I am SO excited for the new Advent Activity Wikki Books that I have created! I started off by finding various activity pages that had or could be modified to have a strong Advent. Because these would be out before Christmas, during Advent, it was important to me that these were more focused on the anticipation and preparation of the season. After finding activity sheets that were free for use, I imported them into Publisher where I could add words. I also created a few pages of my own with the use of clipart. After I had all the pages ready, I printed them off, laminated them, and put them in a 3 ring binder with an instruction page. A small pencil pouch was also put into the binder to hold the Wikki Sticks when not in use. I LOVE the way they turned out and can't wait to see and hear how children engage with them this Advent season.
To the right is a sample of one of the pages I created. Using images, I created a page asking children to circle with Wikki Sticks the pages they do to prepare for Christmas.
What would an Advent activity book be without an Advent wreath. Children will have fun "lighting" the candles week by week. |
For the success of the activity books, I felt it was important to educate people that these books exist and their purpose. I wrote up the following for our December church newsletter:
BEYOND BUSY BAGS: Introducing NEW worship materials!
Education experts have known and practiced for decades that
learning happens best through hands-on experience and play. Enter any preschool
classroom and you will see learning manipulatives, activities and games
galore! A few years ago, I decided to capitalize on my education
experience and bring some of these same best practices into the worship
center. I began developing and creating materials for young worshipers
that would not just keep them quite and busy, but also help them learn more
about the liturgical season, scripture lessons, and other key aspects of
worship. Over the last few weeks I have been back at it and have created
a host of materials for young worshipers (birth-elementary) to enhance their
worship experience. On the shelving unit outside of the worship center,
you will find an array of worship materials intended to be brought into worship
for children’s use. Among the materials you will find a magnetic nativity set
to use in retelling the Advent and Christmas stories, magnetic nativity themed
tangram puzzles, and Wikki Stick activity books centered on the Advent season
and later the Christmas and Epiphany seasons. Inside the busy bags, our
youngest worshipers will find nativity themed lacing cards and finger
puppets. Please encourage children to use the materials. Please be
patient with children as we all learn how to make the best use of these
materials. Please help children clean up and return materials for
continued use. I look forward to hearing how these materials shape your
child’s understanding of the upcoming Advent and Christmas seasons and worship
experience.
Walking with you,
Billie Jo Wicks
Director of Youth Ministries and Diaconal Intern
I can't wait to hear what this sparks for you and how you might make use of these ideas in your context!