What is the Advent Calendar? Advent calendar for children with their own hands. Tasks for the Advent-calendar

New Year for children is a series of merry holidays, filled with joyful events, interesting gifts and a lot of sweets. They are waiting with great impatience for this magical date. Give your child an Advent calendar that will help him navigate in days left before the holiday, and receive small incentive gifts to brighten up the agonizing expectation.

What is Advent?

By Advent, Catholics call the holiday waiting period, which covers the last four weeks before Christmas (December 25). These days the believers are preparing for a big holiday, they hold different rituals, observe fasting. On each of the four Sundays in the temple, you can hear the gospel readings on the coming of Christ, the transition from the Old Testament to the New, the pre-Christmas events.
Among the Catholics, a tradition called the "Advent Wreath" is popular. They are decorated with houses and churches. A wreath of fir branches twists like that. Four candles are inserted into it. One of them lights up on the first Sunday of Advent. In the second, two candles are already lit, in the third - three. In the last, the fourth, the resurrection before Christmas on the wreath, all the candles are lit, which symbolizes the imminent coming of the coming holiday.

What is the Advent Calendar? It is created according to the number of days left before the holiday date. In Western countries, such a calendar is timed to Christmas. In our country, more attention is paid to the New Year, so parents prepare Advent calendars for this holiday. They are meant for children to help them realize how much time is left before the holidays, and fill the expectation with cheerful surprises. Every day kids get small, but such nice gifts, and at the same time learn to count, develop motor skills, imagination, creativity.

A little history

The first calendars of expectation began to lead the Lutheran Germans back in the early 19th century. They drew chalk on the door or wall the number of days before Christmas, every day washed or crossed out one by one. Some families on the eve of the holiday lit candles, decorated their homes with pictures of biblical themes. But the first Advent calendar for children was made by the little Gerhard Lang's mother, who simply tortured her with questions about when Christmas would come. The woman made for him a card calendar with small windows. The son could only open one per day and pick up a small cookie hidden behind the door. Over time, the boy grew up, got a job in the printing house and in 1908 he printed a calendar with 24 pictures, behind which it was possible to hide sweets. He started production and constantly improved his invention. In general, about 30 variants of the calendar were created.

The Second World War suspended the release, and after its completion the case was continued by Richard Zelmer. He made such calendars popular throughout the world. Today, moms can buy ready-made products or make an Advent Calendar themselves.

Options for running the Advent calendar

What is the Advent calendar, you know. And how to do it? There are many ways to implement the advent-calendar. As a basis for crafting, you can use the ideas of other mothers. It is made from any improvised material. The calendar can be large or small, simple or complex, executed as one type of objects or a combination of several. You can make a calendar of paper in the form of kulechkov-cones, sachets, envelopes, postcards. Try also to make a calendar from any cardboard boxes, for example, matchboxes. Suitable for the calendar and colorful stockings, socks or mittens, which you can bind or buy ready-made. Another option is to sew pieces of cloth or pockets out of rags. For the advent calendar, you can use glass, iron or paper cups, jars, buckets. In such a container is very convenient to hide gifts, and there are many options for their decor.

All the above-described cases (what is the Advent calendar, described above in the article) can be placed in several ways: attach to a panel or poster, hang in a garland or pendant, and attach directly to the wall or door. It's a great idea to build a New Year's composition out of the cases. Include your imagination, and you will get an incredible result that will enthrall your child.

Calendar assignments

In the prepared containers for the calendar should place gifts for the baby. However, it will be more interesting for him to perform simple tasks, for which he will receive small prizes. This will contribute to the child's activity, the development of his logical thinking and imagination. Tasks for Advent-calendar come up yourself, taking into account the interests of your child. You can target the following options:

• write a letter to Santa Claus;
• draw a picture on the New Year theme;
• decorate the house for the holidays;
• To make a snowman;
• make a toy for the Christmas tree with your own hands;
• learn a New Year's rhyme or a song;
• Feed the birds;
• search for a gift in the house on the map drawn by the mother;
• bake cookies in the form of fir-trees;
• Make a wish list for the next year;
• Cut out snowflakes from paper;
• To paint the windows with frosty patterns from toothpaste;
• make greeting cards for relatives and friends;
• decorate a Christmas tree;
• arrange a performance based on a favorite fairy tale.

You can include in the shopping list for shopping for a holiday or gifts. Also suitable for a family trip to the theater, cinema or just for a walk. Be sure to arrange a home viewing of the New Year's cartoon or karaoke with holiday songs.

Gifts for the child

For completed assignments, children must receive gifts, which can be put in a box or hand in hand. The child will be very pleased and the next day with even more enthusiasm will proceed to the next task. Do not forget that the surprise must match the sex, age and preferences of the baby.

In the Advent calendar for children you can put sweets - candy, cookies, a small chocolate, "Kinder-surprise", some fruit. From inedible it is possible to put:

• A small toy;
• coloring;
• bubble;
• pencils, paints, markers;
• air balloons;
• New Year's stickers;
• flashlight;
• a book;
• do-it-yourself kit.

Girls will be delighted with new hairpins, elastic bands and bows. The boy will be interested in a new model of a typewriter or a toy weapon. You can buy a game set or a designer and each day to issue one element. Thus, by the New Year the kid will receive a whole toy kit. With such gifts, he will well remember what the Advent calendar is, and look forward to the next holidays.

Self-made calendar

Try to make the calendar yourself. It takes quite a bit of your time, and the kid will get a lot of positive impressions. First, prepare such tools and materials:

• Matchboxes;
• wrapping paper;
• scissors;
• double sided tape;
• Clerical buttons;
• Decorative sock for gifts;
• Ribbons, bows, sequins and other elements for decoration.

To make the adventure calendar with your own hands, each box should be wrapped with colorful wrapping paper. Then from them it is necessary to build a figure in the form of a Christmas tree and to fasten the elements together with a double - sided adhesive tape. Then the improvised Christmas tree should be decorated at will and on the back side of each box write the numbering. In each box you need to put a piece of paper with the task. Decorative sock is attached to the wall near the Christmas tree with the help of clerical buttons. In it then it is necessary to put gifts for the kid.

Happy holidays to you!