Are you still buying those advent calendars with chocolate? I was until last year, and then I decided it would be a lot more fun to make a Christmas Activities Advent Calendar instead. Well I was right! The kids loved it and so did I. It’s much more enjoyable to do a family activity then eat a tiny little chocolate, and it makes a lot more memories.
You can make this calendar as a family and chose the activities together; you need to choose 24 different activities for the 24 days before Christmas.
To make this Advent Calendar, you will need:
Wood plank (mine was 10 x 11 but you can use the size you want).
Picture frame holder and 2 little nails to fix it to the back of the piece of wood.
8 little nails
Hammer
24 mini craft clothes pins
Green or red thread
Tag cutter
Christmas craft paper
Black marker and small number stencil
White acrylic paint and paint brush
Merry Christmas sticker
1- Install the picture frame holder behind your wood plank.
2- Paint your wood plank with a thin layer of white paint. Let dry.
3- In the meantime cut your 24 tags out of your Christmas craft paper.
4- Add you Merry Christmas sticker to the top middle of your wood plank. I added glue to the back of the sticker with my hot glue gun to make sure it stayed in place.
5- Install you nails below the sticker ½” from each sides and 2” apart (maybe more depending on the size of your tags and wood plank). Do not nail them to deep because you still need to attach thread to them. See picture below.
6- Install your pieces of thread by making little knots around the nails. Just leave a little bit of thread on each side. When you’re done, you can nail everything in completely.
7- Whit the black marker and number stencil, number your tags from 1 to 24.
8- With a pencil write you special activities behind each tag. Use your daily planner and calendar to make sure you assign activities that require more time during the weekend and less time during the week. Also take into consideration appointments, family visits…. If something happens at the last minute, you can always erase the activity and replace it with something else before your kids open it. You will find a long list of activities to choose from in here: 75+ Advent Calendar Activity Ideas
9- Attach your tags to the string (6 per string) with the mini clothes pins.
And you’re done! You now have a nice Christmas Activities Advent Calendar you can reuse each year. Just erase the activities from the previous year and add new ones.
I can’t wait to see the activity ideas! I was wondering about that while I was reading the post. I am excited to learn about new ways to celebrate Advent, which is important in my family!
Well you’ll be happy to know that I’ve just posted a list of 75+ Advent Calendar Activity Ideas! Hope you find something your family will like in there.
https://www.doitallworkingmom.com/2014/11/75-advent-calendar-activity-ideas.html+
I was just thinking what my family was going to do about an advent calendar because we don’t have one! We may have to do this this year!
It’s so much fun to make and then you get to do all kinds of family activities.
I was just looking for ideas to make an advent calendar ! Thank you for sharing !
Hope you enjoy making it!
This is a neat little idea and can be used throughout the year for other things as well. I may just have another project on my hands!
Yes it’s really nice and we love it! It’s so much fun!
This is a great idea! I was actually just thinking about what I was going to do for an advent calendar this year. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks, I’m glad you liked it.
Very cute and clever! I’m going to have to share this with some friends who would love to do this for their grandkids. Thanks for the great idea, Caroline!
Thanks for sharing this with others, hope they enjoy this as much as our family does.
What a cute Advent Calendar craft idea! And I really love that it promotes family togetherness by way of activities together. Thanks for sharing! God bless. 🙂
So happy you liked it, thanks for stopping by!
I love this, such a fun idea!
Thanks!
This is super cute! I love this idea and will have to put something together!
Yes it’s a great ideas that we enjoy making.
Pinned! Great idea and beyond cute. I love that you can then personalize each activity, scripture, whatever to fit your family. That way you are more likely to have all of them actually completed.
Thanks for pinning! You are absolutely right, I had to change some activities last year the night before and it’s no problem. You just erase and replace by something that fits your schedule for that day.
This is do cute I am wondering what the activities are 🙂 can’t wait to see. I have been wanting to make one so I might do this kind. Thank you so much:)
I’ve just posted 75+ Advent Calendar Activity Ideas https://www.doitallworkingmom.com/2014/11/75-advent-calendar-activity-ideas.html
What a great idea ! Thank you for linking up at Bloggers Brag weekly pinterest party. I have pinned to Bloggers brags pinterest board.We would love to see you again next monday.
This is really pretty and would look great on its own. Having the activities is an extra bonus and a great way to stay organized.
I love the idea of doing activities together – better than chocolate any day! Thanks for sharing at the Thoughtful Spot!