Advent Wreath Lesson Plan
We made these wreaths several years ago and still use them in the church during Advent season worship, rather than a flashy expensive Advent wreath. We want the kids to see the value of the project and to encourage them to use their creations at home during Advent.
(Note that I sent home Advent readings for the kids but I did not create them so they are not attached. You could come up with readings that use scripture from Isaiah for the readings. Or use one of the free Advent devotions available online; we have collected some here.)
We did this project over two Sundays as I had the children paint the toilet roll tubes the first week. If you pre-painted these, they could be done in one Sunday. Or have the students wrap the tubes in precut colored paper.
Objectives: Children will make an Advent Wreath. They will also take home an Advent Wreath Handout explaining the tradition behind the Advent wreath and an advent program to use at home. Children will leave with a full understanding of Advent and the meaning behind the wreath.
Materials:
- wicker plates (one of each child) – or something for a base
- Green Styrofoam® sheet (florist foam) - I used one about 1” thick x 12" wide x 36” long, one sheet does about 10 children, cut into even squares
- Toilet Tissue Rolls, 5 per child
- Acrylic paint (pink & purple & white)
- Paintbrushes & Glass of water to thin thickness of paint, if necessary
- Paint shirts – we use old shirts and blouses put on backward with one button done up and the sleeves rolled up enough that they can work easily but keep their arms free from paint.
- Hot glue gun & glue sticks (adult use only)
- White Glue in individual containers
- LCD Battery Tea Lights - 5 per child (to save money, ask parents to buy them)
- Plastic or silk greenery garlands – we used two garlands from Michael’s, one with holly & berries and one with gold poinsettias
- Aluminum pie plates
- Pens/Pencils/Painters' Tape
- Paper Towels
- Ornaments to put on wreath: Apples, angels, presents, pine cones - purchased from dollar store
- Individual stickers saying Hope, Peace, Joy, Love
Instructions:
Advent wreath require two Sundays to complete if the students paint the paper tubes.
First Sunday - introduction plus paint the paper tubes:
- Have a sample made and go over with children what each part represents on the advent wreath – use the Advent Handout for guidance. Editor's note: This Advent Handout is not included with this idea due to copyright reasons; you can find Advent resources here.
- Next hand each child an aluminum plate. Give them each a piece of painter’s tape and write their name on it and stick it on the inside bottom of the plate.
- Give each child a paper towel, 5 toilet roll tubes, and a paintbrush. Have the three colours of paint in several small containers (glad containers with lids work well and clean up easily). Have them paint 1 white, 1 pink, and 3 purple. Show them if they put their fingers inside they can hold it and not get too much paint on their hands. Have them place painted candles on their pie plate and set aside to dry for the next Sunday.
Second Sunday - discuss the specific candle meanings while the wreath is assembled:
- In advance, I cut apart the garlands and placed the individual pieces into containers. I also placed the ornaments (angels, apples, presents, etc.) and in containers. I made a list of how many of each item the children could have and as we finished each section I told them how many of the next item they could have and if they needed to place it in a certain spot (like the angel).
- Each child should have a glue pot (we used white glue in glad containers with lids).
- Have each child pick out a wicker plate (the ones we had were different colours). Once they pick out a wicker plate, hand it to the teacher and she will take a piece of hard foam, cut it to fit (cutting corners off as necessary, then with the glue gun glue it to the centre of the plate) and hand it back to the child.
- Give them their candles they painted the previous week and have them remove the tape and place it on the outside rim of their wicker plate and hand back in the aluminum plates as they will no longer be needed.
- They need to press their candles into the foam like the ones are in the sample, press and then use a rocking motion (works best). Note: the foam is not round so it is o.k. to have only half your candle in the foam. Do not press right through the foam, only need about a ¼”. Now remove each candle dip into the white glue, twirl a little to catch any falling glue, then place candle back into foam into holes already made.
- Next, each child received 3 gold poinsettias. They were shown to fold up the leaves and just dip the stem into the glue, then press the poinsettia’s glued stem into the foam.
- Next, each child received 5 berry leaves with attached berries and dip into glue and press into foam.
- Next, each child received several leaves and dip into glue and press into foam on top or into the sides of the foam. As they work they slowly try to fill all the bare places so that eventually none of the green foam shows.
- Lastly, they are given the ornaments to add and we went over the meaning behind each – I asked first to see if they remembered what it represented and I expanded on those answers.
- Present (mini wrapped gift) – Best Christmas Present of All is JESUS.
- Pinecone - symbolizes life and resurrection.
- Angel – the third candle (pink) is also called the Angel Candle (placed on or by the pink candle)
- Apple – represents the first sin by Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden; Jesus came to take away our sins.
- Stickers (if you found any) – Hope, Peace, Joy & Love – place on each candle. Note: place on correct candles, based on colours in the Advent devotion you chose!
- Wreaths were put on shelf to be picked up after Sunday school the following Sunday. We decided this as the white glue does not dry instantly and we thought they’d make it home in one piece if they were well dried. Before the kids come on Sunday you can test each one by turning upside down, if any pieces are loose, use the hot glue gun prior to kids picking up.
