Back in September, I wrote a blog post about our morning basket routine that you can read about here. For the season of Advent, I wanted to focus our minds during a busy season for us all as we await the Savior’s birth. On Wednesdays we attend our church’s Advent service and I wanted to use some of these resources to familiarize our kids with the scripture and songs they hear.
Before you start
Pick a time during the day for your morning basket. We do our basket Monday-Friday. Friday is Noah’s day off so it enables him to be part of it and see what they are learning as well. Every morning after breakfast and still in pajamas, we start our morning basket routine. After we eat I will say, “Time to get your morning basket out. Please set out the mat”. It really doesn’t matter what time of day you do it, but I think the key is consistency.
Lylah sits on the mat and she takes all of our discipleship tools and musical instruments out and we put it in front of us.
In our Advent basket
Gathre mat (you can use a blanket!)
A Bible
The ABCs of Christmas by Tiny Theologians
Kids read truth Advent conversation cards
Musical instruments: (tambourine & guitar)
Our routine
Read one Kids read truth Advent conversation cards. We read the scripture for the day and answer the first question on the card since it is geared towards 1-3 year olds. Question 2 and 3 are for older kids. I love this set because we can use it each year as they grow.
The ABCs of Christmas
Next, we sing the abcs as a transition song and to help her learn them. We do one card from The ABCs of Christmas by Tiny Theologians each day. I have Lylah take our letter out (move the one you used to the back) and I ask her what letter it is, we go over the sound and talk about the colors on the card. I often do repeat after me or fill in the black for these concepts.
We then set up the candle(s) on the Advent wreath and talk about what each candle means and that each candle represents a week until the birth of Jesus.
(The three purple candles; hope, peace, love
The pink candle; joy)
Then, we pray. I talk about prayer being a time that we talk to Jesus. I say a prayer and then I have been practicing having her say a prayer too.
After, we do 4 songs from the YouTube playlist I created. Most of the songs are from Slugs and Bugs which is a channel dedicated to singing songs straight from scripture to aide in memorization.
Then we clean up the mat together and put the basket away. Whatever way you choose to do discipleship will be great for your child. I pray that seeing one discipleship routine will help you create a routine that works for you!
