You’re Not Too Late: 6 Ideas for a Shorter Advent Plan

Christmas season always sneaks up on us, doesn’t it? With the business of fall and then the Thanksgiving holiday, I don’t know how many times I’ve suddenly realized the first day of Advent has come and gone!

If you’re in the same boat, don’t worry! It’s not too late to participate in Advent this year. Advent usually starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas or on December 1, but if you missed it this time, that’s ok! Just start when you can and enjoy it with your family.

Here are a few ideas for shorter Advent plans to make it easy for you!

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Try an Advent Plan That Starts Mid-Month

There are a few Advent plans that are are already designed to start mid-month. You can use the Christmas Brick Challenge and start 12 days before Christmas for a fun and meaningful way to celebrate. It includes scripture readings, Lego challenges, coloring pages, and more!

We love to use the Jesse Tree in our home, which starts at creation and tells a more complete picture of Jesus from start to finish. It is a beautiful tradition! You can find out how to do a Jesse tree, plus get an abbreviated Jesse Tree reading plan that starts on December 15th!

You can also consider using Names of Jesus Advent scriptures. Instead of going though the Christmas story events each day, you read a scripture describing one of the many names of Jesus. You could pick a subset to do with your family or just start when you can and continue into January for a wonderful way to bless the New Year!

Adapt Any Advent Plan

There are so many Advent plans and Christmas activities out there, it’s a shame not to use the one that you were hoping to try. One option is to double up or triple up each day until you catch up to the calendar. This may work find for older kids or short devotions, but I’ve found it a little too cumbersome for us and we don’t end up following through with it.

Another way is to choose a smaller set of Advent topics and do just those readings or activities. Simply figure out how many days you have from now until Dec 25 and highlight that many days from the Advent plan. Pull out the scripture readings, devotions, and activities for each of those days! This Advent calendar is a cute idea to incorporate.

Download This Shortened Scripture Reading Plan

Sometimes we have so many other Christmas things going on and too little time to pull off crafts or activities if we’re starting late. If that’s you right now, here’s a quick and easy scripture reading plan you can start using December 15th! It fits in easily with any other activities you already have going on. Just read each one during breakfast, at dinner, or before bed!