Ways to share the joy as a family during Advent
This year encourage your children to look for ways to serve, in your home, at school, at a store, and other areas in your community. We have provided a list of ways your children and your family can be looking for ways to serve others in the community. This is not an exhaustive list, and feel free to come up with your own ideas to serve others. As a family decide whether you want to choose one activity per day in Advent or choose one activity to do each week.
Share the joy of loving one another and giving to others this Advent season while serving together as a family!
- Donate a coat, sweatshirt, or sweater to charity
- Offer to clear snow off your neighbor’s car
- Make Christmas cards for your neighbors
- Sort through your toys and donate any that you no longer play with to charity or your local church
- Write a letter to your sibling (or parent/grandparent) telling them why you love them
- Leave a beautiful homemade bookmark in your library book and give one to the librarian
- Deliver cookies to your neighbors
- Write thank you cards for your teacher, coach, AWANA leader or people that have influenced you in a positive way
- Offer to pack the shopping bags of the person in front of you and behind you at the supermarket
- Let someone go in front of you in a line
- Read the Christmas story, from the Bible as a family
- Make a tree decoration for your babysitter
- Donate food, baby formula, or personal hygiene items to a local food shelf
- Go caroling in your neighborhood or at a local nursing home
- Cook Christmas recipes from other countries and pray for people in those countries to know Jesus
- Pay for the person behind you in the drive-thru
- Donate books to your school’s library
- Offer to help an elderly friend or neighbor with their Christmas decorations
- Bring a meal to a friend, family from church or neighbor who has recently been sick or in the hospital
- Give a compliment to someone you know
- Call a family member you haven’t spoken to in a while and have a nice chat with them
- Hold the door open for people throughout the day
- Contact a local hospital and ask how you can support the staff and families who are spending the holidays at the hospital
- When out to dinner leave a large tip and a note thanking the waitstaff
- Carry around a $5 gift card and give it to someone who needs a pick-me-up