New Year for children is a series of happy holidays filled with joyful events, interesting gifts and lots of sweets. They are looking forward to this magical date. Present your child with an Advent calendar that will help him navigate the days remaining before the holiday and receive small promotional gifts to brighten up a tedious expectation.
What is advent
Catholics call Advent the waiting period for the holiday, which covers the last four weeks before Christmas (December 25). These days, believers prepare for a great holiday, hold various ceremonies, observe fasting. On each of the four Sundays in the temple, one can hear gospel readings on the coming of Christ, the transition from the Old Testament to the New, the events preceding Christmas.
Among Catholics, a popular tradition called the Advent Wreath is popular. They decorate houses and churches. Such a wreath of fir branches is woven. Four candles are inserted into it. One of them lights up on the first Sunday of Advent. In the second, two candles are already burning, in the third - three. On the last, fourth, Sunday before Christmas, all the candles are lit on a wreath, which symbolizes the imminent arrival of the coming holiday.
What is an advent calendar? It is created according to the number of days remaining before the holiday date. In Western countries, such a calendar is dedicated to Christmas. In our country, more attention is paid to the New Year, so parents prepare Advent calendars for this holiday. They are intended for children to help them realize how much time is left before the holidays, and fill the expectation with fun surprises. Every day, kids receive small, but such nice gifts, and at the same time learn to count, develop motor skills, imagination, and creative abilities.
A bit of history
The first calendars of expectations began to lead the Lutheran Germans in the early 19th century. They chalked on the doors or the wall the number of days before Christmas, erased or crossed out one day each day. Some families on the eve of the holiday lit candles, decorated their houses with pictures on biblical themes. But the first advent calendar for children was made by the mother of little Gerhard Lang, who simply tortured her with questions about when Christmas would come. The woman made for him a cardboard calendar with windows. The son could open only one a day and pick up a small cookie hidden behind the doors. Over time, the boy grew up, got a job at a printing house, and in 1908 he printed a calendar with 24 pictures, behind which sweets could be hidden. He launched production and constantly improved his invention. In total, about 30 calendar options were created.
The Second World War suspended the release, and after its completion, the case was continued by Richard Zelmer. He made such calendars popular around the world. Today, mothers can buy ready-made or make an Advent calendar with their own hands.
Advent calendar options
What is an advent calendar, you know. How to make it? There are many options for implementing the Advent calendar. As a basis for crafts, you can use the ideas of other mothers. It is made from any material at hand. A calendar can be large or small, simple or complex, made in the form of one type of object or a combination of several. You can make a calendar out of paper in the form of cones, bags, envelopes, postcards. Try also to make a calendar from any cardboard boxes, for example, matchboxes. Suitable for the calendar and multi-colored stockings, socks or mittens that you can knit or buy ready-made. Another option is to sew bags or pockets from shreds of fabric. For advent calendar, you can use glass, iron or paper cups, jars, buckets. It is very convenient to hide gifts in such containers, and there are many options for their decor.
All the cases described above (what an advent calendar is described in the article above) can be placed in several ways: attach to a panel or poster, hang in the form of a garland or pendants, attach directly to a wall or door. A great idea is to make a Christmas composition out of cases. Turn on your imagination and you will get an incredible result that will delight your child.
Calendar Tasks
In prepared containers for the calendar, gifts for the baby should be placed. However, it will be more interesting for him to complete simple tasks for which he will receive small prizes. This will contribute to the activity of the child, the development of his logical thinking and imagination. Think of tasks for the Advent calendar yourself, taking into account the interests of your child. You can focus on the options below:
• write a letter to Santa Claus;
• draw a picture on the New Year theme;
• decorate the house for the holidays;
• To make a snowman;
• make a toy for the Christmas tree with your own hands;
• learn a New Year rhyme or song;
• feed the birds;
• look for a gift in the house on the map drawn by mom;
• bake cookies in the form of Christmas trees;
• make a wish list for next year;
• cut out snowflakes from paper;
• paint windows with frosty toothpaste patterns;
• make greeting cards for relatives and friends;
• decorate a Christmas tree;
• arrange a play based on your favorite fairy tale.
You can include a shopping trip for a holiday or gifts on the list. A family trip to the theater, cinema or just for a walk is also suitable. Be sure to arrange a home view of the New Year cartoon or karaoke with holiday songs.
Gifts for baby
For completed tasks, children must receive gifts that can be put in a box or handed directly to your hands. The child will be very pleased and the next day, with even greater enthusiasm, he will begin the next task. Do not forget that the surprise should correspond to the gender, age and preferences of the baby.
In the Advent calendar for children, you can put sweets - candy, cookies, a little chocolate bar, Kinder Surprise, some kind of fruit. From the inedible you can put:
• a small toy;
• coloring;
• bubble;
• pencils, paints, felt-tip pens;
• air balloons;
• New Year stickers;
• flashlight;
• book;
• DIY kit.
Girls will be delighted with new hairpins, elastic bands and bows. The boy will be interested in a new model of a toy car or toy weapon. You can buy a game kit or constructor and issue one element each day. Thus, by the New Year, the baby will receive a whole toy set. With such gifts, he will well remember what the Advent calendar is and will look forward to the next holidays.
Self-made calendar
Try to make a calendar yourself. It will take quite a bit of your time, and the baby will get a lot of positive impressions. To get started, prepare the following tools and materials:
- matchboxes;
- wrapping paper;
- scissors;
- double sided tape;
- stationery buttons;
- decorative sock for gifts;
- ribbons, bows, sparkles and other elements for decor.
To make an advent calendar with your own hands, you should wrap each box with colorful wrapping paper. Then from them it is necessary to build a figure in the form of a fir-tree and to fasten elements among themselves with a bilateral adhesive tape. Then the improvised Christmas tree should be decorated as you wish and write the numbering on the back of each box. In each box you need to put a piece of paper with the task. A decorative sock with the help of stationery buttons is attached to the wall near the Christmas tree. Then it should put gifts for the baby.
Happy holidays to you!