Advent Calendars for Kids

Celebrate a little every day

planning

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Fun ways to incorporate advent calendars into your holiday plans

One thing I learned while living in Germany is that you can never have enough advent calendars. And with all the fun options out there, I imagine it would be hard to stop at just one… or two… so, here’s my suggestions of when to advent calendar, and what to advent calendar with.

***Please note: these are aimed at kids, but can be adjusted for anyone.

Advent Calendar wake-up

You’ll have 24 opportunities to wake up your favorite celebrators until Christmas Day. At which point, they’ll be waking you up! Use this time to try your different ring-tones, horns, or sing a different song. Every day it’s something different and they won’t know what to expect.

Advent Calendar Breakfast

Remember that scene in Forrest Gump with all the shrimp? Maybe you can become the Bubba Gump of eggs. Or french toast. Or cereal. Or any combination of that.

A million breakfast ideas on Pinterest.

Advent Calendar Inspirational Quote

Nothing like starting the day with a nice, inspiring quote.

Here are some quotes to get you started.

Advent Calendar Toy (ie. the getting ready bribe)

Ok, maybe this one is more serious. Maybe you start the day with a lego or playmobile toy. The promise of opening up this advent calendar may be just what you need to get  your kids to get ready for the day.

I wrote a post about toy advent calendars.

Advent Calendar Lunch Box Joke and Messages of Love

I’m assuming that there’s a lot of going to school going on this month. Kids have to eat lunch and since their lunch this month coincides with your need to live an Advent Calendar life – it only makes sense that they get something funny in their lunch box. (And only because the inspirational quote was earlier in the day.)

Your go-to resource for lunch box notes for Christmas.

Advent Calendar Chocolates

So easy. Pick a traditional chocolate advent calendar or one from their favorite brand. They’ll be glad to be home to eat it all.

So many options on Amazon.

Advent Calendar Activity

This is when the visits to Santa, or the cookie baking, or ornament making happens. Make it quick, folks, we have more things to advent calendar.

I’ve written some posts on activity-based Advent Calendars for kids.

Advent Calendar TV Show or Movie

There are a million TV episodes and movies that are available for families to watch. Pick your 24 favorites and have at it.

Here are some movies from Amazon.

Advent Calendar Books

Most schools require 30 minutes or so of reading each night. Finish the night with a story from your favorite Christmas book.

There’s at least one post about Advent Calendar Books for kids on this site, with more to come.

Advent Calendar Pajamas

Except, don’t really end the night. Have you seen how many cute pajama options are out there for kids in the holidays? One is not enough. Three is not a crowd. Twenty-four. Twenty-four pajama jammy jams to brighten your holiday season.

I’m a fan of the classics by Hanna Andersson.

Simple Advent Calendar Activity

Do the holidays seem too commercial and overdone? Do you feel exhausted with the need to keep up and make this season magical? No fear, this simple advent calendar opposes those things and fills one of your dozen or so activities with something meaningful. But, seriously, hurry it up… it’s getting late and we have to do this all again tomorrow.

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Budgeting for a D.I.Y. Advent Calendar

budget-tips

Financially, it’s very easy for things to get out of hand when building a DIY Advent Calendar. With 24 containers to fill, even a budget of $1 per filling adds up fast.

There are many different ways to approach filling the Advent Calendar containers with a budget in mind. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

*For the purposes of this post we’re focusing on advent calendars that have fillings. For ideas on Flat Advent Calendars, come back soon.

The cheapest way to fill an Advent Calendar

Search the internet for cute, free printables for Advent Calendars. These can range from things like scripture, holiday quotes, the nativity, jokes, songs to sings, and more. Print them out and create a chain link display that acts as a vessel. Easy and decorative!

Here are a few to get you started:

Other cheap options for filling an Advent Calendar

  • Candy from a larger bag of candy
  • Toys that are meant to be given as party favors
  • Crayons with printed coloring sheets, I love these from Pink Stripey Socks which can be turned into ornaments.
  • Stickers!

My favorite way to approach filling an Advent Calendar

As you know, I love my calendars and I can easily find reasons why I should have several different ones going on throughout the season. However, combining a few of the ideas above to create ONE Advent Calendar helps keep costs low while keeping fun high.

