Advent calendar activities on the cheap

[PhotoJournMama]

I think there was a post like this last year, but I wasn't able to find it (am I blind or is the search function gone for the forums?)

So, instead of doing an advent calendar with a bunch of candy every day, we are doing one with a Christmas related activity every day! I am trying to get mine together and have most figured out, I just need a few more. We are trying to keep it as cheap as possible but do have a couple of things that require admission.

Here are my ideas for my son who will be 21 months in December:
- Make a "smelly Christmas tree ornament" (Cut a Christmas tree shape out of construction paper, let him cover it with a glue stick, and use green jello or kool aid powder or spices to sprinkle on top).
- Bake gingerbread cookies (let him cut out shapes with cookie cutters)
- Decorate gingerbread with icing and sprinkles
- Make a Christmas noise maker (beans in a juice can, covered with green and red construction paper or tissue paper
- Decorate the house
- Get a tree and decorate it
- Make a snowscene with shaving cream and toys - let him drive cars through it etc.
- Make a christmas painting
- Stamp and mail letters - let him put stickers on an envelope or draw pictures in the cards
- Use a cinammon stick to draw on sandpaper cut out in fun shapes. Use as a tree ornament
- Pick out Christmas books from the library
- Walk downtown to look at the window displays
- Visit the Royal Botanical Gardens
- Christmas doorknob decoration (tree to decorate with sequins, beads, stickers, etc.)
- Tissue paper collage in Christmas colours using contact paper
- Make a cottonball snowman on contact paper and decorate with construction paper, yarn, etc.
- Read Twas the Night Before Christmas
- Put out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer


What are your ideas?

[Charmie981]

Here are some from Family Fun

and here's a fun idea for making your own calendar

I'm really wanting the lego advent calendar for my boys, but trying to make myself not spend the $60 on it. We usually do the chocolate and cardboard ones that are $1.60 each and will probably do it again this year. I just don't think it gets any cheaper than that!

[caiesmommy]

We are doing this w our 3.5 year old.

-go to see the santa parade
-pj/popcorn/movie night
-holiday train night(we a train that pulls into town all decorated, the doors slide open and santa comes out/bands play...all the railroad asks is you donate canned fod items to the salvation army...SO MUCH FUN!!!)
-mail xmas postcards
-we're also doing xmas cards that have a cutout in the shape of a tree. Ds will make a collage out of tissue paper, sparkles ect on aluminum foil and that will be placed in the tree cut out.
-xmas eve new pjs
-town xmas tree lighting

on days where im working or its hectic we'll put either a small toy, or a internet printout of a christmas scene for him to color
now that we're starting to find out whats happening throughout dec we have a better idea of what we're going to do..I just need to finish making the advent calender in time

[PhotoJournMama]

Originally Posted by Charmie981

Here are some from Family Fun

and here's a fun idea for making your own calendar

I'm really wanting the lego advent calendar for my boys, but trying to make myself not spend the $60 on it. We usually do the chocolate and cardboard ones that are $1.60 each and will probably do it again this year. I just don't think it gets any cheaper than that!

There certainly isn't anything wrong with the chocolate and cardboard variety, I just wanted to make one so that we would have a fun activity pre-planned everyday. I stay at home so it's nice to have stuff to look forward to for both of us! Thanks for the links, I found the family fun one yesterday and took some of those ideas. That calendar is really cute too!

Originally Posted by caiesmommy

We are doing this w our 3.5 year old.

-go to see the santa parade
-pj/popcorn/movie night
-holiday train night(we a train that pulls into town all decorated, the doors slide open and santa comes out/bands play...all the railroad asks is you donate canned fod items to the salvation army...SO MUCH FUN!!!)
-mail xmas postcards
-we're also doing xmas cards that have a cutout in the shape of a tree. Ds will make a collage out of tissue paper, sparkles ect on aluminum foil and that will be placed in the tree cut out.
-xmas eve new pjs
-town xmas tree lighting

on days where im working or its hectic we'll put either a small toy, or a internet printout of a christmas scene for him to color
now that we're starting to find out whats happening throughout dec we have a better idea of what we're going to do..I just need to finish making the advent calender in time

Thanks for the ideas! I went to the Christmas train years ago with friends in college and completely forgot about it until you mentioned it haha! It's also early enough that we can make it home in time to stay on our bedtime schedule.

