Soon it will be December 1, and along with our tea, chocolate, toy, bath bomb advent calendars we have happening this year, we are continuing our family activity calendar too.
If you’ve been following me for some time, you may already know this is a long standing tradition. A 25 days of Christmas activities calendar. We have been doing a family activity calendar since our kids were toddlers/babies.
It began in 2009 (when I read about it from a fellow blogger here in Ottawa – thanks Andrea!) and since then, it’s become a beloved tradition. Every year we update the list a little bit based on our own family’s plans, and as the kids grow. There are some that stick around every year because we love them, and others are there because to be honest, they are easy.
2020 is proving to be an interesting year to create this calendar since we aren’t really going very many places, but we know more memories will be made!
As with other years, here are some tips I’m sharing about creating your own activity calendar:
a) Don’t put dates on the activities. You may need to switch them up once and a while if something changes, illness hits etc.
b) Stock up on the stuff you need for each activities like hot chocolate or craft supplies.
c) Check your family calendar and add in activities to the 25 Days countdown list that you already know you’ll be doing – like Santa letters or a family visit. This list is also created in close consultation with my calendar based on days of the week– some activities can’t be done easily on a weekday so I made sure they were on the weekend.
What’s most important about this calendar isn’t that you put too much effort into crafting the perfect activity, it’s that as a family you come together and take a few moments each day to celebrate and spend time doing something together that is festive, fun and family oriented.
That’s probably why I love it so much.
This calendar reflects the age and stage we are at now, but if you search ’25 days of Christmas’ on my blog search bar you’ll find all our other years so if you have toddlers and preschoolers, you can use some of the ideas we had back then.
And again, I explain the singing:
You’ll notice my list has a few spots where the activity for the day is to simply sing a Christmas song. My son has requested these be removed but nope – they stay. Why? Because honestly, some days are busy, or tiring, or I’m just overwhelmed so having a few ‘freebie’ days means that we still get to do an activity, but it’s extremely simple. It works!
As much as I love the holidays, I’m also a big fan of slowing things down, so when it gets to be too much, give yourself permission to skip a day (or just sing a song!)
- Write letters to Santa (FYI I have one believer likely on her last year.)
2. Write a special Christmas greeting to your sibling and mail it to them (it will be a nice read when they receive it!)
3. Make paper snowflakes
4. Set up a special hot chocolate bar (hot chocolate bombs!!)
5. Visit Saunders Farm Light Drive Thru (I’m an ambassador this year!)
6. Watch a Muppet Christmas Carol, the Holiday Movie Kick Off
7. Sing Jingle Bells
8. Dessert for Supper, Supper for Dessert
9. Decorate Ginger Bread Houses
10. Order toys to be dropped off at Toy Mountain
11. Decorate Christmas cookies!
12. Deliver Christmas cookies to friends and family (Porch drop offs!)
13. Sing Frosty
14. Make a list of ten things we are thankful for. Hang it where you can see it every day.
15. Make wreaths for your bedroom doors
16.Cumberland Village of Lights Drive Thru Experience
17. Play Family Christmas Charades
18. Make a donation to the local Food Bank
19. Go see the lights at Parliament Hill (listen to your parents tell the story about how they got engaged during Christmas time under those lights 😉
20. Holiday Scavenger hunt around the house
21. Sing We Wish You a Merry Christmas!
22. Go for a drive to see Christmas lights at Taffy Lane.
23. Bring in snow and make maple taffy!
24. Unwrap one present (mom and dad get to pick which one)
25. It’s Christmas Day. Remember you have a family who loves you. And that’s the most important gift of all.
Pin it for later!
