One of my favorite ways to celebrate the Christmas season is doing the Advent countdown calendar with my kiddos. It’s a magical way to enjoy the holiday season and one of our favorite family traditions. Christmas isn’t just one day, it’s a season of goodwill and ultimately it’s a celebration of the birth of Jesus. This countdown spreads Christmas cheer through the whole month of December.
How it Works:
- Get an advent countdown calendar. I got ours at our favorite craft store. You can get them on Amazon too.
- Choose 24 activities or gifts.
- I write the activities and gifts on little pieces of paper and place one in each drawer of our countdown calendar.
- Starting December 1st and ending on the 24th, have the kids open a drawer every morning and then doing the activity listed sometime throughout the day. Often my kids will open it on the morning and then do it in the afternoon and evening after school.
My Christmas Advent Countdown Calendar Activity and Gift Ideas:
1. Set up the children’s nativity set
2. Make candy cane ornaments with red and white beads and green pipe cleaners. I cut the green pipe cleaners in half.
3. Fuzzy Christmas socks
4. Hang up the felt Christmas tree – a tree that the kids can decorate and redecorate as many times as they want.
5. Bake Christmas cut out cookies and decorate them. Here’s our favorite cutout cookie recipe – Prizewinning Sugar Cookies
6. Sleep under the Christmas tree – this is always a magical night and the kids love it!
7. Decorate an outdoor tree for the birds with peanuts, apples, and birdseed ornaments.
8. Make candles – roll them with this kit or hollow out orange halves and pour melted wax into them with wicks.
9. A new kid’s Christmas book. Here’s some of my favorites:
10. Hang candy canes on the tree and everybody gets to enjoy one.
11. Make green and red paper chains – a classic that the kids never tire of. We hang them along the tops of the windows in the living room and it adds a festive homemade touch.
12. Set up the Christmas train and watch The Northern Express movie.
13. Make clove oranges. An old fashioned decoration that’s pretty and smells amazing. Just push whole cloves into oranges and make different designs.
14. Make paper snowflakes – we hang them up along the windows and enjoy them all season long.
15. Make fudge and watch the movie Eloise at Christmas time.
16. Make Buckeyes – our absolute favorite Christmas candy! Buckeyes
17. Make homemade play dough. Here’s my favorite recipe.
Kool-Aid Play Dough
Ingredients:
1 cup flour.
1 cup water
1/4 cup salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp cream of tartar
A packet of kool-aid (for color and scent)
Directions:
Place all ingredients into a saucepan and stir until well mixed.
Once the mixture is (mostly) clump free heat over medium heat. Stir and don’t stop stirring. After a few minutes it will start to clump up.
Stir, Stir, Stir. Just keep stirring until the Play Dough is formed. It will form one big clump.
Remove from heat and knead by hand. This is my favorite part! It’s so warm and squishy!
Knead until it forms a smooth ball. Store in an airtight container or bag.
18. Make cinnamon applesauce ornaments – they smell amazing! Hang a couple in the car as a christmasy air freshener and tape them to gifts for a simple embellishment.
19. Paint wooden Christmas ornaments. There’s a great selection at your local craft store.
20. Decorate gingerbread houses
21. Bake a birthday cake for Jesus
22. Do a simple Christmas nativity play
23. Bake gingerbread boys and girls and decorate – my recipe
24. Cut down a real Christmas tree in the woods.
25. Drive around and look at Christmas lights or go to a drive through Christmas light show
26. Make eggnog. Here’s my delicious recipe.
27. Make popcorn and cranberry chains to decorate the Christmas tree. Just string plain popped popcorn (no butter) and fresh cranberries onto a string using a bigger craft needle.
28. Take cookies to the neighbors.
29. Make homemade Christmas cards for family and friends
30. Buy holiday drinks at your favorite coffee shop and walk around downtown when it’s all lit up for Christmas and window shop.
31. Make homemade marshmallows for hot chocolate.
32. Paint a wooden Christmas train.
The list could go on and on! Just think of fun Christmas things to do and write them on the daily papers.
I incorporate fun Christmas parties and events into the calendar as one of the days for example every year our friends host a gingerbread house decorating party. The day that it’s on, it becomes the advent activity for the day.
I often get a couple new kids Christmas books and make a new book several days on the calendar.
You can use anything that you buy for the kiddos. Even something as simple as Hershey kisses if you’re exhausted and need a day off. The kids just love the excitement of opening the drawer for the day and candy and other little gifts are always a hit.
Merry Christmas!
~Rachel Ballinger 🎄🎁🌟
“A lot of living happens in the kitchen.” ~Rachel
