Celebrating Epiphany: Enjoy January 6th with Your Kiddos!

Epiphany is a Christian holiday usually celebrated on January 6th that is emphasized more in Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican churches, but I think it has value for all Christians.  The Greek term epiphaneia means "to manifest or reveal."  On Epiphany, Christians remember how Jesus Christ's deity was manifested.  As such, churches may discuss Jesus' baptism, where his deity was declared or miracles that revealed his deity.  Celebrated twelve days after Christmas, some churches commemorate the visit of the wise men and recognize Jesus' arrival for all nations.  I always leave Christmas decorations up until Epiphany and try to find ways to celebrate the holiday.

This year I am including my daughter in a celebration of Epiphany. She's old enough now, 5, to understand certain concepts. I am focusing on the wise men and what their arrival and gifts say about Jesus. To do so in a creative way I found a really neat idea on a website. I am going to make a wise man bag and put three objects in it that represent the wise men. I bought a star ornament to talk about the star they followed, a gold ornament for the gold gift and hand lotion for something that smells to discuss frankincense and myrrh. I love this way to approach talking about Epiphany because it is visual, tactile and even involves smelling. Great for little kiddos.

I also have a three wise men craft we'll do to make our own wise men. You can find it here.

After we talk about the wise men and their gifts, I found a lesson on Epiphany on a website and I like its application. It asks what gifts we can bring to Jesus this year. I'm going to modify it a bit for my daughter asking more, "What can you do to serve Jesus and others this year?" So I bought her a calendar (she's really into calendars) and we're going to hang it up with her ideas written on it. That gives us the opportunity to review and discuss our gifts we are giving to Jesus throughout the year.

I am so excited to include my daughter in Epiphany this year! I hope these ideas might encourage you to make Epiphany a special day in your home as well.