There are 12 days of Christmas, so here are 12 Days of Christmas themes or little extras to keep things festive 🙂
- With little ones, read a little Christmas book each day of the season.
- Select a hymn of the season from the hymnal, and every year choose a different one.
- Read through the Gospel of Luke, 2 chapters a day.
- Select a book with daily devotions.
- 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.
- 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:
- A Christmas Carol with commentary by Rev. Sam Schuldheisz
- Timeless Treasures: Four Public Domain Texts that Still DelightÂ
- If you have older kids, I got a kick out of Steve Luhring’s Scrooge and the Question of God’s Existence.
- Luther at the Manger: Christmas Sermons on Isaiah 9:6
- 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.
- Watch Christmas specials, including some gems you can find on Youtube, like The Nutcracker and Handel’s Messiah.
- 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.
- Sing through a free caroling book! Sing a song or two a day and make your way all the way through!
- 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.
- 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!
