4 Reasons to Celebrate Advent With Your Grandchildren

As a kid, I loved Advent. Tall skinny candles, three purple, one pink, and a white one in the middle, an evergreen wreath, and a countdown to Christmas. Each week at church, a family would come forward and light that week’s candle. Dad took charge so the youngest member didn’t set the church on fire. 

Hope. Peace. Joy. Love. One for each Sunday before Christmas. The Christ candle is lit on Christmas Day. Coupled with the candles, Christian Advent calendars offer great reminders of what the holiday is all about. 

Did you practice Advent as a child? If not, I invite you to join the party and here’s why.

1. Advent encourages humble waiting. According to C. S. Lewis, “True humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.”  Humble waiting is Christ-centered waiting. Do not allow elves and reindeer to hijack your grandchild’s Christmas. Santa should never displace our Savior. A Christian Advent calendar keeps the focus on Jesus. You’ll notice the gimmes fade when Jesus and His birthday get top billing. 

Plus, we’re celebrating a birthday! How would the kids in your life celebrate? Birthday cake? A bounce house? Gifts? For others and for Him? Do it! Throw Jesus a birthday party. (Consider charitable giving with the kids through organizations like Samaritan’s Purse, World Vision, or Heifer Project.)

2. Advent encourages holy waiting. Advent is a period of preparing our hearts for Christmas. My friend, Pam, always joked that men believed in Santa because they woke up Christmas morning and everything was done. We women know the difference preparation makes and that’s even more true when it comes to spiritual practices. Holidays like Easter and Christmas mean more when you soak in the biblical events. Dive into Scripture, but don’t dive alone. Take the kids with you. Allow ancient figures to come alive. Their journeys, their fears, their joys, their surprises. We’ve experienced the same feelings, but now we have a chance to walk in their sandals through our imaginations. You’ll find the account of Jesus’s birth in the gospels of Matthew and Luke.

Zechariah and Elizabeth’s shock. A baby? Now?

The gossip and shame Mary and Joseph endured. 

Baby Jesus and a hay-filled manger instead of a clean crib with sheets, a sleepsack, and a sound machine. 

Bedraggled strangers showing up to see the new baby. Who are these guys? Are they safe?

Exotic visitors worshipping a two-year-old. 

And a star unlike any other. 

Fill their heads, not with visions of sugar plums, but with the awe and wonder of our God and His plan.

3. Advent encourages happy waiting. Anticipation. We need more of this. Allow the kids in your life to experience the fun of anticipation. Four weeks seem like eternity to a child. Yet we can’t begin to fathom Israel’s anticipation of their Messiah. Not years. Not even centuries of waiting. Millenia. 

I love The Chosen Christmas episode with the shepherds. It captures the moment when the wait is over.

4. Advent encourages hopeful waiting. Connect the dots for the kids in your life. Christmas ended the first period of waiting, the wait for the Messiah and the coming of salvation. For all of us. Jew and Gentile. Today we live in the already and the not yet. For those of us who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are new creations. We are not the same. Salvation and sanctification are ours. The Kingdom has arrived, but we don’t yet experience its fullness. 

So, we wait. 

For Jesus. 

Again.

And like Jesus in His first arrival, He won’t disappoint.

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:20 NIV

A Note About Advent Resources:

There are tons of Advent calendars, systems, and reading plans. This year, I purchased an Advent calendar my kids were already using with the grandchildren so we could go through it together. If your kids aren’t celebrating Advent with the grandchildren, ask permission first, then lead out. If you don’t have an Advent calendar yet, ask your friends at church. Try several and see which is the best fit.

But, honestly, there’s a lot to be said for a simple wreath and candles. Candlelight is captivating, so start small, but start.

A Heads-Up from Gayle:

For those who have faithfully read my blog, thank you. I appreciate it more than you know.

Next year will bring some changes, all of them good. In January, I will launch The Christian Grandparenting Podcast. I will post weekly content in both podcast and blog form on the new podcast page which will be live in January. The podcast will be short and sweet, less than ten minutes, with very practical, hands-on suggestions. My hope is to give grandparents a voice and to help them share their faith with their grandkids–because to stay silent places future generations at risk. I welcome your input.

My website will also have a new look. I hope you like it.

In May 2026, the first book in the Kingswell Kid Detective series (ages 7-12) will launch. For more information, insider scoop, and to sign up for our Detective Dispatches, click here. I will be available for school author visits, homeschool co-ops, and any other speaking events you need.

Have a wonderful Christmas and I’ll see you in January.