Advent Calendars
Celebrate and count down the days to Christmas with Advent Calendars. Beginning on December 1st, build the anticipation to Christmas by completing a different activity or project for each day. Wanting to design your own advent project, here are some different ideas!
Family Holiday Activities
One of my favorites, this holiday activity calendar is family centered. Fun and simple projects are easy to adapt and individualize. Click here to download a full copy of the Family Holiday Activities Advent. Add your own ideas and celebrate the season in style. Some of the 25 ideas listed are:
Write a letter to Santa
Watch a favorite holiday movie
Read a holiday story
Make a Christmas ornament
Have a cup of hot chocolate
Have a slumber party by the Christmas tree
Random Acts of Kindness Advent
Pass on the gift of kindness and teach your child the importance of giving back to the community. This Random Acts of Kindness Advent is filled with ideas on passing on the power of positivity. Click here to download a copy of Random Acts of Kindness Calendar. Add your own ideas for good will and consider posting below. Some of the 25 ideas are:
Smile to at least 5 people
Hold the door for someone
Pay for someone’s coffee or treat
Donate coins to charity
Donate a toy or book you no longer need
Help someone with a chore
A Bible Verse a Day Advent
Write down your favorite verses from scripture or buy a pre-made poster that contains the story of the Nativity. We purchased our calendar a couple years ago and love the picture so much, we reuse yearly. Here are a couple websites with some lovely , affordable advent calendars.
Advent Calendar from Vermont Christmas Company
Our Large Circle Advent Calendar from Vermont Christmas Company
New Church Book Store Advent Calendar (Where We first purchased our poster Advent Calendar).
A Christmas or Holiday Book a Day
One year I picked out 25 Christmas and holiday books from my shelf. I wrapped each book and had the kids open and read a holiday book a day. Timing the books just right, I placed the Night Before Christmas on the 24th of December. As much as my kids LOVED opening a book a day, it was a lot of work to wrap all the books before December 1st. Now, I collect the books into our big Santa bucket and have the kids choose a different book daily.
Workout Challenge
Two years ago, my husband and I started a fitness challenge for the month of December. Each year the daily challenges change but it gives us something fun to do as a family. These daily fitness goals are in addition to our 5 day a week workouts. My husband usually designs our workouts, however one of my go-to sites for unique fitness is Bodyrock.com . I love their 12-24 minute workouts that I can do from home. However, this fitness advent is a fun way to incorporate a little surprise into our day. Click here to download a full copy of the Fitness Advent Calendar. Here are some of ideas we have added this year:
jump rope
pull ups
goblet squats
gator pushups
burpees
ab pikes
An Ornament a Day
Locate a small tree or decorate your family tree with a unique or small ornament a day. The dollar store is an excellent location to find a variety of inexpensive decorations. Walmart and Target are other stores I have found a pack of tiny tree ornaments for a good price.
Have fun planning your advent activities!!