It’s almost time for our annual Christmas Activity Advent Calendar! The kids and I look forward to this each and every year. It began years ago after I read about the idea from a fellow Ottawa blogger (Miss Fish!) when my children were little and I haven’t looked back.
I have learned a few tricks over the years if you are thinking about starting one for yourself.
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 the calendar and add in dates that you already know you’ll be doing – like Santa letters or a family visit. This list was created in close consultation with my calendar – 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.
As with other years, this is the little holder we have but in the past we’ve done envelopes, little clothes pins etc.
For previous lists click here.
And here it is: Our family’s 2016 Advent Activity Calendar!
1. Write and mail letters to Santa.
2. Go to the Cumberland Heritage Museum Village of Lights
3. Go get the Christmas Tree!
4. Decorate the Christmas Tree!
5. Sing Jingle Bells – get a special chocolate treat
6. Make paper snowflakes and decorate the windows
7. Play a Christmas scavenger hunt and find a special surprise. (readers – this will be their new holiday pjs.)
8. Go to Chateau Montebello for some winter fun!
9. Sing Frosty the Snowman.
10. Watch a Muppet Christmas Carol and Make Hot Chocolate.
11. Decorate Christmas cookies!
12. Dessert for supper, supper for dessert!
13. Buy and Bring toys to Toy Mountain
14. Make a list of ten things we are thankful for. Hang it where you can see it every day.
15. Go for a drive to see Christmas lights (Taffy Lane!)
16. Special donut activity! Stay tuned!
17. Play Christmas hide and seek with a Christmas bear! Can you find him?
18. Snow experiments! Bring snow inside and create coloured snow with the science set.
19. Christmas PJ party! Stay in your pjs all day, watch Christmas shows, read Christmas stories and snuggle!
20. Make a Gingerbread House and decorate it!
21. Bake Christmas cookies and deliver some to your friends and family
22. Sing We Wish you a Merry Christmas.
23. Bring in snow and make maple syrup taffy!
24. Unwrap one present (mommy and daddy 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.
Have fun!
This is the first year in ages we won’t be doing an activity every day – just too busy now, with rushing kids here and there, and since school goes right up to the last minute we won’t even have a few days leading up to the big day to fill. I know I’m going to miss it…we’ll see how sentimental I get!
I like to have something every day to keep us in the spirit, BUT there are days when it’s too much 😉 The kids are excited still at least! And I just include things we would have done anyway ha!