It’s that time of year, when across the land, teachers are panicking: it’s nearly December! Which, if you’re in a Christian primary school, means productions, crafts, pantomimes… and advent calendars! If you haven’t organised yours yet, I’m here to share why Bookvent is the perfect class advent calendar, and how you can make one super fast, and super cheap!

CLASSROOM ADVENT CALENDARS

Classroom advent calendars are a great tool for teaching about the origins of the festive season.

In a time full of off-timetable shenanigans, they’re also a brilliant tool to bring the class together, uniting them in a shared experience which helps strengthen classroom community. Classroom advent calendars give children something to look forward to at the end of each day- perfect for those students who may not enjoy the festive rehearsals. And the numbered system is perfect for those children who struggle when the timetable goes off-piste: every day, they know one thing that will happen.

These days you can get an advent calendar featuring just about anything, from the traditional picture-behind-a-door retelling the Nativity, to chocolates, toys, beauty products and even beverages. But, Advent in school doesn’t have to be tokenistic, food-based or consumerist. You don’t even have to run to the shops.

Advent can be the perfect opportunity to share the love and joy of books.

Any teacher looking to develop reading for pleasure in their classroom, should think about running a Bookvent calendar in their class.

WHY A BOOKVENT CALENDAR?

A Bookvent (book-advent) calendar is a really popular activity to run in the lead up to Christmas, and for good reason. Number one, it builds connection through the shared experience of story time. These positive connections made during story time are threefold- students connect with the text, with their emotions and with one another. Powerful stuff.

Not only that, but listening to and reading stories, help children to build empathy. Exposure to different viewpoints in narratives provide children with the opportunity to step into someone else’s shoes, whilst hearing their thoughts through narration. It really is the tool for developing an awareness of the impact of actions.

The daily act of story time for a Bookvent calendar is also perfect for calming the chaos. Like glitter falling in a snow globe, story time helps to bring down the energy, releasing tension and restoring balance. And anyone with any experience of school life in the run-up to Christmas will appreciate the need for an instant injection of calm.

Finally, there’s no better way to celebrate the joy of books than to open one each day as an actual present. I often say reading is like a present, but in this case, we step away from the metaphor and make it tangible. Each day there is a new present to unwrap, a new story to enjoy and new shoes to live in.

WHAT ABOUT ACTIVITIES?

During story time, I always encourage my students to do 3 things: get comfy, get creative and listen.

This looks different for all of my students and helps them to stay engaged by keeping their hands busy through a mindless, but repetitive task (such as building a model using Lego or colouring in). Though it may sound counterintuitive, keeping your hands busy is an excellent way to regulate and aids concentration. Just think about it for a moment: when you have to concentrate for a long period of time, say in a meeting, jury duty or on a course, how do you stay focussed? Do you doodle? Fiddle with your jewellery? Perhaps you make notes? Or maybe you switch legs, wriggle about in your seat, look to get up and move… or switch off? It’s all self-regulation in the name of concentration (apart from the last one!)

Adding a range of activities to story time is a great way to avoid monotony and stimulate creativity.

During advent, these activities can also help to embrace the festive season whilst teaching about the origins of the traditions children know and love and develop global awareness with regards to traditions they’re less familiar with.

3 WAYS TO RUN A BOOKVENT CALENDAR

1 Children and parents

The brilliant Jen Foster came up with the most genius plan to take the hard work out of running a Bookvent Calendar. In a reel shared on Instagram, Jen explains how she asks children to select a book they’d love to read, then asks parents to kindly wrap it and send it into school. She then numbers the books and hey presto! Her Bookvent is created! I love this idea because it really helps take the stress out of the creation of an advent calendar for teachers and gives students ownership. Win, win.

2 Your local library

If you don’t have enough time to ask families to do this, do not fear! Your local library is your best friend! Head over there, select books of your choice to borrow for free, wrap up, and number ready to share. This is a great option if like me, you’ve left it too late to involve the parents!

3 Add on some activities

You can even use this time to complete some festive crafts! By adding on activities, you can switch it up- have a story on it’s own, or get creative juices flowing whilst they listen to a story or a poem.

So this advent, why not give a Bookvent Calendar a go, and help celebrate the joy and magic of books. It could be the start of a brand-new tradition in your classroom!