Posted on Leave a comment

12 Days of Christmas Themes

There are 12 days of Christmas, so here are 12 Days of Christmas themes or little extras to keep things festive 🙂

  1. With little ones, read a little Christmas book each day of the season.
  2. Select a hymn of the season from the hymnal, and every year choose a different one.
  3. Read through the Gospel of Luke, 2 chapters a day.
  4. Select a book with daily devotions.
  5. Plan out a special snack every day, maybe alternating between dips and desserts, so that the 12 days of Christmas are a little extra special but not necessarily an extra burden.
  6. Have a family read aloud. You could consider all sorts of Christmasy (or non-Christmasy) books, though here are a few books with Lutheran authors or commentary:
  7. Consider a CD for the season, like Handel’s Messiah. You could even pair it up with Messiah: The Greatest Sermon Ever Sung by Lutheran Rev. Tony Pittenger.
  8. Watch Christmas specials, including some gems you can find on Youtube, like The Nutcracker and Handel’s Messiah.
  9. Do a unit study on angels, biblical foods, biblical geography, stable animals, or go through an art book, etc. I know of at least two angel resources put together by Lutherans: Bryan Wolfmueller’s Angels & Demons and Jake Zabel’s Choirs of Angels.
  10. Sing through a free caroling book! Sing a song or two a day and make your way all the way through!
  11. Try to memorize a stanza a day of Luther’s These are the Holy Ten Commands or another hymn with 12 stanzas. Or just pick a hymn or psalm to memorize.
  12. Mark the minor commemorations of the time:
    • December 26th, Stephen the Martyr
    • December 27th, John the Apostle and Evangelist
    • December 28th, the Holy Innocents Martyred
    • December 29th, King David
    • January 1st, Circumcision and Naming of Jesus
    • January 2nd, Loehe, Pastor
    • (January 6th always starts the season of Epiphany)

If you have other suggestions, comment to add them!