Transcript Advent calendar 2011 Primary Schools

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Make an Advent wreath
The Advent wreath is a very special symbol. The
evergreen leaves mean everlasting life, the circle of
the wreath with no beginning and no end reminds
us of the eternity of God and the four candles are
the four weeks of Advent.
1. Cut a hole in the middle of a paper plate.
2. Draw around your hands on green recycled paper
and ask all the members of your family to do the same.
3. Stick the cut-out hands around the outside of the
paper plate to make the leaves.
4. Make four candles by rolling paper into tubes (3 purple and 1 pink)
5. Attach a paper flame to one candle on each Sunday of Advent.
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A birthday gift!
The word Advent means coming. The
season of Advent is a time when we wait and get
ready for the birth of Jesus.
What birthday gift will you give Jesus this year?
Many of you, like the children at St Monica’s, took our
Thirst for Change action earlier this year, to ask for
clean water and safe sanitation for people everywhere.
Now many people are joining Hungry for change . To
find out how to join our campaign and take action for
everyone to have enough food to eat, go to
...................
Jesus doesn’t need the latest video game for his birthday! This
Advent think about how your actions can be the perfect birthday gift!
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It’s time to decorate!
Make some eco friendly decorations.
Recycle old magazines to make colourful paper
chains. Start by cutting the pages into strips. Write
the names of all your friends and family on strips of
paper and make them into a chain.
Next think about all the people around the world that need love and
prayers this Christmas. Write names or countries on to strips of paper
and add them to your chain to remind you to pray for them during
Advent.
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Today is the second
Sunday of Advent
Let’s think about PEACE
Mary and Joseph journeyed to
Bethlehem. Some people are
forced to make journeys because
there is fighting where they live
and it is too dangerous for them
to stay. Today, when you light
the candle on your Advent
wreath pray for peace and
remember all those people who
have had to leave their homes in
search of safety.
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Christmas angel
Remember always to welcome strangers, for
by doing this some people have entertained
angels without even knowing it.
(Hebrews 13:2)
The girls in the photo are called Mary-Jane and Grace, they live in Kenya. Grace
had to move away from her home because it wasn’t safe. When she arrived at
her new school she didn’t know anyone or have a school uniform. Mary-Jane
could see that Grace was lonely and nervous. She made friends with her and
gave her a spare school uniform.
Today make a Christmas angel to give to
someone that you think has been very kind.
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Today is the feast of St. Nicholas –
the patron saint of children.
Legend says that when St. Nicholas became an orphan
he chose to give away all his money to the poor and
dedicate his life to Christ. It is said that he would
toss little pouches of coins through the windows of
the poor. Sometimes the pouches would land in
stockings that had been washed and hung out to dry.
Today in lots of countries around the world children celebrate the feast
of St. Nicholas by hanging up a stocking or leaving out a boot. If they
have been good they wake up to find their boot is filled with gifts!
As you get ready for Christmas, think about what it is like to walk in
somebody else’s shoes, to have somebody else’s hopes and fears.
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Today is the feast of St. Ambrose –
the patron saint of learning.
As you look forward to your school holidays think
about other children around the world who never
have the chance to go to school. Pens, pencils, books,
a uniform… may seem really ordinary but in
developing countries, where many families can’t
afford to send their children to school – they’re life changing!
Make the most of your day at school! Learn something new, appreciate
the books and resources you have and remember that education can
help you reach your full potential!
To find out how CAFOD helps children go to school visit
Picture my World or click on the photo of Reahou and Sila
at school in Cambodia.
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Today is the feast of the
Immaculate Conception
Today is a special feast day for Mary, Jesus’ mother.
In many countries around the world this is the day
when people celebrate Mother’s Day.
CAFOD works with mums (and dads) all over the world. We help lots of
mums when they are expecting babies to stay healthy! We also help
babies and children with malnutrition to receive food supplements, like
the baby in the picture, who is with her mum at a feeding centre in Niger.
Today think about Mary, Jesus’ mother and all the mums around the
world. Remind your mum and all your family that you love them.
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Christmas shopping!
When you go shopping for Christmas with your family
remember to take bags with you to reuse!
In Rwanda plastic bags have been completely
banned since 2006!
Don’t forget to look out for gifts with the Fairtrade mark too. When you
see the Fairtrade mark it means that the people who have made the gift
or farmed the food are being paid a fair wage for their work.
Make sure you recognise the Fairtrade mark when
you see it! Click on the trolley to play the
Fairtrade shopper game.
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Blessed are the peacemakers;
they shall be called children of God
(Matthew 5:9)
Today in 1901 the first Nobel prizes were given. Every
year prizes are awarded to people who have done
something really special – one of the prizes is for
working for PEACE.
In some parts of our world there is fighting. People have to leave their
homes and all their things to find safety. CAFOD works with people in
Darfur in Sudan. We help to provide food, shelter, clean water, medicine
and schools for the families who have fled to the camps.
Today make peace with someone you have fallen out with and
pray for peace around the world.
