Do you remember what it was like to wait for Christmas as a kid? It seemed like several years between each December. Christmas wasn’t just a day, it was an event! I can still chronicle many years by remembering the Christmas holiday.
For kids, special days and holidays are the biggest events of their lives. They may not remember the books we read or the songs we played during the year. But they will remember eating turkey dinner at Grandma’s every year, they’ll remember each ornament on the tree, the spot you always placed the Easter Basket and the rest of your holiday traditions.
As a mom looking for ways to impress God’s Word on my kids’ heart, I have discovered that Christmas and Easter are my biggest and most flamboyant vehicle to teach my kids about God.
Not only are these holidays the crux of our Christian faith, they are HUGE in our culture. Stores are decorated, special songs are played, television specials are shown and life takes on a new little sparkly twist during these seasons.
It’s the perfect means for turning my bumbling and small ideas into big memories and foundational teaching for my kids. This past Easter (or Resurrection Sunday as we call it), we didn’t have Easter Baskets but placed rocks into baskets to represent our sins. After being covered in a red cloth to represent Jesus’ blood, we discovered our sins removed and the baskets full of gifts.
We’ve acted out Palm Sunday, we’ve done science experiments to show how Jesus took our sins upon Himself, we’ve made food and even recreated the garden and tomb to show and cement in my kids’ hearts what Jesus did for them in those 3 days. (See all our Resurrection Day ideas!)
Christmas is almost even easier because we usually celebrate it for a whole month! When was the last time you spent 24 days in a row talking to your children about one story in the Bible? Listening to songs EVEN AT THE GROCERY STORE about Him and His love for us? Did service projects in His name multiple times in a month? When else do you get to watch movies (on cable!), read books and color pictures all about one story in the Bible—for weeks on end?
You don’t even have to get creative at Christmas to be able to teach kids’ about Jesus birth! It’s everywhere!
I am so passionate about using Easter and Christmas as BIG BIG events in a child’s life not only for memory-making, and family time but because it’s an awesome, easy, amazing and huge celebration of our God and King.
To go along with this, I am SO excited (and crazy nervous) to announce that I’ve written an ebook for Christmas this year! The day after Thanksgiving (yes, Black Friday!), I’ll be releasing an Advent experience for you and your family. UPDATE: It’s here! Get Truth in the Tinsel now! It’s designed for preschoolers through elementary kids and will be an adventure similar to a Jesse Tree—a daily ornament and talking points to help you easily but also flamboyantly leverage the most exciting month of a kids’ year for our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ!
I can’t wait to share it with you, I’ve got some fun ideas to go along with the ebook and it’s release. Plus, I’m excited to do it with my own children this year. We can do it together!
How do you use holidays to teach kids God’s Word?
photo source: mukumbura
Jenae {I Can Teach My Child!} says
Yay! Can’t wait to check out your eBook!!! 🙂
Krissa says
So excited about the ebook…I’ll definitely be using it this Christmas season.
Krista says
I can’t wait to see your ebook. It will be great to have a plan to follow and share God’s word in a fun way with my kids. Thank you for all you do.
Valerie says
So excited for your E-book! I don’t know what else to say, but I can’t wait until the day after thanksgiving now! 😀
ohamanda says
ME, TOO! Thank you!! 🙂
Brian says
Great post, and what a challenge! Holidays are difficult times to teach kids about the word bc of the sheer bombardment of materialism. That being said, including kids in service activities and having them help wraps gifts for needy families can help them to keep an ‘others’ perspective.
Traci Mellick says
I was just thinking this morning I wonder if I have time to write out advent devotions for my kids to do for the whole month of December? We did a Jesse tree last year but it was a little over their heads. (They are 6, 4 and 3. ) I’m with you, this is the best time of year to teach your kids and I embrace it. Last year my daughter asked Jesus into her heart after our month of advent devotions. It was well worth the time and it brought our family closer together. I can’t wait for the e-book!
ohamanda says
Traci! This is exactly why I wrote the ebook–we tried the Jesse Tree one year and it was too much for my little ones. I really hope you enjoy what I’ve put together. I’m SO SO excited about it!
Jana Green says
I was trying to find the bible verse that you did for the letter h. It’s not on the h link that I can tell, anyway.
ohamanda says
Here it is!
http://ohamanda.com/letter-h/
Sorry about that!
🙂
ohamanda says
Oooh, and one more Leigh did:
http://ohamanda.com/true-happiness/
a
Amy says
Like many others, I’m really excited about your E-book! What will the price be?
ohamanda says
Cheap! Er…I mean, inexpensive! 😉
Jana Green says
I couldn’t wait long for a reply, so I did some searching and ended up on Psalm:33:20:
We wait in Hope for the LOrd; He is our Help and our sHield.
I like the HOnor your father and mother one, but i will probably use that one for m or f or y.
Megan says
Our favorite Easter tradition is making Resurrection Rolls. A birthday cake for Jesus is something we enjoy during the Christmas season.
ohamanda says
I LOVE resurrection rolls! We do those, too! 🙂
Melody says
I am so flippin’ excited. We are so in for the ebook and all of it’s activities! Can’t wait 🙂