Advent Calendars with a difference. Instead of cartoons of elves and snowmen behind the daily door, you’ll find a picture of the nativity by an artist from a different country or culture. The two online interactive calendars, designed for Primary and Secondary school ages, can be used by individuals and families at home too.
Each day you can open the virtual door to find a Bible story about one of the people who was waiting for the birth of Jesus. The theme ‘the world is waiting’ is carried through from 1 December to the last day of the school term on 15 December. With content for families to make the most of at weekends too.
Behind every door you’ll find a story, a nativity picture and some questions to think about together, such as:
‘How does it feel to be waiting for a present?
How do you feel when you are waiting to give a present?’
All of the questions have been written to help make connections with the lives of the pupils to help make the time spent together as a class inclusive and appropriate for everyone.
On school days there is also a video to watch together, ideal for collective worship. The Advent Calendars would work well in a class and small group setting too. Many of the videos created are aimed at younger Primary-aged children, so you might choose to read the Bible story with older Secondary pupils instead.
The Diocese Education Team have created helpful overview documents of the contents of the Advent Calendars to help teachers, parents and carers prepare.
You can find all the overview documents and links to the online Advent Calendars on the Advent and Christmas page of the Diocese of Guildford website.