Advent Calendar: Activity Chain
I love Advent calendars – the anticipation of the upcoming holiday, marking each day with a special treat – and it has been a dream of mine to make a beautiful, handmade Advent calendar for the boys for the Bahá’í holiday of Ayyám-i-Há in February.
However, by now you may know that beautiful, handmade crafts are not my specialty, so instead I thought I would play to my strength – activities that are easy yet a bit clever as well.
Although our holiday isn’t for a few months, I wanted to post this now because it would work so well for Christmas.
We all remember the paper chains we made in elementary school to count down to a special day. I have simply added the twist of incorporating a special activity for each day, represented by a link in the chain.
To do this craft you will need:
Construction paper or card stock
Scissors
Tape
Marker
That’s it!
Cut your paper into links (I turned my paper longways before cutting, so my strips were 9 inches long)
On one side of each link, write the numbers (1 – 25, for Christmas)
On the other side, write a special activity for that day (see suggestions below)
Tape the first link shut, making sure not to cover the writing on the inside.
Loop the next link through the first and tape shut. Repeat for each link until you have all 25.
Hang on the wall or across a doorway. Undo one link for each day, and enjoy as a family doing the activity on the inside of the link.
Some suggested activities for a Christmas Advent calendar:
Draw names for a Christmas gift exchange
Listen to (and sing along with) holiday music! Each person gets to choose a favorite song
Bake cookies to share with your neighbors
Go Christmas caroling
Have a hot chocolate party
Decorate the tree
Hang other decorations around the house
Pick a charity to make a family donation
Decide on a family service project
Pop popcorn and watch a favorite holiday movie
Make presents to take to teachers at school, the letter carrier, etc.
Make cards to send to grandparents, etc.
How are you getting ready for the holidays?
-8 Comments-
I love your idea of activities tied to an Advent Calendar that kids can make! You have the best ideas!!
Aww, thank you! I figure why waste an opportunity to get some family fun in!
i love this activity! great countdown + staggered experiential learning tool for kids…thanks for sharing. we are trying to do 10,000 acts of kindness in December. Perhaps you would like to participate? http://www.noomii.com/advent-calendar
What a wonderful idea! Will share!
Love this! Easy enough to do and still be decorative and fun.
Thank you! It is simple but still adds a nice touch to holiday decorating.
My mom did this for my siblings and I when we were kids and we loved it! I really need to start this tradition with my girls. I love your activity ideas!
Oh how sweet! Yes, it’s fun to do these simple activities from our own childhoods with our kids. Have fun!