Kid’s Christmas Activity Advent Calendar

Posted on by Missy

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas and I can barely contain myself! I refrained from putting my decorations up until after Thanksgiving, but there were some houses in my neighborhood that started decorating the day after Halloween! That’s just a bit too early for me. I like to enjoy Fall all the way through November! Where do you stand when it comes to decorating for Christmas? As soon as possible or do you wait for December?

Along with decorating after Thanksgiving, another tradition we started last year was an advent calendar.

Growing up, we always did the chocolate calendars you can find at the grocery store. My siblings and I would take turns opening the little cardboard door each day and enjoying the treat inside.

As a kid, I loved that type of calendar! Unfortunately, if you’ve been around here long enough, you know that one of my sweeties has some food allergies. That makes those mass produced chocolate calendars a no-go for us.

But don’t worry! I created something much better. Last year, I decided to come up with an activity for each day and turn it into an advent calendar!

My kids had a blast opening each reindeer envelope (of course, I had to make them cute!) and revealing the activity of the day.

The best part about this type of advent calendar is that you can come up with whatever you want! Keep it simple, repeat activities throughout the month, assign a few Christmas tasks to calendar days so you’re sure they get done, or explore some new winter activities with your kids.

Whatever you choose, you are sure to make some amazing family memories that your kids will cherish forever!

Here is what you need to get started. I’ll include a list of possible activities after the How to section.

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Materials:

  • 24 envelopes (any color or size will do!)
  • 24 index cards (small enough to fit in your envelopes)
  • Brown constriction paper
  • Red Pom Poms
  • Googly eyes
  • Markers
  • Glue
  • Twine (or a large white paper roll like pictured above)
  • (Optional) this awesome advent hanger!
  • Clothes pins
Advent Hanger

How To:

1. Start by creating your reindeer. You will be creating them on the back of each envelope.

2. Cover each envelope flap in brown paper and cut off the excess paper. Cut out 2 antlers (get creative!) from the scraps of each envelope flap. That’s 48 antlers in all!

3. Add a red Pom Pom to the tip of each envelope flap for the nose.

4. Glue on 2 Googly eyes to each envelope and attach the antlers.

5. Write one number (from 1-24) on each envelope)

5. Come up with a list of 24 activities (check out my list below for inspiration!).

6. Write one activity on each index card.

7. Pull out your calendar and decide on the order you would like the activities to go. It is extremely important that you line them up right so your kids don’t open ‘spend the day sledding’ on a school day or ‘put out the reindeer food’ at the beginning of the month. Be strategic and deliberate about the placement!

8. Stuff your envelopes with the activities in the correct order!

9. String up the twine (or hang the wooden calendar) and attach each reindeer card in order. You can also attach them to a large white sheet of paper, like I did in the first photo.

10. Enjoy watching your kiddos explore the cards one day at a time!

The List

Need some activity ideas for your calendar? Here are some of our favorites!

The possibilities are endless!

An activity advent calendar is the perfect way to personalize the holidays. Your kids will be eager to engage in fun activities, and you will be prepared ahead of time with things to keep those little hands busy as you try to prepare for the holidays.

If choosing 24 different activities seems overwhelming, try picking a few easy ones (Christmas movie, make Christmas cards, Christmas music, Arctic Sensory bin, call a relative, hot cocoa, play outside) and just rotate them throughout the month.

Or, if you are looking to prep activities ahead of time that will keep those little hands busy for a while, choose some extended play ideas. Maybe; the Arctic Sensory bin, cardboard box animal house, Christmas cards, pattern block snowflakes, indoor snowmen, make a gift for someone, winter bird feeder, Sticker Christmas tree, loose part Christmas tree, and building an indoor fort.

Related: Are you looking for an awesome advent calendar that is already done for you? Check out this fantastic science experiment calendar! A fun experiment for every day!

Check it twice!

As carefully as you order your activities, things come up. Be sure to check the night before so you know what to expect for the next morning. For instance, last year I had build a snowman on the 20th, but it still hadn’t snowed! So I changed it to create indoor snowmen and improvised with a quick activity.

Another time I had make cookies down, but just didn’t have the capacity to spend the day doing it. So, I switched it with watch a Christmas movie to give me time to get things done.

Just keep it flexible and be sure to check those activities ahead of time. This will keep your holiday season organized and as stress free as possible, knowing that the kids have something to do each day while you prepare for the days to come!

Thanks so much for reading, sweet friend! As always, you can find us on Pinterest and see what we are up to over on Instagram. Wishing you a holiday season filled with joy and lots of love!

Looking for more ways to entertain those kiddos as the weather changes outside? Check out some of our favorite indoor activities here!

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