One Night: An Advent Calendar Review

Advent Calendars are a great way to encourage reflection during the Christmas season. As we take time throughout the month of December to reflect on the birth of Jesus, these can be helpful tools.

Advent Calendar Review

I LOVE Christmas! It is seriously my favorite time of year. I love the lights, the music, the décor, the comfy clothes, the gift giving, the church services, and even the snow! I love how it brings people together. I love how it breaks up the bleak days. I love telling the story of God becoming flesh every day to my children for an entire month as we play with plastic nativities, set up glass ones, pretend to be the characters and sing carols. I love to visit my neighbors with freshly baked cookies and watch my children’s eyes light up as they sit under the Christmas tree. I LOVE Christmas!

I don’t follow much about the traditional Christian calendar but I do enjoy celebrating advent. I like to intentionally turn my heart toward the true meaning of Christmas for more than one or two days. I like to encourage my children to participate as we turn the pages anxiously each day.

Related: Advent Ideas for the Whole Family

That is why I was particularly happy when I got the offer to review a new advent calendar that is currently going through a Kickstarter campaign. I received a copy of this large, black and white trifold and immediately set about using it with my children. We opened every page and read the entire story and here is my honest opinion:

Pros:

• Beautifully illustrated

The artwork really draws you in. It makes you want to read the story and engage. The drawings are intricate and each flap brings you closer to the story.

• Size

This is a great size! It is a perfect display piece for a coffee table because either standing up or lying flat, it is eye catching.

• Simplicity

The story is written simply, with an emphasis on the artwork pulling you through the story. It not flashy or overdone but that is part of the charm. Done completely in black and white, it is also has a calming effect amid the flash and color of Christmas décor.

• Quality

The calendar itself is very high quality. It is done on thick cardstock, is not at all bendable when folded shut, and heavy enough to stand on its own.

 

Cons:

• Hard to Follow

This may just be me but the story seemed a little hard to follow. Due to some literary choices, the story seems to jump around history a little and it was kind of confusing.

• One continuing story

Honestly I have this issue with a lot of advent calendars. No one flap on the board gave me the opportunity to have a full thought. I read the entire story in one sitting to my children but there was not enough for us to grab on to and remember if we tried to stretch it out over an entire month. The advent calendar is about the length of a children’s story (though not specifically designed for children) and you essentially read one sentence of the story each day during advent. As you can imagine, one simple sentence doesn’t give you much to build on.

Advent Decor

I do plan to use this as a decoration in my home this year. It is simple and beautiful and may prove to be an excellent conversation starter (that has yet to be determined).

All in all, it did make me look forward to Christmas even more! It was 90 degrees here today but I am daydreaming about snowy trees and twinkling lights. I am excited to use many tools with my children this Christmas and I am sure this resource will be utilized on more than one occasion.

If you are interested in helping to fund this Kickstarter, watch the video below for more information. If this gets fully funded, it could be in your hands before the start of advent 2018!

***I received a free copy of this advent calendar in exchange for my honest review***