I wish our town's Santa parade was at a more convenient time - it's during his nap. Nothing comes between this boy and his nap, haha!


Some more ideas:
- wrap christmas presents (tape and toddlers is pretty fun), let him crush up and play with pieces of wrapping paper
- walk around town to look at the Christmas lights and decorations

[BetsyS]

We have a local Christmas tradition here called the pink pig. It's a pig shaped train that winds around just outside the big tree on top of a local department store. Totally cheesy and fun. My mom went as a kid, I went, and now my boys are going. So fun.

I like to go shopping on a Saturday near Christmas. This one takes a bit of selling for my family, but they go and humor me. This isn't a buying trip--just looking. I like to get in all the craziness of the mall-ness right before Christmas. Enjoy the lights, the people, the music. Just the whole thing. If I can cajole everyone into a good mood (a hearty breakfast and promise of a treat afterwards help), then it's great fun.

We sometimes go and cut down our own Christmas tree. A local place does hay rides and cider, which is fun.

[Teensy]

I can't find the old thread either! I know I have posted to one before. I have been doing this with my DC for about 6 years and love the tradition. We have a wooden Advent calander with little boxes that I put the slip with that day's activity written on it.

I try to mix up the crafts (making cards, painting wrapping paper, building gingerbread houses, decorating a tree for the birds), charity (buying toys for charity, taking food to the food bank, delivering meals on wheels), costly (buying a new ornament each year, shopping for presents for Daddy), necessary (making gifts for teachers), and easy (watching Rudolph video, driving around looking at the lights).

[LuckyMommaToo]

I'm really wanting the lego advent calendar for my boys,

Just as an option, we're going to buy a smaller (Under $20) Lego set and break it up ourselves. We'll intersperse a few pieces (and the instructions for them) every couple days with candy and/or activities. DS likes to build, so I think he'll prefer this to the actual Lego one, which doesn't usually have much building.

I love Advent calendars! We also like doing scavenger hunts. So int he pocket will be a picture clue (say, the washing machine), then a second clue and so on until they find the "prize." On Saturdays it will be a holiday Netflixed movie for us to watch.
-e

[Tangled Hill]

Was this the thread you were looking for?

[Charmie981]

Originally Posted by PhotoJournMama

There certainly isn't anything wrong with the chocolate and cardboard variety, I just wanted to make one so that we would have a fun activity pre-planned everyday. I stay at home so it's nice to have stuff to look forward to for both of us! Thanks for the links, I found the family fun one yesterday and took some of those ideas. That calendar is really cute too!

I totally agree that having fun activities is worthwhile, especially at the age your son is. Honestly, the Family Fun one, while super cute, kind of overwhelmed me when I got the magazine because I just can't fathom fitting anything else into our already super-busy days. The lego one, I worry would set a precedent I don't want to have to live up to. I was thinking of doing a fun advent activity every Friday, though, and marking those days onto their cardboard and chocolate calendars. That's about as much as I can commit to!

[jewelsJZ]

Thanks for starting this thread, PhotoJournMama! I was just thinking about our avent calendar. We've never done one before and I picked one up at an after Christmas sale last year. Like Charmie981 said, it is overwhelming for me to do some type of outing or art activity every day. Maybe twice a week?

I was thinking the other days I would put little notes in for them to read, like a memory from Christmases past or something? Maybe a picture of them from their first Christmas and we could talk about who was there, what we did, etc.

Also planning to put things in where we help others, like call a family member we haven't talked to in a while and sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" over the phone, or take some things from the pantry over to donate them at our local charity that does this.

