Our ADVENTures: The Planning Stage: Part 1

It’s my favorite time of year again!! We’ve been ADVENTuring every December for the past decade or so. I’ve been fairly sporadic with my posting, but as I’ve shared more in recent years, it sounds like you fellow mamas are finding it useful! So, this year I’m going to try and share what I do to prep for all. the. things. coming up! Friends, my goal here is not to impress. If you’re looking to be impressed, I can totally point you elsewhere! This is just a season each year when I have managed to somewhat consistently create some fun opportunities for memory-making and togetherness.

If sharing what I do with my kids can inspire, empower, or just help parents to create moments of connection and tradition with their kids during the Advent season, well why not share?! 

So first: The Planning Stage

I start planning around Mid-November. It’s not overwhelming or pressure-some because a) I take infant-size bites of the plan every day, and b) my WHY is so vivid, profound even.

Click here for a word about my WHY.

Onward to the practicals!

STEP 1: First, I check to see how many days we’ll actually be doing advent activities. We travel at Christmas time so we typically do our official Christmas Morning and celebrate our Christmas Day traditions around Dec 18-20. I like to do some special activity every day leading up to that, so I plan for about three weeks of activities. I’ve also seen moms do special activities once or twice a week. Do whatever works for you!

STEP 2: Decide on your ‘daily regulars.‘ As I said above, each day, we do a unique activity, sometimes super simple, sometimes a little more involved. But we also have a handful of traditions that the kids look forward to every morning. For a short explanation of each activity, click here. In the pic below I made a list. That’s mostly for me to refer to, but having it on display also means my olders will help me if I forget to turn on the music or I miss some other element.

Speaking of olders– I can’t say enough, what a blessing it has been to see how these traditions have taken root for my older two children (13 & 11). Their enthusiasm is contagious and they love to reminisce in front of the littles (7 & 5). The littles are already pretty jazzed, but the extra ‘endorsements’ only elevate the cheer-factor for everyone. It warms my mom-heart and makes every bit of effort sooo worth it!!