CLOSED: Countdown to Christmas-book (Festive R&G)

* Click here to view the name(s) of the winner(s)*

With Christmas several days away, we know it's easy to get caught in the fun, festivities and joy of the season. At times it's hard especially for our little ones when they see Santa in the mall and elves in cartoons...sometimes Santa becomes the focus but here's a lovely little book that helps prepare your little ones to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas with a day by day countdown to the special day.

Countdown to Christmas by Dr Mary Manz Simon beautifully suggests a fun Christmas activity for your little one to do either with a little help from Mommy, Daddy or an older sibling or by himself/herself. Each day's activity ends with a little prayer your child can pray and a verse from the Bible relating to the activity of the day.

For instance, on day 1: i.e. December 1: you get to make a pretty green and red paper chain with 25 links. Each link needs to be taken off as you start a new day. What a lovely physical symbol to show your little one how to countdown the days till Christmas.

On December 3rd, the Christmas story is first introduced to your child. As each day goes by, little bits from the story is shared so by December 25th your little one knows exactly why we celebrate Christmas and will remember each bit with the fun activity he/she did.

I love Dr Mary Manz Simon's books. This will be Bunny girl's 5th book by her and each one so far has been such a blessing not just to Bunny girl but even to me. I know these books have ministered to me with their simple language, thought filled themes and blessed insights.

Countdown to Christmas is a board book suggested for children 4+ but I think the activities are easy for a 3 year old to work on and understand too. The book is priced at 9.99 US$ in the Scholastic store and if you order right away you will miss doing just a few days out of the countdown. This is a book worth buying and as Dr Mary says.." your child will learn that the birth of God's Son is the reason we celebrate"


Win it:

Three readers will have the opportunity to win Countdown to Christmas by Dr Mary Manz Simon

(I'm closing this contest early-on December 5th 2009, so that the winners can receive the books early...allowing several days to count down to Christmas)


Here's how you can win it:

1. Mandatory entry (without this, all other entries will be disqualified)-

Leave a comment letting me know a fun Christmas activity you do with your kid(s).

Additional entries:

- 2. Subscribe to my blog (remember you need to activate the subscription if you subscribe via email) or Follow my blog & leave a comment stating that you subscribe or follow.

- 3. Blog about this giveaway (leave a comment with a link to your blog post)

- 4. Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway and add the hashtag #ebmr at the end. (You can tweet daily. Each daily tweet counts as an additional entry)

- 5. Add the link to this giveaway on a Mr Linky on a blog giveaway site, forum, carnival. (leave a comment with the link)

-6. Snag my Blog button and leave a comment with the link.

-7. Snag the Festive Giveaways button and leave a comment with the link.

This giveaway is open to US residents, 18 years and above.

3 winners will be chosen with the random.org generator on December 5 2009 at 10 pm Central time, so enter before that. The winners names will be posted thereafter. Please note if any winner does not get back to me 48 hours after his/her name has been posted, I will pick a new winner.


** EBMR Disclaimer: Scholastic sent me this book for review purposes only. The reviews attached to this giveaway have not been monetarily compensated and is based on the views and opinions of my family and/or self. Please note that the opinions reflected in the related review posts have not been influenced by the sponsor in any way.**