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Today is the third Sunday of Advent
Let’s think about HOPE
The inn keeper told Mary and
Joseph there was no room.
Today when you light a candle
on your Advent wreath
pray for refugees
that they may find hope,
new homes and acceptance.
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Make a Christmas carol singer!
1. Paint a cardboard tube and leave to dry.
2. Cut out an oval from coloured paper to make a face
shape. Draw on eyes, a wide singing mouth and
some rosy cheeks! Stick it onto your painted tube.
3. Cut out two paper mittens.
4. Cut a small rectangle from an old sheet of music. Fold the paper in
half to look like a tiny songbook.
5.
Glue the songbook between the pair of mittens and glue the mittens to the
tube.
6.
Make a small hat by trimming the foot off an old child’s sock. Stretch the
sock over the end of the tube and tie the end closed with some wool.
7.
You can make lots of carol singers using different sized tubes. Perhaps you
could make a whole choir!
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Lend a hand
Many children around the world have jobs to do at
home like collecting water, helping on the farm
or looking after younger brothers and sisters
while their parents work.
Help your family get ready for Christmas by offering to lend a hand
with some of the household chores. You could make the beds or do
the dishes. But remember, no complaining!
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Wants and needs!
When we are preparing for Christmas we
sometimes get carried away thinking about
all the things we WANT.
CAFOD works with people in over 40 countries around the world to
make sure that they have the things they NEED, like food, clean water,
medicine, a safe place to live and the opportunity to go to school.
This Advent take time to reflect and pray for our global family.
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Make a Christmas tree
from handprints.
Ask a few friends to help you with the activity.
Paint your hand green and make a handprint
on paper or draw around your hand on green
recycled paper and cut it out.
On the back of your handprint add a
Christmas prayer of hope.
Make lots of hand prints and
stick them to card to make
a Christmas tree.
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A Christmas star!
In the Christmas story, a star guides the shepherds
and the kings to the stable where Jesus was born.
Draw or make a Christmas star using recycled paper.
Write the name of someone in your class that you think has been a true
Christmas star and say something nice about them!
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A gift that makes a difference!
What would you like for Christmas?
For Mani, a health worker in Nigeria the perfect gift
is a bicycle. It means that he can go on longer journeys
to make sure more people have the right medicine, care and advice.
Mani’s bicycle means that he can take vaccinations to remote villages to
protect children from diseases like measles. His work saves lives.
Click on the bike to find our more
about Mani’s work by playing
the game Mani’s healthy village
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Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent
Let’s think about LOVE
Today as you light a candle on your Advent wreath
pray for a fairer world. Pray that we may be good neighbours
to all people near and far..
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Make stained glass shortbread stars
for your Christmas tree.
You need a grown-up to help you with this activity
and two star-shaped cookie cutters (one big and one
small).
1.First make up a biscuit mixture of your choice. (For
shortbread: cream together 1 cup of butter with ½ cup of Fairtrade caster sugar. Then
add 2 cups of flour and ¼ teaspoon of baking powder.)
2. Roll out your biscuit mixture and cut out stars with the big cookie cutter
and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
3. Then using the small cookie cutter, make a star-shaped hole in the middle
of each biscuit.
4. Put some boiled sweets in a bag and break them into tiny pieces using a
rolling pin. Sprinkle the crumbs into the holes to fill them up.
5. Bake the biscuits. When you take them out of the oven make a small hole
to thread a ribbon.
6. Carefully peel the biscuits off the paper and cool.
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Make a Christmas card for
someone who seems lonely to
show them that you care.
Give them an extra special smile by making it a
pop-up card!
Download Christmas cards to colour in at….
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Be a shining light!
How to make an Advent candle.
Get a cardboard tube and stand it on some newspaper.
Squirt blobs of white PVA glue right from the bottle
around the top of your tube. Let the glue run down the
sides so that it looks like dripping wax.
Let the glue dry thoroughly – you’ll know when it is ready because the glue
will go clear. When it is completely dry paint your cardboard tube and all the
gluey drips.
Cut a flame shape for your candle from a sheet of gold paper and attach it to
your candlestick by taping it in inside of the painted tube.
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What does Christmas
mean to you?
Ask each member of your family to finish the sentence:
“To me Christmas means…”
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The Christmas story
Today, read the Christmas story with a friend.
Imagine what it would be like to be each person in
the story – how would you be feeling if you were
Mary or Joseph, or perhaps a shepherd or one of the wise men?
Draw pictures to illustrate each step of the story.
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Today is Christmas Eve.
The wait is almost over, it’s Christmas Eve! Today is a
really exciting day with lots of last minute things to
prepare, presents to wrap and stockings to hang up.
The children in the picture are preparing for
Christmas. They are practicing dance and music for a Nativity display
they will do for their community in Brazil. As you settle down to sleep on
this exciting evening remember children all over the world in your
prayers.
As I turn off the light and get ready to sleep,
I pray for all the children of the world that I may never meet.
Look after us all as we dream under the same stars this Christmas eve.
Goodnight, God.
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