Kicking Things Off

I promise. I won't torture you with every single daily Advent activity. But, since day one's activity was quite a hit with the munchkin, I thought I'd share. After Levi opened Sunday's box and looked all enthused over finding a little, round piece of paper inside...and after he spent FOREVER playing with the wooden Advent calendar, affectionately known as his "Crima" house...and after he cried when he thought he had broken it by opening a door...we finally read the little, round piece of paper.

"Trace your hand to make a wreath."

It is highly possible that the success of this activity is directly linked to Levi's love for having his hand traced (which he oh.so.cutely refers to as "chasing"). If your kiddo isn't so in love with "chasing" then just trace his hand a couple of times, and then copy it. Levi, however, wanted me to trace his hand 20 times...no lie. I'm pretty sure if he hadn't gotten distracted by his "Crima" house, we would have been "chasing" that hand of his til doomsday.

The actual assembly of the wreath is super simple. I did this part during nap time, and I wasn't feeling very good. So, it truly is simple. Once you have all your hands cut out. Take a scrap piece of thin cardboard (cereal box thickness) or poster board. Draw one large circle and a smaller circle inside of it. You can use a compass for this, or you could just pull a couple of bowls out of the cabinet and "chase" some more. This will be your wreath base. It should be between 1 1/2 and 2 inches wide. Cut it out. Begin stapling the hands to the wreath base in one direction. You'll want to overlap the hands so that the staples are hidden. When you've completed half the wreath, begin stapling the hands in the opposite direction. This should create one space at the top where the staples are exposed. Cut a bow out of paper or tie one from scrap ribbon. Glue or tape in place to hide the staples. And, you're done. I used painter's tape to attach it to a door.

You can leave yours as is, or turn it into an Advent wreath. Advent wreaths typically have four candles...one for each Sunday before Christmas. In some traditions the candles are all blue or purple. In others three of the candles are blue or purple with the fourth being pink. And, in more modern traditions there is a fifth white candle for Christmas Eve or Christmas.

Instead of candles, I opted for stars. They go along with the Christmas theme, and they just happen to be Levi's all-time favorite shape. Of course, Levi loved getting to put a "stah" sticker on his wreath yesterday.

There are still a few more blanks to be filled in on the munchkin's Advent activities list, but I think we're off to a pretty good start. Most of the activities involve baking, making gifts and reading Christmas books. Any suggestions? I'd love to hear them. What do you do to build up anticipation for Christmas? And, how do you get your kids into the spirit of the season?