As Christmas comes closer each year, one great way to increase excitement for the holiday and reflect on its deeper meanings is using an advent calendar to count down the days. These calendars come in a variety of designs, with having a serious tone and focusing on pertinent hymns or Bible verses and others having a small toy or piece of sweetie attached to each day. Whether the calendar is religious or secular in nature, it can help ease the difficulty of waiting such a long time for Christmas.

The key to successfully incorporating an advent calendar into your Christmas preparations is to be intentional about it. It's much more fun if you make a tradition of opening the calendar every day so that you have tangible evidence of Christmas getting nearer all the time. It usually works best to do it first thing in the morning around breakfast or in the evening before bed. You might want to get multiple calendars, one for each child in your family, or just one and have them take turns being the one to lift the flap or open the box.

One way to make this even more fun is to periodically do something a little different. For instance, every Sunday you may decide to hide Christmas gifts for each child and then have them search for them after the calendar has been opened. This helps to personalize the experience because you are getting gifts specifically for them rather than just having them find whatever surprise is inside the calendar. Turning it into a hide and seek game adds to the fun of it. You might also have the kids hide each other's gifts.

If you want to take a more solemn approach, try singing a Christmas carol, reading a meditation or scripture reading and sharing Christmas cards that the family has received. This helps to keep the focus on the more spiritual and communal aspects of Christmas instead of it simply being an opportunity to get more Christmas gifts . However you decide to include Advent calendars in your pre-Christmas traditions, it can be a great chance for the family to enjoy some quiet time together to enjoy one another's company.