Sprinkle A Little Salt and Let Your Love Light Shine This Holiday Season With a Reverse Advent Calendar
I remember my first Advent Calendar.
I was in my late teens and visiting my boyfriend’s (now husband’s) family in December.
Advent Calendars were never a tradition we celebrated in my family-of-origin’s home and I was intrigued by the beautiful hand-carved wooden display neatly marked with numbers counting down to Christmas Day. Inside these little drawers lay a treasure trove of surprises. Usually, little bits of European chocolate among other seasonal delights.
Years later, I would purchase store-bought Advent calendars for my nieces and nephews.
Once I became a mom, I did the same for my child.
But last year, I decided to try something new.
Old Tradition, New Twist
I am a helper at heart. And I believe it is my duty as a parent to help my child grow his servant’s heart as well. While my husband and I do our best to model service as a healthy habit in our home, we are always looking for new ways to teach our son to sprinkle a little salt and let his love light shine.
I was first introduced to the idea of a Reverse Advent Calendar when our son was in preschool. We participated in an activity throughout December where we collected one pantry food item from a list each day leading up to Christmas break.
Once we transitioned to homeschooling, we continued our service efforts not only as part of God’s call on our lives but also as a form of teaching character education in our home.
Last year, when the holiday season rolled around and I was purchasing my son his traditional Advent calendar, I was reminded of our preschool experience. Popping open Pinterest, I felt inspired to search for ideas. The first idea I encountered was for a Reverse Advent Calendar from Kristen of Joyfully Thriving.
And I was hooked.
While I am not the best crafter, I toss my hat in the creative ring more often than I’d like. Mainly because my son thoroughly enjoys making things but I also enjoy the quality time we spend together surrounded by glue sticks, construction paper, pipe cleaners, and paint.
Furthermore, as a mom of a child who experiences fine and gross motor delays due to Developmental Coordination Disorder, I also know the value of pouncing on projects to help him develop these skills. After all, practice makes progress.
Leaning Into the Curve of Creativity
Soon, an idea began to form in my head. By this time, it was already the end of November.
Did I have enough time to pull off this idea?
I decided to try.
I am a working and homeschooling mom. In addition to single-handedly running the free resource website where you are reading this blog post, I host two podcasts, write for others, and create digital content on YouTube to help families homeschool children with learning differences.
All in the name of answering God’s calling on my life to serve. The glory is His alone.
Knowing my child’s favorite part of his Advent calendar is the anticipation of the surprise of opening something new each day, I decided to give it a go. (Exhibit A: The kid adores fortune cookies for the thrill of reading the messages inside. He rarely eats the cookie and is not even a fan of Chinese food.)
Here’s how I approached the project.
K.eep I.t S.imple S.weetie
I believe in the K.I.S.S. method. I looked around my house and grabbed whatever materials I had on hand. Here is what I used:
- A flat cardboard box leftover from a Costco purchase (approximately 11″ x 16″ x 2 3/4″ but use whatever you have on hand)
- Leftover Christmas wrapping paper
- Leftover disposable plastic cups (like Solo cups)
- Plain white paper (printer paper or construction paper), cut into strips big enough to write on
- Scissors
- Rubber bands
- Leftover colorful tissue paper (the kind you stuff in gift bags when you are too lazy to wrap like me)
- Pens (for writing messages)
- Sharpie
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Essentially, I picked ten simple service suggestions and wrote them out on the pre-cut paper strips. I included a scripture reference to help support the activity. I rolled the pieces of paper into curls and placed them inside the solo cup. I wrapped the box with the wrapping paper and glued the cups to the box. I popped the service suggestion paper curls inside the solo cups and then covered them with the tissue paper, trimming any excess, before securing them snugly with a rubber band. I used a Sharpie to write numbers on the outside of the tissue-paper-covered cups.
That’s it.
Easy-peasy.
I am not a DIY writer or even a crafty Pinterest pro. I prefer to give that credit to those creators who take the time to arrange their articles with proper form artfully. Here are a few examples of where I found inspiration for my Reverse Advent Calendar project:
I used the above idea from It’s Always Autumn with a twist. I combined it with this idea below from Laura at Overstuffed Life and
this idea from Ashley at Moms Who Think.
Our Version of A Reverse Advent Calendar
Here’s how it turned out:
I also included a little note for our son, reminding him of the TRUE reason for the season.
In 2022, we were traveling to visit family for Christmas so I only had enough time to complete ten activities before we left. I included bits of scripture as a basis for the service suggestion.
While the activity was brief, the joy and meaning were just as powerful, the memories priceless, and the lessons profound.
Try your hand at a Reverse Advent Calendar this holiday season and give your child the gift of being a part of something bigger, fulfilling the Great Commission.
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Blessings,
Kimberly
IOH Mom
This website is not a professional counseling website and nothing here should be construed as professional counseling advice. Although Kimberly Bennett, LPC is a Licensed Professional Counselor, she is not your counselor, and no counselor-client relationship is established unless she has signed an agreement with you. All information provided through this website is for informational and educational purposes only. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure statement. Thanks for visiting!
This is very cute. Thanks!