How to make a simple Activity Advent Calendar for Kids

How to make a simple activity advent calendar for kids.

Not another thing to add to my Christmas to do list I hear you cry! I know first hand just how busy, overwhelming and stressful Christmas can be, yet I haven’t lost faith that it doesn’t need to be this way. There are simple ways we can strip it back without removing the sparkle and make it easier for us Christmas preppers to enjoy the festive period too! I feel over the years, we have been somehow drawn down a commercial path in over complicating things. Planning an activity advent calendar doesn’t have to be over complicated or commercialised, it can be simple and wholesome, tailor made to your family and a focus on what is important for you and your family in December.

Picture this scene.. A gloomy November evening where the wind is howling and the sound of rain droplets trickle down the window panes. All you want to do is hunker down for a cozy evening. I have the perfect way to inject some winter magic and Christmas traditions whilst remaining calm and stress free. Light your favourite winter scented candle, grab a mug of mulled wine or comforting hot chocolate, switch the TV off and play some Michael Buble and go old school with a notepad and pen. Once you’re comfortable and have had a few sips of your drink write down 5 words that describe how you want your Christmas to be. I want our Christmas to be stress-free, wholesome, affordable, seasonal and magical.

How to present your activity advent calendar

This is entirely up to how you want to present your advent calendar be it a sheet of paper with your ideas and activities written down, advent boxes or bags.

Our advent calendar is similar to this one. I will write down our activities on pieces of paper and pop them into the canvas bags.

How to plan your activity advent ideas

If you have already made fixed plans (such as going for a festive walk with friends) make sure you plan these in first as these count as activities and then you won’t be giving yourself extra things on busy family days. When choosing an activity make sure you pick wisely for school/work days such as a movie, a foodie idea or get crafty with festive stickers.

Our activity advent ideas

Now here are our activity advent ideas (not necessarily in any order)

1) Christmas pjs and story time – old or new Christmas pj’s, a Christmas story from our bookshelf, a charity shop find or a new purchase, it doesn’t matter. Last year we really enjoyed How Winston Delivered Christmas.

2) Christmas tree time – We have booked a slot at a local farm to pick our tree. We will read the pick a pine tree story and have hot chocolate to make it more special. Picking and putting up our Christmas tree was one of my favourite childhood memories. I can still remember the smell of our Christmas decorations box.

3) Write a letter to Father Christmas – I will try and include some new sparkly gel pens, stickers or stamps for them to make the letter fancier!

4) Watch this year’s Netflix Christmas movie special as a family. Try making a Christmas movie snack mix like this one!

5) Saint Nicholas – Our 3rd child was born in Germany so this is a tradition we enjoy participating in. In many places in the world, St. Nicholas or Sinterklaas is viewed to be the gift giver during the Advent season. He visits on the eve of this day, on December 5 and pays nocturnal visits with his side kick Black Peter (or Zwarte Piet), wielding coal for ne’er-do-wells who have not been so nice over the past year. Children leave their shoes out in the hopes of finding small gifts on the morning of December 6th. The gifts in our house are usually tangerines and gold coins.

6) Christmas colouring – We’re members of Twinkl resources, so we usually print off some festive pictures to colour in or dot-to-dot puzzles/word searches. We will pop on a Christmas audio book, Yoto story or some festive songs on Alexa whilst we colour.

7) Festive snack plate – I will pop a few things in my shopping basket over the coming weeks and then pop them on a graze board for all to enjoy. I find Lidl and Aldi are very handy for sourcing festive snacks!

8) Make some Christmas cards or homemade wrapping paper. We find brown cards and stamps are always handy for making cards and wrapping paper. We sometimes get our kids to cut out last year’s Christmas cards to make gift tags for this years presents. I remember my own mother used to let me loose on our old Christmas cards with a pair of pinking shears for a fancier edge!

9) Christmas waffle breakfast – Our waffles will be from Aldi as our waffle machine is no longer working! Get festive and add some strawberries, squirty cream, maple syrup and sprinkles are a must for Christmas!

10) Visit a local festive trail – We have a National Trust membership but you could go for a quiet woodland walk and go foraging.

11) Get crafty with your foraging treasures. I have a blog post coming up soon with some Christmas nature crafts and this post also has some nature craft ideas as well as other crafty activities.

12) Decorate some festive bakes or build a gingerbread house- You can bake from scratch or hack a supermarket gingerbread biscuit / cake. Either way, the end result is happy kids and maybe a treat you can then pop in lunch boxes for the next few days. Here is our simple gingerbread man recipe.

13) Have an Italian Christmas celebration – We did this last year and we will be doing so again. We ate pasta, listened to some Italian Christmas songs and ate chocolate chip panettone. I have put aside some tricolour pasta for our pasta dish this year.

14) Go shopping for some food and treats and place in a food bank for another family to enjoy.

15) Christmas bath bomb bath – Our kids absolutely love a bath bomb. Don’t forget to treat yourself to one!

16) Christmas Lego builds – There are various places to find Inspiration from either; Christmas Lego ideas books, magazines or Pinterest.

17) Make Reindeer food ready for Christmas Eve. I have a trusty recipe that can be found here

18) Hot chocolate station with another movie -make hot chocolate in a pan or in the slow cooker and use a ladle to pour into your favourite Christmas mug and don’t forget to go EXTRA with the toppings! Wafer straws are a fab addition, festive marshmallows and chocolate sprinkles or flakes. Pop on another movie as you can never watch enough Christmas films.

19) Go for a nighttime torch walk all wrapped up. The perfect way to feel grounded is to switch your torches off, test your night vision and do some stargazing.

20) Make paper snowflakes – My husband always makes paper dolls and snowflakes in this house! It’s one of those activities that is perfect for a slow Sunday morning.

21) Shortest day – Last year we burnt a log reflecting on our year and set some intentions for the new year. In medieval times, before Christianity became widespread, people in Northern Europe would burn the Yule log on the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, to keep the evil spirits away during the prolonged darkness.

22) Christmas play dough – I couldn’t have a list without including play dough ( as I have my own play dough business) Throw the festive cutters on the table and some loose parts for them to create some snowmen, Christmas trees and other creations.

23)Christmas drive – We will pop our kids in snuggly onesies or pjs wrapped up with dressing gowns or extra blankets and pillows. If you live rurally and there aren’t many lights to be found maybe take a drive during the day somewhere with a nice viewpoint and have a car picnic / hot chocolates.

24) Make your guest feel welcome tonight by getting the mince pie and favourite tipple ready. Don’t forget to sprinkle the reindeer food outside!

We hope you take away some ideas from our advent activity list to add to some of your own plans and ideas. I feel festive just typing this list up and so can’t wait to write it all out when the kids are in bed whilst watching Christmas with the Kranks, one of our favourite Christmas films. Let me know in the comments box if you add any of these ideas or share your own ideas with us.

You may also like to read our Seasonal Play Ideas for lots more inspiration on December crafts, activities and resources.

If you need present inspiration then check out our gift guide for Christmas Gifts for Outdoorsy Kids