Advent is taken from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming” and is considered to be the beginning of our Church Year. Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day and ends on Christmas Eve. For most Christians, this season is one of anticipation and hope. The most common themes used for the four weeks of Advent are Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. Traditionally the primary colour of Advent is purple or violet, which reflects the fasting and waiting that forms part of the build-up to Christmas. It is also the connection between the birth and death of Jesus (a Lenten connection). On the third Sunday of Advent the colour changes to pink or rose in anticipation of the end of fasting and the start of rejoicing for the birth of the Saviour (this Sunday is sometimes celebrated as Gaudete Sunday – from the Latin word for “rejoice”).
Our Advent Resource is free and available to download below along with our Scripture Adventure Resource and the templates for making an Advent Wreath with the children in your classroom or prayer group. At the beginning of each week during Advent take some time to light the appropriate candle in your Advent Wreath and use the prayers in this resource book to bring the children together in prayer. Our Scripture Adventure contains a small piece of Scripture from the Gospel of Luke each day so we can journey with the story of waiting for the birth of Jesus together. This can be photocopied and given to each child to colour or, perhaps, the children could make their own Advent Calendar for the classroom or youth group by cutting out each box and displaying them in all the different creative ways that children know how!