Teaching Your Kids the Words of Christmas

Christmas comes with its own vocabulary – did you know that? 

Our kids hear words like Advent, Bethlehem, Christ, Emmanuel, and manger in Christmas songs, church services, storybooks, and Scripture readings all season long. They may be able to sing the words right along with us—but do they know what those words actually mean?

Christmas is a wonderful opportunity to build our children’s biblical and theological vocabulary. Because when we teach our kids the words of our faith, we’re giving them language to understand the truths of our faith.

And Christmas is full of really good words to learn!

Advent

Advent means “coming” or “arrival,” which makes it the perfect word to introduce at the beginning of the Christmas season.

During Advent, Christians remember the long waiting that came before the birth of Jesus. God had promised to send a Savior, and His people waited for His arrival.

We also remember that Christians are waiting today! Jesus has promised to come again, and we are waiting expectantly for His return.

That makes Advent about much more than counting down the days until Christmas morning. It reminds us that God keeps His promises—and that His people can trust Him while we wait.

Christ

We say the name Jesus Christ so often that our children may assume Christ is simply Jesus’ last name!

But Christ is a title. It means “Anointed One” and corresponds to the Old Testament title Messiah.

For generations, God’s people had been waiting for the promised Messiah—the King and Savior God had promised to send. When we call Jesus the Christ, we are declaring that He is that promised One.

That gives us a wonderful opportunity to teach our kids that the baby in the manger is also the long-awaited King.

Emmanuel

You’ll probably sing this word several times during December: “O come, O come, Emmanuel.”

But what does Emmanuel mean?

Matthew tells us plainly: “God with us.”

What an incredible truth to teach our children at Christmas! Jesus is not merely a special baby or an important person in the Bible. In Jesus, God the Son took on flesh and came to dwell among His people.

When your family sings the word Emmanuel this Christmas, stop and ask your kids if they remember what it means. Before long, they may be the ones shouting back, “God with us!”

Savior

The angels announced to the shepherds that a Savior had been born.

That word tells us why Jesus came.

Christmas is beautiful, but it isn’t simply the story of a miraculous birth. Jesus came because we needed rescuing. Sin separates us from our holy God, and we cannot save ourselves. The Son of God came to live the perfect life we could not live, die for sinners, and rise again.

Even our youngest children can begin learning this simple truth: Jesus came to save.

Teaching Our Kids the Language of Faith

Sometimes we shy away from using big theological words with our kids because we assume they won’t understand them. But children learn new vocabulary all the time!

If they can learn the names of dinosaurs, princesses, construction vehicles, or every character in their favorite show, they can learn words like Advent, Christ, and Emmanuel.

We just need to teach them what those words mean.

And when we do, we’re giving our children categories they will continue to fill in as they grow. A preschooler’s understanding of Savior will be simpler than a twelve-year-old’s understanding, and that’s okay. We’re laying a foundation now that can deepen for the rest of their lives.

That’s one of the reasons we created The ABCs of Christmas. The book walks children through Christmas from A to Z, introducing them to the people, places, words, and theological truths that help them better understand the coming of Christ.

This Christmas, don’t be afraid to give your kids some big words.

Explain them. Repeat them. Sing them. Point them out when you hear them at church or encounter them in Scripture.

Because those Christmas words carry some very big truths—and those truths are worth knowing