Review: On Angel’s Wings

a beautiful version of the Christmas story Title: On Angels’ Wings Author: Michael Morpurgo Illustrator: Quentin Blake Published by: Egmont UK RRP: Â£5.99 or only £2.90 here Best for: families looking for a different route into the Christmas story, full of wonder and beauty Best bit: glorious story telling by Michael matched by stunning illustration by Quentin – a match made in … Read more

50 Faith at Home Ideas for Christmas

Christmas is a great time to celebrate Jesus. However, it is also a very busy time, so we need to be intentional. Each year I try to prioritise three activities to help us: The list below is a collection of ideas, one or two of which might be just right for your family this year. … Read more

Three questions for a connected Christmas

It’s December, the last month in what has been a pretty dreadful year in many ways. How do we celebrate Christmas? In order to work out our answer to that question, I’ve got three questions (I’ve put each in three different ways – make your choice!): What is your family like? / What do you … Read more

How to do faith at home at Christmas

Advent and Christmas are notoriously busy. So much so, that there could be a case for not bothering to try to do anything faith at home focused and just starting again in the New Year. However, I believe it’s such a wonderful season, we would be crazy not to take advantage of the opportunities. One … Read more

8 ways to use the Nativity I-spy Colouring Poster

I love colouring and I love Christmas, so this Nativity I-spy Colouring Poster is a perfect combination. I’m also a big fan of using the activities we do around Christmas to celebrate Jesus in some way, so here are some ideas on how you can use this colouring poster: 1 Just colour it. Use it … Read more

Christmas art meditation using The Glorious Impossible

I love this book! It’s the Christmas and Easter stories told by the eloquent Madeleine L’Engle illustrated with frescoes from the Scrovegni Chapel by Giotto. You can see my review of the book here, but this post is about how I’ve used the pictures and story in this book to meditate on the Christmas story … Read more

Review: The Christmas Mystery

Title: The Christmas Mystery Written by: Jostein Gaarder (author of Sophie’s World) Published by: Orion Children’s Books Useful for: parents of children aged 7–11 years old Best bit: The story is clever and beautiful, mysterious and fascinating, a treat for adults and children alike, with 24 chapters exploring the birth of Jesus, making it perfect … Read more

24 Christmas Books

Wrap up 24 Christmas-y books then unwrap and read one a day during Advent. All you need to do is collect* and wrap up 24 Christmas books and number them 1—24. Open one a day and share together. I found seven Christmas books for £5.80 in three of my local charity/ secondhand book shops, so … Read more

Crown Christmas Cards

I found these little wooden crowns in The Range where they are £1 for 12. I thought they would make nice Christmas cards, since Christmas is celebrating the birthday of the king of Kings! Here are a few ideas: Cut out squares of paper in ever decreasing sizes. Glue them onto the card, largest first, … Read more

Chocolate Star Prayers

Read the story from Matthew 2 or listen to it being read by David Suchet. Invite everyone to chat or think about the impact the star had on the wise men, what impact did it have in their lives? The sorts of things they might say include that: it guided them when they saw it, … Read more