayons. It’s really the conversations that happen when you’re coloring that we treasure.

If you’ve used any of our products and resources before, you may have experienced some of these types of conversations with children. When they’re immersed in coloring, you’ll be amazed at what they will share with you.

Our coloring pages for this year’s Illustrated Advent for Families follow the traditional Advent themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. But they also connect with the Advent and Christmas hymns (some of which may be new to you) and you’ll find lines from the hymns incorporated into the coloring sheets as well.

As a Christian educator who is also a mom, I found this resource to be an excellent guide for our family and our congregation’s families during Advent. I appreciated how both my 8-year-old and 5-year-old could engage with the writings, questions, and prayers. The coloring is always a hit and creates space for conversations and questions around scripture…I’ve done a lot of research on Advent devotionals for families and hands down, An Illustrated Advent for Families is the best. Sound theology with content that has depth and engages families while understanding the realities of a family’s life makes this resource a must-have for Advent.
– Jenna Campbell, Director of Children and Youth Ministry, First Presbyterian Church, Stillwater, OK

Illustrated Advent Wreath

DIY Advent Wreath

This year, we invite you to create your own Illustrated Advent Wreath to aid you as you travel through Advent on your own or with your family. Each week of Advent, you will have the opportunity to color an Advent candle as you read through the devotional materials.

We encourage you to cut out the candles and display them in a creative way (make a poster, hang them on your refrigerator, post them near your doorway) to help you remember and reflect on Advent throughout the week. Or you can use our paper “wreath” and place each of the candles on the appropriate circle. It is our hope that our Advent resources will deepen your faith and connection with God and your family as you journey together through Advent.

Color Your Candle
Cut out the Candle pattern
Glue (or tape) the uncolored portion
Advent Activities
Advent Activities
Place your candles on the wreath each week
Our family has used An Illustrated Advent for Families for the last several years, and each year it brings a new sense of joy and understanding to our family’s Advent season. Each Sunday night, we all sit down with the activities, light our family Advent wreath, and share in a special time together that helps start off each week of Advent with intention and focus. The devotions are well-written and thoughtful and the calendar has great ideas. But I think the coloring sheets are my favorite part overall. If nothing else, reading the scripture and coloring together offers a point in our week where we can reflect together, pray together, and meditate on Advent as a family.
– Courtney Willis, part-time contract minister with young parents, First Baptist Church, Greensboro, NC

Advent Activities for Families

While many Advent calendars today come with the promise of chocolates or toys behind each of the numbered doors, this Advent calendar is a little different. Our Advent calendar is more of an activity calendar — activities that can help you get into the Advent and Christmas spirit. Some of these activities will be great for your kids to do by themselves—others will require the whole family. And there are some activities that require you to get out of your house and go into your community.

We think these activities will be a lot of fun for your kids and your family and maybe some of the prompts will cause you and your family to get creative and make up other activities on your own.

Each of the weeks of Advent has a different theme and focus, and we hope that this will provide you with meaningful ways to get into the Christmas spirit.

The feedback from our congregation was that the resources were really great quality and easy to access. Parents felt that they could discuss the ideas without needing to check with the vicar first, and children were keen to undertake the activities. The quality of this product is wonderful! We loved that the devotionals were geared towards families, but weren’t in any way ‘dumbed down’ – adults felt they were just as relevant to them as to our youngest members.
– Deb Scoble, Authorised Lay Minister (Worship Leader), St Mary-the-Virgin Dover, Kent, United Kingdom

We hope you’ll take some time to check out An Illustrated Advent for Families, and let us know if you have any questions. If you’d like to download a sample of the resource to check out before you purchase, you can click here.

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Filed Under: Faith Formation, Family Ministry, Advent Tagged With: Advent, Family, Family Ministry, Illustrated Advent

About Adam Walker Cleaveland

Adam is the founder of Illustrated Ministry. He is an artist, pastor, pastor’s spouse, and father of four (two living). Adam is an ordained Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA), and after doing youth ministry for over 15 years, he founded Illustrated Ministry, LLC in 2015. He resides in Racine, Wisconsin with his wife and their two children.

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  1. Christmas is coming… | revive leeds says:
    November 22, 2017 at 5:01 am

    […] Family Advent Devotional I’ve seen a sample, and this looks like it has some lovely material for using together as a family. It is a printable resource, which means no waiting for a delivery, so great for a last minute panic! […]

    Reply
  2. 8 Brilliant Advent Activities the Whole Family Will Love says:
    November 30, 2017 at 7:27 am

    […] a family Advent devotional? Never done a family Advent devotional? Check out what we just released here. An Illustrated Advent for Families is one way to slow down, ask questions, have fun, be […]

    Reply

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