Advent ABCs - A Christmas Countdown for Toddlers & Preschoolers
We all know that Christmas is truly one of the most wonderful times of the year, right?! I felt this tremendously as a child and enjoyed the feelings of sweet childhood nostalgia as I grew older but having kids of my own has just allowed me to relive the magic all over again.
Something that is important to us in our house, aside from soaking in all the twinkly lights, indulging in all the Christmas music, and creating new traditions as a family, is keeping the focus on the true Reason of the Season – the birth of our Savior!
One tradition that we started last year that also served as a way to dive deeper into the advent story, was these advent blocks (not an affiliate). The kids read through the story each night in December and get excited to turn over a new block. We are excited to do this with our kiddos each year as they get older and are able to grasp the beauty of the story even more.
Counting down the days to Christmas is something that can be done in many ways whether it’s with something like these advent blocks, or just a red and green paper chain (we do this too), or gluing cotton balls onto Santa’s beard (we’ve also done this one). I decided I wanted to create a printable resource that families with little ones could use for this purpose, that is Biblical and Christ-centered, but also that allows kiddos to work on early literacy, math, and pre-writing skills.
This resource (created by a former pre-k and kindergarten teacher – yours truly) is geared toward ages 3-5 and starting on December 1st, offers the chance for young minds to hear the word of God and learn about the advent story, while keeping their little hands busy coloring, tracing, and counting each day until Christmas.
So what’s inside this 54 page printable activity book?!
All 26 letters of the alphabet are covered each alongside a word that relates back to the advent story from the Bible. Each letter page displays the uppercase and lowercase letter, and the word that starts with that letter, in a large font that they can color in or trace. Underneath the featured word for that letter, is a verse from the Bible that includes the word. Each verse relates back to the advent story. Read the verse together as a family while your little one(s) trace the uppercase and lowercase letters, and then either color or “dot” the uppercase and lowercase letters along the bottom of the page according to the color code provided.
Here are the words represented for each letter:
Aa: Advent
Bb: Bethlehem
Cc: Counselor
Dd: Dream
Ee: Emmanuel
Ff: Fear not
Gg: Gifts
Hh: Holy Spirit
Ii: Inn
Jj: Jesus
Kk: King
Ll: Leaped
Mm: Manger
Nn: Night
Oo: Obey
Pp: Prince of Peace
Qq: Quickly
Rr: Redeem
Ss: Swaddle
Tt: Treasures
Uu: Unto
Vv: Virgin Mary
Ww: Wise men
Xx: eXalted
Yy: Yes
Zz: Zechariah
Now here is where the teacher in me needs to provide a little disclaimer. The main purpose of this printable activity book is NOT to teach your children their letters and letter sounds. Does it provide extra practice in letter recognition and letter formation? Yes. Should it be their main source for learning letters and letter sounds? No. I say this for two different reasons.
1. Some of the words represented for letters of the alphabet are not the sounds I would initially want you teaching your child. Short vowel sounds should always be taught first. Short vowel sounds are the ones you hear at the beginning of the words apple for A, elephant for E, igloo for I, octopus for O, and umbrella for U. I was able to find words that begin with short sounds for most of the vowels in this resource, but not all. Ex: O – Obey, and E – Emmanuel
2. The main purpose of this printable activity book is the biblical words and the verses they are pulled from. It’s about connecting with your child, teaching them about the advent story, and reinforcing important skills/keeping their hands busy during the discussion/conversation.
If you are looking for a resource to effectively help teach your child their letters and letter sounds, I have you covered! I have 3 different individual resources to choose from that are all great options for learning letters and I’m going to list them below. If you get to the end and feel overwhelmed by the options, have no fear, you can just grab them all bundled together for a discounted price. 😊
Okay, getting off my letters soapbox and circling back to CHRISTMAS!
In addition to covering all 26 letters of the alphabet, this Advent ABCs printable activity book is also a way for you to countdown to Christmas. It is meant to be started on December 1st, and will provide you with a letter activity page, and also a number activity page for each day up until the 25th (Christmas day).
You might be thinking – this doesn’t match up. There are 25 days until Christmas and 26 letters of the alphabet. Come on, Melissa. You’re supposed to be a teacher and you did the math wrong?! Because I am a mom with a mushy brain, I wouldn’t put it past me. But I didn’t mess up this time – let me explain how it works! Because there are 26 letters of the alphabet, and 25 days to count down, the final day covers both letters Yy and Zz. If you don’t want to be doing an extra activity page on Christmas day, double up on the 23rd or 24th when the excitement is just through the roof and you need something to help busy their brains!
Let’s talk more about the number activity pages!
Each page has a large number (starting with 1) in a font that allows them to color or trace, and then a spot where they can practice tracing that number a few more times. There is also a large Christmas tree on each number page that has 24 round ornaments and a star on top. Each day, little ones can color in the coordinating number of ornaments on the Christmas tree, and then on Christmas day, they finally get to color in the star on top!
If you have a little one who really enjoys coloring, we also offer this printable activity book in just black and white. This is a great option for those who may not have access to a colored printer, or for those who have little ones that may want to color the Christmas trees in themselves each day.
My hope in creating this printable Advent ABCs/Countdown to Christmas activity book is that it will provide time for you to sit with your little ones for just a few minutes each day to connect and talk a little bit about the story of Jesus’ birth, while also getting a chance to practice some early math, literacy, and pre-writing skills along the way!
Again, this printable resource is geared toward toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartners ideally from ages 3-5. I always encourage parents of little ones to use their best judgment based on what they think their child is ready for. If you have a 2.5 year old who loves to color and learn about letters and numbers, go ahead and give this resource a try! Let them color, let them explore, and start sharing these verses with them. You can always re-print and do it all again the following year!
The same goes for the higher end of the age range. If you have a 6 year old who loves to color and could benefit from some extra handwriting practice, give it a whirl! Challenge them to memorize some of the verses, or rewrite them on the back of each letter page. There are always ways to effectively simplify, or enrich and extend an activity.
If you are looking for more hands-on, playful learning activities for your little ones this winter, you are going to want to check out our spiral-bound, fully laminated and wipe clean winter-themed activity book, “Oh Hey Let’s Play with WINTER Themes!” This activity book is 72 pages, with 6 different playful learning themes, and a total of 54 different early literacy, math, and pre-writing activities.
The themes included in our winter activity book are “Jolly Gingerbread,” “A Very Merry Christmas,” “Winter Wear,” “Let it Snow,” “Playful Penguins,” and “Be Mine, Valentine.” Each theme includes a detailed activity guide providing ideas of how you might use each activity, and a favorite book list that coordinates with the theme.
Our winter-themed activity book is available to purchase as a hard copy, professionally printed, spiral-bound, and fully laminated book (within the US) shipped to your door (with free shipping), OR as a printable PDF. Both versions are the exact same and both are great for ages 3-5!
If you love the idea of seasonally themed activities, and want to stock up for the year, you can try our seasonal bundle! This bundle includes all 4 of our seasonally themed activity books bundled together at a discounted price.
Thanks for popping in and checking out some of our playful learning resources! If any of these peek your interest, be sure to pin them for later, or share with a friend! If you choose to purchase any of these resources, be sure to tag me on social media @ohheyletsplay when you’re using them and follow along for more fun play-based learning activity ideas!
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