Happy December friends!  It’s official.  The busiest month of the year is here!  We all know that December can quickly get out of hand.  Don’t get me wrong.  I absolutely love the decorations and the parties and the gift giving and the music and movies and lights and everything else that comes along with celebrating Christmas.  But I also want to make sure that I’m teaching my kids (and focusing on myself!) what is most special about this time of year and why we celebrate Christmas.  This is a simple activity I’m doing with my kids this year to help us with that and I thought I’d share it if any of you would like to do it with your kids too.  I didn’t come up with this but it’s something we’ve done in the past and I’m excited to do it again now that my kids are a little older.

This is so easy and takes no time at all.  Get four sacks and label them LOVE, PEACE, FAITH, and SERVICE.  I made these years ago when I had one baby at home which is why they are so cute and each letter is hand stamped.  If I were making them now I’d grab a brown sack and quickly write the words on them.  One child vs. three. :)  My point is that they don’t have to be fancy!  The brown strips are just paper for the kids to write on.  Yes they coordinate with the labels.  Like I said.. one child.  ;)

Show your family the four sacks and explain that these are the true gifts of Christmas (gifts we can give to the Savior – gifts that come from the heart).  Explain what each one means and brainstorm possible examples that each of you can do during the month of December.  Faith might include doing things like reading books about the Savior or saying prayers or being honest (anything related to your religion/beliefs).  One example of showing Peace would be not fighting with brothers and sisters.  Love could be doing activities together as a family and other ways to show more love to others during the month.  Service could include all sorts of activities you can do to serve others (12 days of Christmas for a family, bake cookies for a neighbor, helping around the house, etc.)  Let the kids brainstorm!  They always come up with the best ideas.  :)

Set the four sacks up in front of your Christmas tree for the month of December.  Every time someone gives one of these four gifts he/she writes it down on a piece of paper and puts it in the corresponding sack.  On Christmas Eve read the gifts out loud as a family.  You can also blow out candles on a cake to wish Jesus a happy birthday.  (My kids love that.)

This is a fun way to help the kids (and parents!) remember daily why we celebrate Christmas.  It also encourages kids to have good behavior and think of others throughout December.  A win win!

Wishing all of you the best month!  Aside from getting our trees decorated and our gifts wrapped I hope we all feel and share the love that comes with this special time of year.

There’s nothing like it.  :)