HOT TIP:

Make activities you were planning on doing anyway part of your advent calendar fillers. Keep a calendar next to you and use an index card or fancier to write the activity. Or just include the tickets to the event if you have them.

Free DIY Advent Calendar Planner

If you aren’t doing the same filler for every day, this planner can help you figure out what to put when. I also like to keep it handy in case I have any last minute changes I need to make for some of the activities. Because, yes, a last minute change to visiting Santa sometimes happens.

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Download it today and get started on planning your December!

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Planning an activity-based Advent Calendars kids will love

Activity-based advent calendars are so fun. And kids especially love them. This is a cool way to plan things to highlight the magic of the holidays.

As a mom I love them because it forces me to plan things in advance that highlight the magic of the season.

Thinking of what activities you could possibly add to the activity-based advent calendar? The answer’s simple: All of them!!!

Step 1: Plan the bigger activities for your advent calendar

First, think of some of the bigger activities that you know you’re already going to do. Here are some to help get you thinking:

  • Get the tree! Whether it’s a trip to the tree farm, the tree store, or the storage unit – make getting the tree an activity.
  • Decorate the tree!
  • Decorate the interior of the house!
  • Decorate the exterior of the house!
  • Drive around and look at lights!
  • Make some cookies!
  • Go to a Christmas Party!
  • Drink some hot chocolate!
  • Watch a Christmas movie!
  • Go to a Christmas event nearby!
  • Sing some holiday tunes!
  • Visit Santa!
  • Write a letter to Santa!

To help sort those items, download the advent calendar planner by clicking on the image below (no sign up needed!)

Free Download DIY Advent Calendar Planner

Step 2: Fill in the calendar with smaller activities

Keep your schedule and time in mind, and start filling in the calendar with smaller activities.

  • Find a Christmas craft or two you want to do and get to work. When in doubt, make a card using red and green markers.
  • Try a new hot chocolate or cookie recipe.
  • Take photos in front of the tree or the house.
  • Build a snowman if weather allows.
  • Read a holiday book.
  • Go see a performance by the local community theater group.
  • Get tickets to a musical performance.
  • See the nutcracker.
  • Attend an Afternoon Tea, or make your own at home.
  • Buy and wear a Christmas Sweater.
  • Wear matching PJs.
  • Donate to your favorite organization.
  • Volunteer for your favorite organization.
  • Practice a random act of kindness (or more), this list from We Be Wiebes is an awesome way to start.
  • Check your local community events for new or old traditions to practice.

Step 3: Get what you need to make it happen

Some of the items on the list above, like “sing a Christmas Carol” can be done on the spot with little planning.

Other items, like going to see a production of the Nutcracker, need some advance planning. You need to find out when it’s showing and buy tickets for the show.

And, still, other activities may need even MORE work. Finding a local charity that is seeking volunteers may require advance registration and/or training. Christmas crafts need to be found, purchased, and planned.

Your second download for this post is something to help make sure you’re have everything in place to make each container activity go off without a hitch.

advent-calendar-planning

Step 4: Commit to your plan

You’re ready to go! Commit to your advent calendar activities (use the calendar above to fill in your final activities).

Hot tip!

Keep your D.I.Y Advent Calendar planner ready so you know what to expect each day. If there’s an unforeseen circumstance, you can be ready to make last minute changes. Have an easy back-up ready to go and you’re all set. Crisis averted.

Step 5: Prepare the display

Fill in some kind of card for each activity for the actual advent calendars. Here are some of my favorite ways to do that:

  • This coffee filter advent calendar is a (somewhat) easy and fun way to display the advent calendar. By scrumdillydilly.
  • This adorable paper bag with black stencil numbers advent calendar is perfect. The blog is in another language, but the photo makes it easy to figure out how to do it yourself. By gotlandsliv.
  • This tutorial for a Valentine’s Day countdown can be easily transformed into an Advent Calendar with red and green envelopes shaped into a Christmas tree. By Brit + Co.
  • This toilet paper roll and felt creation takes a little more work, but the cute elf at the end makes it worth it. By Canadian Living.
  • And finally this Slovakian blog has a ton of ideas. The site is, of course, in Slovak, but you can use their images for inspiration. By sDetmi.

That’s it! Five steps to a fun-filled, activity-based, unique-to-your-family advent calendar. If you end up making anything, let me know in the comments.

Activity-Based Advent Calendars Kids Will Love