Ways to Celebrate the Season of Advent with Children
The holiday season is a time of magic, wonder, and anticipation—especially for young children. One way to highlight this energy is to celebrate the season of Advent with your children. Celebrating Advent with children offers them a way to experience the season in a more meaningful way, giving them a sense of time as they count down the days to Christmas.
By creating your own Advent traditions, you can help children connect with the excitement and joy of the season while making lasting memories together. Advent begins on the first Sunday of December and continues through the month, leading up to Christmas. While traditionally tied to Christian customs, Advent has broader themes like bringing light to the darkness, anticipation, and preparing for the holiday season, both internally and externally.
In the Northern Hemisphere, this period also signals the approach of the Winter Solstice, when we start looking forward to the longer days ahead. Many families mark this with simple rituals like lighting candles, sharing moments with loved ones, and embracing the spirit of giving.
Creating an Advent Nature Table
Designating a space in your home for an Advent table is a great way to honor the four weeks of Advent and incorporate nature as well as have a place for children to interact with the nativity scene. To create an Advent table, cover a small table or the top of a shelf with a piece of fabric. Many families choose to use a playsilk or solid color piece of velvet or cotton. If you have a nativity set that kids can play with, this is a good place to set it up.
Decorate the table with bits of nature that represent this season, whether that is boughs of evergreens or pine cones. Set an Advent wreath on the table with four red candles that represent the four weeks of Advent. Each night, you light the candle or candles representing that week so by the last week, there are four candles lit each night for the last week. Many families use a wooden Advent wreath to hold the candles which can also be used for other celebrations throughout the year.
The four weeks of Advent each follow a different theme that can then be added to the nature table. The first week is the week of rocks, minerals, and crystals so adding a special rock on the first week connects to this element. The second week is the week of plants, so adding a special plant to the nature table represents this element. The third week is represented by the theme of animals so adding wooden animal figures to the nature table connects to this one. And finally, the last week is the week of people so this is where the figures from the manger set take center stage as we inch closer to Christmas.
Creating this Advent nature table allows for children to have a place for connection and a spot to ground into the magic of the season while also connecting to time in a calm and centered way. This table can also be a home for an Advent calendar which adds even more excitement to the scene.
The Advent Calendar
Another delightful way to count down the days to Christmas while adding a touch of daily magic is by using an Advent calendar with your children. These little daily surprises provide a fun and engaging way for kids, especially those too young to grasp the concept of time or read a calendar, to understand how close the big day is. Since waiting for Christmas can be tough for little ones, seeing the opened doors or empty pockets of an Advent calendar offers them a tangible way to visualize how many days are left until the celebration.
Advent calendars have long been a beloved tradition for families, marking the days until Christmas with tiny surprises hidden behind numbered doors. There are a variety of Advent calendars for kids to choose from, and for some families, picking out a new one each year is part of the excitement. Whether you want your child to have a sweet treat or you have a handmade Advent wall hanging that you fill with new surprises every day, the fun is in that moment of revealing that day’s treasure.
HABA’s Advent Calendar takes this tradition a step further by offering something children can hold in their hands and play with, combining the excitement of discovering a new toy each day with the wonder of imaginative play. Inside each window, your child will find a beautifully detailed wooden figure, whether it's a playful farm animal or a charming character. As each new piece is revealed, the farmyard world slowly comes to life, creating endless opportunities for imaginative adventures. These high-quality wooden toys are designed to be enjoyed beyond the holiday season, becoming cherished playtime companions all year round.
Unlike traditional Advent calendars that are used once and discarded, HABA’s My First Advent Calendar is designed to be a keepsake that families can enjoy year after year. The durable wooden pieces are crafted with care, meant to stand the test of time and become a treasured part of your family’s holiday traditions.
A Tradition to Treasure
There’s something special about traditions that last for generations, and whether you choose to share our reusable Advent calendar, light candles each night, or incorporate the weekly themes of Advent, these traditions are sure to become a cherished part of your family’s holiday celebrations and create memories that last a lifetime.
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