For those of you who don’t know, I teach at a private, Catholic school in the Bay Area in California. Since I teach at a Catholic school, we are required to teach religion as a core, everyday subject. We also teach the Church seasons, one being the season of Advent. Advent is a time when we prepare for the birth of Jesus, on Christmas Day.
It can be hard to get students (especially the littlest ones in kindergarten) to get their attention off Santa Claus and presents and on to Jesus and his birth during this season. Here are some ways I promote and celebrate the season of Advent in kindergarten.
Celebrate the Season of Advent in Kindergarten
Advent Wreath
During the season of Advent, I set an Advent wreath out on our prayer table. This wreath has 4 candles around the outside, three purple and one pink. These candles represent the 4 weeks leading up to Jesus’ birth. They also have different meanings.
- The first candle represents hope
- The second candle represents faith
- The third (pink) candle represents joy
- The fourth candle represents peace
The Advent wreath is a great visual for students that this season is a time to connect with and prepare for the birth of Jesus. Often when we say our special prayers, I assign students to move our wreath from the prayer table, onto the middle of the carpet so we can see it as we gather around for prayer.
Special Prayers
My school gives out a packet of special prayers that every class reads during their religion time. This is a special way that connects individual classes together as one entire school. These prayers are very extensive and hard to comprehend for the littlest students in the school, that’s why, my principal provided the K-2 teachers with a book that is a bit easier for our kiddos to understand. This book is called Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent and Christmas Reflections for Families. Get your own copy through my affiliate link below.
We use this book along with our Advent journals to reflect on ourselves and ways we can prepare for the coming of Jesus.
Advent Journals
Our Advent journals are a way we take what we’ve heard in our special prayer during religion, and reflect on ways we can better ourselves and others and prepare for the coming of Jesus. I created this resource as a way to focus students on this important season in the Church year. The journal comes with 25 prompts that go along with the prayers in the book above, but don’t have to be used together if you don’t have the book.
The way I use these journals is after our special prayer for the day, using the Welcome Baby Jesus book, we have a quiet reflection time where students can draw or write, responding to the prompt of the day. Of course we never finish these journals because I’ve included all 25 days leading up to Jesus’ birth, however, I send them home and give students the option to continue to respond while they are on break before Christmas Day.
I love the way these Advent journals focus my kindergarten students and help them realize how special this season of Advent is.
How do you celebrate the season of advent with your students? Let me know below!
