Advent for Kids: Devotional Materials...

However creative and imaginative we want to be, when it comes to centreing ours, and our children's hearts, on Christ at Christmas, there is nothing that equals reading the Word itself... That's why some good devotional advent material is so wonderfully helpful for keeping our focus on what really matters.

I don't write this as the guru on devotional materials... We have been parents for less that two and a half years, so this is very much a list in progress... If there's anything you've found particularly helpful, please let me know. We are always looking for great, Christ-centred material that is creative and accessible for our little ones.

Here's our top tips...

The Jesus Storybook Bible: Sally Lloyd Jones and Jago

This remains our favourite children's bible... The stories are so engaging, the illustrations beautiful, the insight, depth and accessibility for little ones is fabulous. We love to read the Christmas story in the run up to Christmas in this Bible. I'll be honest, I love this Bible as much as the girls do, and I have, on more than one occasion, been known to use it for getting a better understanding of how all of Scripture points to Jesus. It's just fabulous!

The Beginners Bible: The Very First Christmas

This is a fabulous little book which tells the Christmas story really simply; it is short and sweet, meaning it is accessible for our little Heidi too (who tries to eat the pages every five seconds if they aren't turn fast enough!) You can also get "Beginning with God at Christmas" as a fun activity book to go along with it for toddlers who can then stick in the stickers, colour the pages and have a go at the activities. I highly recommend this for the littlest of tots right up to children in year 2.

Bake Through the Bible

We received this book earlier this year and it is fabulous! If you have kiddies who enjoy baking, this is a wonderful book all year round for teaching biblical truths in a fun and creative way. Christmas cupcakes and starry jam tarts are on the festive menu, but there's a whole host of ideas with great discussion questions and activities to do as you bake your way through the book. We've loved having a go at some of these and are looking forward to trying out the Christmas treats!

The Song of the Stars

We're big Sally Lloyd Jones fans. She has a beautiful writing style which captures the essence of Bible stories, and the repetition captivates little ones. Sally Lloyd Jones has such a fantastic way of making familiar stories fresh and, coupled with beautiful illustrations, that makes this one of my favourite books to read with the girls this year.

The essence of this story is summarised in its closing line...

Heaven's Son, sleeping under the stars that he made.

And for us??

This remains my favourite Christmas devotional. It is short and sweet, which is perfect when you have small children running around, ever seeking your attention... But it is jam-packed full of mind-blowing, awesome, God-exalting truth, and leads you through advent to marvel at the Christ child, and the God who sent him. Plus it's free, and downloadable on your Kindle/tablet... So you can read it anywhere.

Download it now! I promise you won't regret it!