Countdown to the Manger: A Free Family Advent Devotional for Kids

Most Christian parents want December to point their kids toward Jesus, and most of us also know how quickly the month gets away from us. Countdown to the Manger is a free family Advent devotional made for exactly that tension. It takes about five minutes a day, it’s written for children ages 4 to 10, and each day your kids add one paper piece to a nativity scene, so the picture fills in a little at a time until Baby Jesus arrives on Christmas Eve.

What is Countdown to the Manger?

The book has one short reading for each day from December 1 to 25, plus a bonus page for January 6. It starts in the garden of Eden with God’s first promise of a Savior and follows that promise through Abraham, David and the prophets to Zechariah, Mary, Joseph and the long road to Bethlehem. By Christmas Day the angels are singing over the shepherds’ fields, and the whole story has led to the moment the angel announced:

The stories are written to be read aloud, with plenty of room for funny voices, and they’re simple enough for preschoolers while still giving older kids something to think about. Most nights it takes about five minutes, which means it can happen on the couch, at the dinner table or even in the car on the way home.

Flip through Countdown to the Manger

What a day looks like

Each day has a title, a short Bible story told in kid-friendly language, a memory verse, one easy question to talk about and a short prayer to pray together. There’s also a “try this” idea for nights when you have a few extra minutes, like a quick game of hide-and-seek on the first day to remember that God always knows right where we are.

Then comes the part kids look forward to. Every day has its own paper piece, such as the stars, the sheep, Mary, Joseph, the donkey or the manger, and each piece has a numbered spot on the big nativity scene. Your child colors it (or picks the full-color version), cuts it out and glues it in place. The wise men work a little differently, since they’re traveling. The first one sets out across the room on December 20, two more join him the next day, and you scoot them a little closer every day until they reach Jesus on January 6.

If you miss a day, don’t worry. Just pick up where you left off.

Free bonus resources

The download page includes:

• Nativity scene and pieces, in a version to color and a full-color version that’s ready to cut and glue
• Countdown chart where kids color a box each day
• 26 coloring pages, one for every reading including January 6
• Memory verse cards for the fridge or a lunchbox
• Phone wallpapers with a verse for each week

How to use this Advent devotional for families

Before December 1, print the nativity scene and the piece sheets, and pick a spot for your scene where everyone will see it every day. The first night you’ll set up the stable together, and each night after that you’ll add one more piece. On busy nights, skip the activity and just read the story and pray. Five minutes with a wiggly preschooler still counts.

Jesus welcomed children gladly and told his disciples,

A little book and a paper nativity are humble tools, and they give parents a simple way to bring their kids to Jesus every day of December.

How churches can use it

Countdown to the Manger is an easy gift for your kids ministry to send home with families. You might hand it out in children’s classes two or three weeks before December, include it in a parent email with the download link or set out printed copies and nativity sheets at a welcome table. Some churches print the full-color nativity scenes for families who don’t have a color printer. The free promo kit includes a social caption, an announcement script, a bulletin blurb and an email paragraph you can adapt.

It also pairs well with our adult devotionals, Light Is Coming and His Name Shall Be Called, so parents can read one on their own while the whole family reads this one together.

If your church is a current Enduo client, you can request a custom version in your church’s branding by submitting a booklet request. Heavier edits over 12 pages may need a quote.

How to print your printable Advent devotional PDF

Choose your paper size

Choose Letter if you’re in the US, or A4 if you’re in most other countries.

Booklet file or regular file

Booklet file. Choose this if you want to fold the devotional into a little book. Print it double-sided, flip on the short edge, and print at actual size or 100% (not “fit to page”). Fold the stack in half and staple along the fold.

Regular file. Choose this to print single pages, to send to a print shop or to read from a tablet or phone at bedtime.

Print the nativity pieces single-sided

Keep the nativity scene, pieces and cards out of the booklet and print them single-sided at actual size on regular printer paper, so cutting out one piece never ruins another. The black and white versions are made for home printers and save ink, and they double as coloring sheets.

Printing from your phone

From a phone, choose your printer’s two-sided option and short-edge binding if it’s offered. If it isn’t, print the odd pages, flip the stack, put it back in the tray and print the even pages.

Prefer a paperback?

Countdown to the Manger is available as a paperback on Amazon. You’ll still want to download and print the free nativity scene and pieces to go with it.

Frequently asked questions

Want a devotional like this for your church?

We design Advent devotionals, sermon series companions and kids ministry take-homes for churches, with your branding, your pastors’ voices and your people in mind. Current Enduo churches can request a version of this one in their own branding by submitting a booklet request. Everyone else, send us a message.

Planning Advent for your whole church? Read Should Your Church Do an Advent Devotional? Or see our other two: Light Is Coming and His Name Shall Be Called.

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