Advent with Mary: A Free Guide for Busy Families

We are a family with seven children, and we know how full December gets. Between school, church, errands and everything else, it is easy to reach Christmas Eve and wonder where Advent went.

So we made a guide for families like ours. It is called Advent with Mary, and it walks through Advent with Mary and the Joyful Mysteries, one small thing a day.

How it works

Advent 2026 runs from Sunday, November 29 to Thursday, December 24. Each day has one small thing to do, and there are four kinds of days:

  • Pray: a short prayer or a decade of the rosary, said together.
  • Do: a small kindness or family habit, such as helping a neighbor.
  • Make: a simple craft with supplies most homes already have.
  • Read: a short Bible passage read aloud, usually just a few verses.

You do not have to do every day. Pick what fits, skip the rest, and begin again tomorrow.

What is inside

  • A page for each of the four weeks, with ideas for toddlers and for older kids
  • A page for the feast days of St. Nicholas, Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Lucy
  • Step-by-step directions for six simple crafts, from a handprint lily to a tissue paper star
  • A supply list, so you can gather everything before December starts
  • A "rough day" box on every week page. On a day when everything falls apart, light a candle, say one Hail Mary, and call it Advent.

A peek at the crafts

Here are a few of the finished crafts from the guide, all made at our own kitchen table.

Paper lily made from a traced handprint with a green pipe cleaner stem
Handprint lily

Handmade Nativity Christmas card on kraft paper with stickers and marker lettering
Christmas cards

Pink tissue paper rose on a green pipe cleaner stem
Paper roses

Tissue paper star suncatcher in blue and yellow on clear contact paper
Tissue paper star

Construction paper Nativity picture of baby Jesus in a manger under a yellow star
Nativity picture

Using it with an Advent wreath

If you have an Advent wreath, light one more candle each Sunday: three purple and one rose. The rose candle is for Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday. Battery candles work just as well for little ones, and if you have no wreath, a single candle on the table is enough.

Get your free copy

The guide is free. Sign up for our newsletter and we will send it right away: advent-guide.subscribepage.io

If you would like to make your Advent a little more hands-on, you can also see our Advent and Christmas Kits.

Wishing you a peaceful Advent.

Courtney
Joyful Mama Joyful Baby

Back to blog