Advent Calendars are a great way to get the kids excited about Christmas! There are so many creative ideas out there for advent calendars and here are our 5 favourites. What we love about these advent calendars is that they involve the whole family!
Advent Calendar Activities
Make 25 cards, each with a different activity on them, and place them in envelopes and number them 1-25. You can hang these envelopes from a string or blue-tac to the wall in the shape of a Christmas Tree. Every night you can open one envelope and complete the activity. Some good activities to include are looking at the Christmas lights, going to your favourite restaurant, letting the kids choose an activity, attend your local Carols By Candelight. Some good weeknight activities are writing your letters to Santa, do a craft activity, decorate the Christmas Tree, and on Christmas Eve they could even choose a present to unwrap early! Remember to plan the activities on a calendar so that you choose suitable activities based on the day of the week and any other commitments you may have.
Block Puzzle
For this advent calendar you will need 25 cardboard boxes, glue, scissors an A3 Christmas picture, and marker or number stickers. Cut your Christmas picture up into 25 squares and glue onto one side of the boxes and number the other sides, scattering the numbers can be fun and a bit of a challenge! Then fill the boxes with various surprises. Stack the boxes so they make the complete picture and place it against a wall with the numbers facing out. Each day you can reveal a more and more of the picture until it is complete!
Christmas Book Stack
Wrap up twenty-five children’s books and put them under the tree with a special blanket next to them. Before bed each evening, your kids choose one book to open and read together until Christmas.
Outdoor Christmas Tree
We have such lovely weather her in Australia around Christmas time we should make the most of it! Have a craft day where everyone in the family makes decorations including the numbers 1-25. Pick a tree (or hedge) in your garden to be your ‘outside tree’. Every morning, the family get to go outside and hang a decoration in the tree. Throughout December the tree will get more and more crowded with decorations and by Christmas day you will have a unique outdoor Christmas tree filled with homemade decorations.
DIY Advent Calendar
This one is a simple and easy way to make an advent calendar. All you need is twine, some cotton bags (you could even make these yourself if your really clever!), and some number stickers or fabric paint to paint the numbers on. Then you need a large stick from the back yard and start hanging the numbered bags off the stick. Hanging the numbers out of order is a great idea as it make’s it harder to find the number each day. Then you stuff the bags with wrapped up goodies. Each bag can contain a treat for a different family member each day, or even family treats such as a Christmas movie or CD.