The planner includes a block of several lines for each day from the first Sunday of Advent to the Sunday in which the U.S. church celebrates Epiphany. Actually, I included a planner for the Feast Day of the Baptism of the Lord, because my family likes to celebrate that, too. This year, it is celebrated on January 9 in the U.S.
Dates are included in each block; common feast days are listed, too. Under the date is a section called "Theme." Sometimes I like to incorporate some special themes during our homeschooling day. For example, on "Poinsettia Theme Day" we would read Tomie DePaola's "Legend of the Poinsettia," make poinsettia cookies, do a poinsettia craft, etc.
I also included spaces on each day to jot down:
- Special meals/snacks I would like to serve (like an all-white meal on December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception),
- Activities we can do together as a family (like make a craft, look at the Christmas light display at a nearby park, or see the Nutcracker ballet)
- Read-Aloud Books (our favorite holiday books)
- Holiday DVD or video (we have a great collection of classic and newer holiday DVDs and videos, both religious and secular. This will help me set aside time to watch them.)
I thought others might like to use this resource, so I uploaded a copy on Google docs, which you can download and print out to use with your family. You can get it here.
If you use it, let me know what you think!
I linked this page to several link parties filled with terrific Advent ideas! Please check them out:
1) The "Make Yourself Monday" link party at For Love of Cupcakes. Click here for more great holiday ideas!
2) A Ten O'Clock Scholar's Keeping Advent link party. Click here for some inspiring posts about Advent!
3) Catholic Family's Advent Festival of Links, which you can reach here.
Posts
I love this printable! Wonderful!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! Thanks for sharing, Cheryl. It really does help to get it all on paper and even if we don't get everything done, at least we have a better chance of getting to do some of it.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, what do you guys do on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing such a helpful resource!
ReplyDeleteSheila,
ReplyDeleteI generally do a Baptism presentation from the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd; does Godly Play have one, too? We might do a shell craft, too. This year I'm hoping to prepare a special meal for supper, like the one Jessica (from Catholic Cuisine) suggests here:
http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/search/label/Baptism
Jennifer, at Crafolic, has a couple of ideas for sea shell inspired crafts which include photos of John baptizing Jesus. Here's a link:
http://www.crafolic.com/search/label/Baptism
I will try to do a post later about our activities.
Blessed Advent to you,
Cheryl
Yay I'm so glad you grabbed one of my free buttons! :oD
ReplyDeleteThanks for the awesome free printable for advent/Christmas!
Thank you for linking up to Make Yourself Monday!
Jamie
For Love of Cupcakes
Hi Cheryl! Thank you so much for linking at Familia Catolica Link Up Party!! It was a wonderful surprise! You have made a great printable, thanks for sharing it!
ReplyDeleteHi Cheryl! Thanks for mentioning me and my Baptism crafts! I love your planner idea! I'm trying to open the printable but I can't seem to get it to work. Any help would be good. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHave a blessed Advent!
~Jennifer
Okay!! The link is working! I refreshed the page, then it worked! Looks great, Thanks so much!
ReplyDelete~Jennifer
Just lovely! I had been trying to create something similar earlier in Nov but put it aside. Thank you for sharing all of the hard work with all of us!
ReplyDelete