A New Christmas Tradition

Since last year I've been thinking about starting a new tradition at Christmas for my kids. I think the Elf of the Shelf is funny, and I liked some things about it, but not all. My kids don't believe in Santa, so it didn't seem like it would fit with the way we celebrate Christmas. I had also read some ideas about "Kindness Elves" or "Christmas Angels" but I had come across someone's idea to have little wise men that they would move around and suggest activities that would promote kindness, service and charity. But it wasn't an idea that had been hashed out completely, not something that you could just print off and do. So I decided to flesh it out myself. And so, on December 1st it began.

The "Wandering Wise Men" arrived in a present with a note that said, "We are the Wandering Wise Men and we are traveling from the east, using the light from the star as our guide. We are searching for our Savior, Jesus Christ. In order to find him we will need to become more like Him on our journey. It is our hope to receive help from you along the way and maybe we'll even end up helping you, too!"

Every morning the boys find the Wandering Wise Men in our house with a little note about what they are doing or something nice the boys can do that day. Here's what week one of our new tradition looked like:

 Day 1: They built a Lego house to sleep in so that they would be well rested for their journey.

 Day 2: They were enjoying one another's company and suggested we have a fun evening spent together with our family.

 Day 3: They were writing letters and gave the boys paper to write to their cousin Victoria who is serving a mission.

 Day 4: They brought the boys a movie.

 Day 5: We went to our ward Christmas "Breakfast with the Wise men."

 Day 6: They brought the boys stickers to make cards for their Primary teachers to thank them for teaching them about Jesus all year.

Day 7: The Wise Men were singing Christmas songs at the piano.

So far the kids have enjoyed doing this. And I've tried to keep it really simple so that I don't become stressed out about having to keep up!