DIY Advent Calendar Activities

We are starting a new tradition this year in our household, one that I hope will continue for many years to come. My husband built a rustic advent calendar and we filled each bucket with an activity to do each day with the kids. The activities will be something to look forward to each day, regardless if they are big or small.

Here is our list:

1. Find Sprinkles the Elf [on the Shelf]
2. Wear new Christmas pajamas
3. Read “A Christmas Story”
4. Have a snowball fight
5. Watch “Minnie’s Winter Bow Show”
6. Build a gingerbread house
7. Drive around and look at Christmas lights
8. Eat dinner in front of the Christmas tree
9. Drink hot chocolate with marshmallows
10. Watch “Mickey Saves Santa”
11. Make Christmas cards
12. Watch “Elf”
13. Bake and decorate Christmas cookies
14. Make Christmas ornaments
15. Make paper snowflakes
16. Listen to Christmas music
17. Ride the Santa train
18. Have a Christmas dinner with friends
19. Make chocolate covered pretzels
20. Read and watch “The Polar Express”
21. Make Christmas pancakes
22. Read five Christmas books
23. Go to Grammy’s house
24. Read “The Night Before Christmas”

I started my list by looking at my calendar and filling in the days that we already had something Christmas-related planned. I then filled the weekend days with more of the bigger activities that would require more time since our time is limited during the week. Some activities are small, but I didn’t want to over-commit ourselves since this is the first year implementing the advent calendar. Our kids are one and three years old , so the activities are definitely tailored to toddlers, but feel free to use any of the activities listed to start your own traditions. If you already do an advent calendar similar to this one, I would love to hear your favorite activities!