Advent Activities Calendar

Well, the holiday season is here! For some, this brings a sense of joy and excitement. For others, it brings anxiety over the hustle and bustle. Still others experience sadness and grief over loss or broken relationships. No matter where you fall on the spectrum of holiday emotions, this post is meant to share an idea that will encourage you. It can build up the sense of anticipation as your family waits for Christmas Day to arrive. It can ease anxiety as you focus more on experiences than material things this season. It can strengthen bonds and create family memories that will last for years to come. This post is all about creating an Advent activities calendar for your family. This Christmas countdown calendar is a way to encourage holiday joy and cheer this Advent season.

Several years ago, I got fed up with the materialism of Christmas. Don't get me wrong, my family still exchanges gifts during the holidays and on Christmas Day. But, I started noticing how so much of what we see and hear this time of year is about what we will receive or what we will give to others. At the core, this isn't bad, right? Christmas is truly all about the greatest gift that we ever could receive from above...Jesus Christ. Christmas is truly all about His birth and the gift of Jesus that was given to this hurting world by a kind and merciful God. But, that isn't the focus I was seeing. It felt different...more material...more selfish. My kids were noticing those little Advent calendars in the stores. You know the ones, they are cute and meant to build anticipation as you countdown toward Christmas Day. My kids were younger then, and they would ask for specific themed advent calendars...Lego, My Little Pony, Shopkins...whatever their current "favorite" was. I remember wanting to help them build excitement for the holiday, but not wanting to do it in this way. I didn't want the excitement from each day to come from "what they would get" from the calendar. I didn't want that focus on stuff and trinkets.

So, I did what a lot of moms would do. I scoured Pinterest for a different idea, lol! I came across the idea of having an Advent activity calendar, rather than an Advent calendar focused on trinkets. I was intrigued. The idea is that each day leading up to Christmas, the family does an activity together. Some activities are simple; some are more involved. Some are things we would have been doing anyway. Some are just for fun, while others help us to focus on the true meaning and Christ's birth. I was hooked. This is what I wanted. I wanted to help my family enjoy the holiday season, have fun, make memories, focus on Christ, and focus less on "stuff" and what they were receiving.

Maybe you are interested in something like this too, and if you are, I hope you find this post helpful. I'll share the steps I took as I made my own homemade Advent activity calendar for my family. You can do the same! Make it "yours" and make it personal to your family. All it takes is a little bit of brainstorming and a little bit of creativity. At the end of this post, I will also share a link to an "already done" printable Advent calendar that I have available on Etsy. If you want to save time and use what I have already made, the option is there. But, really. Do what works for you. If you want to make your own, I encourage you to. It's fun, and the act of creating your family's own personalized countdown to Christmas may fill you with a little holiday joy yourself. 😉

What to do first?

Brainstorm a list of ideas for activities. Think about:

1. Activities you already have planned: family Christmas gatherings, church services, school plays or concerts, etc. Add them to the list! You are going to be doing them anyway, and they can be a great way to build anticipation toward Christmas Day!

2. The real reason for the season: If your purpose in creating this activity calendar is to take the focus off of materialism and put it more on the real reason for the season, then purposefully plan that into your calendar. Jot down ideas like: reading Luke 2, going to visit a nativity scene, doing a devotional focused on Christ's birth, etc. You get to design this calendar, so put the focus where it needs to be.

3. Holiday tasks that your family can help with: Think about ways your family can help this season! Need to bake Christmas cookies? Make it a family task. Dreading wrapping gifts? Have a family wrapping party, complete with Christmas music! Does putting up your household decorations take all day? Enlist your family's help. You don't need to do it all! Yes, things may not be "perfect" if little ones help, but they will feel involved and you'll make family memories. That is perfect in itself!

4. Fun activities that don't cost anything: The sky is the limit here. Get creative! Do you have a lot of candy canes around the house that no one actually eats? Create a candy cane scavenger hunt, indoors or out. Have a Christmas music dance party one afternoon. Play Christmas carol Pictionary - all you need is an imagination, a pencil, and paper! Build a blanket fort and read Christmas stories inside. Sleep by the Christmas tree one evening. The possibilities are endless. You don't need to break the bank to build memories!

5. Get 'em outdoors: It is no secret that we love the outdoors around here. Build this into your calendar! Have snow in your area? Go sledding, build a snowman, or have a snowball fight. No snow? Go on a winter hike and see what critters you can spot. Take a walk around town to view Christmas decorations.

6. Give back: Take time to encourage your family to give back to their community. This can involve so many simple tasks! Make a card for your mail carrier. Have kids make cards for their teachers. Donate to a local food bank or toy drive. Bring a plate of cookies to your neighbors. Make cards and visit a nursing home to deliver them. Write to a soldier overseas. Help your family identify a need in your community and then brainstorm ways you can help.

Next, build the calendar!

There are many ways you can do this. Here are some options:

• Display all of the activities at once for everyone to see. This can be done in a printed calendar format. Or, it can be done by hanging cards with each day's activity printed on it. Family members may enjoy looking ahead to see what each day will bring!

• Display only the day's activity - one day at a time. Some families like to simply put out "that day's" activity each morning, maybe by putting it on the refrigerator or placing it on the kitchen table. Each day, the family discovers what the activity for the day is. This can be good for families that may need to adjust the order of activities throughout the season. You keep some control and the family experiences a bit of mystery, wondering what activity each day will bring.

• Display all of the activities at once, but keep them covered. Each day, the family "opens" the card for the day. This is a great option if you want to use the Advent calendar as a holiday decoration or display in your home, but you still want to maintain a bit of mystery for what each day's activity entails. This is the one that my family has always done. My kids are teens now, and you know what? They still enjoy taking the card down each morning and opening it up to see what the fun will be for the day.

Click to pin for later

Here are some of the activity calendars we have made over the years. You can see that there are lots of possibilities, and the kids can even get involved in the making! 😍

Like I said before, it can really be a lot of fun to design your own personalized family Advent activity calendar. If your heart is leading you to do that, I hope you found the tips above to be helpful.

However, if you are pressed for time, or if you just prefer to use an option that is already made for you, I will link my Printable Advent Activity Calendar for Families below. 😊

The calendar:

• Contains 42 ready-made activity cards. This gives you options so you can pick and choose what will work for your family.

• Contains 12 cards that can be personalized. This gives you a chance to include some of your own personal family activities that may not be included on the ready-made cards

• Christmas Day cards - both large and small

• Mystery covers - if you choose to display all of the cards, but keep each day's activity a mystery, you can use these mystery covers to do so.

• A parent cheat sheet - this sheet will help you plan out the days' activities and it provides you a handy reference sheet to use throughout the season!

The calendar is available on Etsy and is only $3.99. It is available to print immediately upon purchase!

Click to open calendar listing

I hope that you found this post helpful, and that you are feeling prepared to help your family make their own precious memories this year. The Advent activity calendar can be a wonderful tool to help your family focus on what matters most.

~Merry Christmas! ❤️🎄⭐

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