How to Prepare a Child's Heart for Christmas (Even When They're Active)

Are you a parent of very active children?

Our family TRIES to have a quiet time every night where we read a short devotional and help our kids slow down and focus on God's Word. Ideally, my husband or I should be able to read through a Bible passage, or a short story and talk to them about it, but random questions, clacking and snapping, conflicts, and every single type of distraction almost always interrupts this family "quiet" time. 

I've been conflicted as a mom because  I want my kids to get in the true Christmas spirit, yet how can I do so when my kids are squirmy, active, and super chatty even at an hour when they're supposed to be tired?

For quite some time, I've been eyeing some of the Family Worship Guides from Journey One Eighty because I love how it incorporates music into these studies. So literally a minute before my husband was about to do our "candle" tradition with the kids and then put them to bed, I purchased Journey One Eighty's Christmas Family Worship Guide called "Hallelujah, What A Savior" for only $5!!!!

If you have squirmy kids (or you yourself are squirmy🙋🏻‍♀️, anyone else have ADHD?) then you may LOVE this advent guide. We tried it tonight and while I know it's only been ONE NIGHT, I really think this is going to work well for our family. 

Here are a few reasons I think this guide is really good for families with active kids:

It was short.  

Some kids and adults have very short attention spans (ADHD or not!). This reading was short enough that it kept my kids attention spans. I love how this included just two verses that were included in the printable, which for a mom who loses everything was very helpful. 

It tapped into music.

The addition of a hymn that pertained to the topic of that day is GENIUS in that it helped my kids calm down. We light a candle every night before bedtime in the month of December and so it was peaceful to listen to the hymn for Day 1. Our kids also play piano and other instruments so I plan on printing out easy sheet music for each day's hymn so they can learn to play it too. I'm very excited about that!

It is WAY affordable.

This 72-page download may require you to print it out, but it is worth WAY MORE than $5 (grab it now because maybe one day the price will go up!)

It can be used next year too.

While repeating stories, in my book, can seem boring, I think this type of devotional or worship guide could make for a really great tradition particularly because next year, the kids will probably be much better at piano and probably will enjoy playing the songs again! 

Last note: I do think it helps to have your kids help read one part of the devotional. 

Grab this Advent Christmas Family Worship Guide HERE.