Christmas is the most magical time of the year in our household and part of that magic is all the fun activities leading up to the day. I've had so much fun over the years coming up with fun advent calendars for my kids, so I thought I would share some of those ideas with you!
Book Avent Calendar
This was my favorite one to do with my kids! When they were little, I would wrap up 25 children's Christmas books and every night before bed they would take turns opening them. I took all the children's Christmas books we had and added to them with library books to get to 25 books.
Then every year we would pick one new book to add to our collection. On one of the pages, we would write down the year we got the book, and the kids would write a little something special.
Then every night before bed we would sit down as a family to read the book they unwrapped together. This was a perfect way to get the kids interested in reading and let us enjoy some family time before bed.
Stockings Advent Calendar
When the kids got a little older, I took the different sizes of their socks that I had saved and created an advent calendar. I wanted to make them look old so I tea dyed the socks and then the girls and I had fun sewing pieces of fabric and buttons on them.
Then for Christmas I would put a little something in each stocking. Over the years, the ideas changed as the kids grew.
Here are some ideas you can use to fill the stockings...
Small gifts like stickers, nail polish, lip gloss, matchbox cars, pencils or markers, candy, glow sticks, fancy erasers, temporary tattoos, hair clips, gum, snacks, etc.
Puzzle pieces. Then on Christmas they get to complete the puzzle. You could also do this with Lego pieces.
Notes with and activity to do. Suggestions would be... pick a movie to watch, stay up for an extra hour past bedtime, go looking at Christmas lights, have hot cocoa, bake Christmas cookies, read a book together, go out for a treat, have a friend over, play a game etc.
When the kids got older and went off to college, I still did this for them. The stocking would stay home and have numbers in them. Then every night we would FaceTime, and they would open their present that matched the coordinating number. This gave them a little special something and I would get a call from them every night!
Countdown Calendar
There are so many countdown calendars to choose from now... magnetic ones to hang on the fridge, pillows that you move something into the pockets, blocks to change the numbers, trees that you hang ornaments on etc. It's just a little fun thing to do to keep the anticipation going. These are easy and don't take a lot of thought to do but they can be really fun!
We had a magnetic cookie sheet that hung on the fridge and every day you would put a magnetic cookie on the tray. The kids loved doing this! As they got older, I figured they wouldn't want to do it anymore. To my surprise, they made it even more fun by turning it into a competition to see who would remember to put it on first. Some days they would stay up until after midnight or get up in the middle of the night to be the first one to move the magnet.
Pet Countdown Calendar
We can't forget our furry family members at the holidays, so I always make an advent calendar for the dogs. Some years I buy dog bones and other years I make them. Then I put them into tiny bags and hang them on a string. Every night they know they get a treat. It's cute to see them sitting right next to it as if to remind me not to forget to give it to them!
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