I love the season of Advent…looking forward with hope and being reminded that the Savior of the world came humbly. I have always loved Christmastime – the lights, the snow, the “magic” of it all! Getting to work with kids during this time of year is the best because I get to remind them of the true meaning of the season as well as do some really fun activities with them! I created a “Countdown to Christmas” to help us focus on celebrating the season!
Each day we unroll our paper and find out what fun thing we get to do that day! We worked really hard during the Thanksgiving season to say thank you for things we already had instead of listing things we wanted, and that lesson is continuing into the “I want” season of Christmas. Sprinkled amongst our crafts and Christmas stories are opportunities for the kiddos to GIVE. We also checked out many Christmas library books and I will be adding more! We will read the Biblical story of Christmas and act it out as well as celebrate the fun of Santa. My goal is to read the Christmas story from a children’s Bible each day at lunch time. We read books about thankfulness at the beginning of eating lunch last month and it worked really well!
To make our countdown, I looked at the month of December and wrote down the dates that I would be at work (weekdays). Then, I marked Tuesdays and Thursdays in December on my paper because we have much more time those days (no preschool). These days were reserved for bigger projects.
Next, I listed out ideas for crafts, giving opportunities, activities, etc. I looked at Pinterest and also considered what had worked for us in the past.
After I had my list, I wrote each daily activity on a Christmas-themed piece of scrapbook paper, rolled it up, and clothespinned/paper clipped it to a ribbon hung in Linc’s room. (I also wrote the number and date on cute little ornament punch outs and attached them to each paper so I wouldn’t lose track.)
Simple countdown all put together!
I have a master copy so that if we need to move something around we can and so that I can prep any materials ahead of time. This countdown had to be flexible so that it would work around naps, preschool, and unpredictable schedules. So far, it is going well!
Here are a few of the activities we have coming up:
Sponge Paint Christmas trees
Place Felt ornaments on our felt tree
Make paper place Christmas wreaths
Make and decorate cornstarch ornaments
Buy a toy for another child
Read about baby Jesus and do a craft
Make and deliver gifts to our neighbors
Work on Christmas puzzles
Decorate cookies
Make gifts for Mom and Dad
Open a gift from Ms. Anna
Write letters and make Christmas cards (Originally we were going to make cards for Veterans and/or soldiers but we missed the deadline and I couldn’t find more information. We may still do this, though!)
Bake and deliver treats to Police Station and Fire Station
I am so excited to celebrate this season with these two little kiddos, and I am looking forward to next Christmas when I’ll get to do an Advent Calendar with my own little family.
Merry Christmas!!
Does your family do a Countdown calendar or Advent Calendar?
What are your favorite activities during the Christmas season?
I do in fact to an advent with my children (child) and we also have a countdown elf. My favorite activities are decorate cookies and/or gingerbread houses, drive around looking at Christmas lights, Christmas movie night, of course getting and decorating tree! To name a few!!