Christmas is just around the corner! I feel like each year goes by faster and faster. I always think I have a good plan for Advent with my kids, but usually the Holidays get so busy it just falls to the wayside and we are back to reading from our same old Advent book that we use every year. I think my kids have it memorized by now! I will say that my younger kids enjoy our little Advent book, but the older ones need something deeper and meaningful. This is the reason I am so thankful we have Truth in the Tinsel for this year’s Advent!

Truth in the Tinsel is a complete 24-day Advent experience for kids of all ages! The e-book alone is $9.99, but you can also get the bundle for $21. The bundle includes the e-book as well as supplementary ornament templates and some large print whimsical Christmas tree downloads you can download and have printed. Everything you need is in the downloadable e-book, aside from the craft supplies of course. We had most on hand, and anything we didn’t we easily found at the store. The author, Amanda White, really made Truth in the Tinsel with all families in mind!

Your e-book download will contain everything you need to facilitate a beautiful Advent experience with your kids. At the end of the book there are templates for “clues.” You can either print them off and put them in an Advent calendar you already own, or just print out the paper chain clues and assemble it. Each day your kids will get their clue, which will somehow correlate to that days Scripture reading. Once you have your clue, find a comfy spot to enjoy God’s word with your little ones. During your reading time, you can have your kids listen for the clue word, and when they hear it they can shout it out, or not. It’s up to you, but exciting to have them listen so intently and their eyes get all wide and excited when they hear it! Once you have finished your Scripture you can move on to the ornament craft for that day. All the ornaments in Truth in the Tinsel are so cute and creative! There are colored step-by-step directions for each ornament as well as templates for them all in your e-book. As you work together to make your ornaments there are talking points to facilitate a conversation with your kids. Keeping their hands busy really helped my kids meditate and think on the Scriptures we read that day. One of the things I really loved about Truth in the Tinsel is that it doesn’t just tell you the short version of Jesus’ birth, it starts in Isaiah! Long before Jesus was born, God told us he was sending us a rescuer!

All together it took us about 30 minutes a day to get through it all. Maybe a little longer if the younger ones wanted to assert their independence with scissors and glue. There are some optional extras in Truth in the Tinsel that you can use to your discretion as well. There are some suggested DVD’s you can find, books, songs and extra talking points. But don’t feel obligated and frazzled to do it all. There are a few alternate reading schedules at the end of the e-book as well, just in case your Christmas time is extra busy. The important thing during Christmas is to remember God’s greatest gift to us, Jesus! And no matter how you work through Truth in the Tinsel, your kids are going to experience Advent in a meaningful way! We really enjoyed using Truth in the Tinsel and I hope it blesses your family as well.

-Product review by Ashley Koulak, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, November, 2018