An online calendar designed by the Diocese of Washington in part to help parents teach their children about Advent becomes active Dec. 1. In addition to the calendar there are other Advent-related activities available at the site for children.

“We created the calendar to give those who live online an opportunity to observe a prayerful Advent,” said Jim Naughton, diocesan director of communications. “But people tell us it has evolved into a family activity, and it’s a nice way to help direct charitable impulses that well up at this time of year.”

The calendar depicts a Peruvian tapestry of unspun wool in which shepherds in traditional white, black-banded hats pay homage to a Christ child sheltered beneath a rough stone arch.

Clicking on one of the calendar’s numbered windows produces a webpage featuring one of the distinctive figures from “Come and Behold Him,” the crèche exhibit at Washington National Cathedral. The page includes links to daily prayers, meditations and online giving opportunities.

The giving opportunities include a diocesan fund to aid families made homeless by a settlement fire near Johannesburg, South Africa, as well as a number of projects sponsored by Episcopal Relief and Development.

“One of the beauties of online giving is that you can make the gift in front of your child’s eyes,” Mr. Naughton said. “That’s powerful. All the more so because you aren’t just giving money, you’re giving something tangible -- a cow, some chickens, things that any child who has ever leafed through a storybook can relate to.”