Maybe this is not how you are supposed to do an advent calendar. I don't know, we are new to this, but this is what I was thinking.

[LaLaLaLa]

We tried to do this last December. Some thing that made our list:

Making yarn and glue eggs (dip yarn in diluted glue, drape around a balloon, then pop the balloon when the glue dries)

Making snow globes

Driving to look at Christmas lights

Making peppermint-stick ice cream

Decorating a gingerbread house

Buying a toy to donate to Toys for Tots

Ice Skating

Making ice ornaments (leaves and twigs frozen in an aluminum pie plate, frozen, then popped out and hung outside to slowly melt)

Making pine cone bird feeders

Watching all of the Christmas specials we have on DVD

It was fun, although hectic. I need to pull out last year's list and decide what's reasonable for this year.

[Fay]

We sing a different Christmas song every day. Some are religious, some are secular, some are Santa songs. My kids love them all! And it's FREE!!!

[Poddi]

Wow, I never know what advent calendar is about or what to do. I just buy those cheap little ones for $1 each and the kids seem happy enough. I'd love to teach them some songs, though. I love Christmas songs.

[karne]

We have one of the wooden advent calenders that have boxes for each day. Last year we put small, clay-type tree ornaments in each of the boxes. We had a small tabletop tree next to the advent calender. The kids could either paint the ornaments, or leave them "as is", and they were used to decorate the tree.

I am really done with the chocolate advent calenders.

[greengmax]

Love all the ideas! I was wondering if anyone had any advent quotes to stick into the calendars? I've been searching and searching online and can't come up with any. (It doesn't have to be religious, just seasonal)

[LaughingHyena]

We did an "activity" advent calender for the first time last year. We didn't do something every day, I only put the notes in the night before when I knew what the other plans for the day were.

I think most of the things we did have already been mentioned. I like the idea of printing out words to a christmas song to learn each week.

I also like the idea of including photos or memories of previous years.

This year we have a garden with trees so I'm going to add making bird feeders to our list.

[possum]

Originally Posted by jewelsJZ

Thanks for starting this thread, PhotoJournMama! I was just thinking about our avent calendar. We've never done one before and I picked one up at an after Christmas sale last year. Like Charmie981 said, it is overwhelming for me to do some type of outing or art activity every day. Maybe twice a week?

I was thinking the other days I would put little notes in for them to read, like a memory from Christmases past or something? Maybe a picture of them from their first Christmas and we could talk about who was there, what we did, etc.

I think small notes are great. You can also put in things that are special because you don't normally do them every day but don't take lots of time like making hot chocolate or cider, singing a speical carol (or each person's favorite on a different day), and reading a special Christmas story.

Melinda

[4evermom]

One idea I liked from the other current thread (in Parenting?) is making paper snowflakes. So easy with little prep! They are extra fun if you have those craft scissors that cut zigzags or wave shapes...

Someone suggested decorating paper for wrapping, I think using potato prints. You could also do that on fabric if you want reusable wrapping. Maybe use fabric paint on old pillow cases? Or decorate plain shirt boxes. Or plain gift bags. You could use rubber stamps instead of making potato stamps.

[daytripper75]

Here is our list. We have a lot of repeats and a lot of mellow things on there. If some of the activities seem like they won't work out I am going to put candy in the pockets instead.

Cut down a Christmas Tree.

Drink hot chocolate.

Sing Jingle Bells.

See Santa.

Make Christmas Presents.

Sing Santa Claus is coming to town.

Go look for Christmas lights.

Go to Carol singing.

Make cookies.

Make Fudge.

Watch a Christmas movie.

Go ice skating.

Make paper snowflakes.

Go sledding.

Make presents for dd and
ds's classes.

Read a Christmas picture book.

Build a snowman.

Do a Christmas Carol dance.

Visit Grandma.

Read a Christmas picture book.

Watch a Christmas movie.

Wrap Christmas presents.