50 fantastic family Advent activities

The past couple of years at Christmas I have made the kiddos an advent calendar full of fun advent activities. Each day has had one fun, festive thing to do – decorate the tree, go to the Christmas market or bake cookies for example. The girls have loved it – it’s a great way of spreading the fun out through the month and building the excitement {even more than it already is!} One thing IU’ve learnt is to make a ‘cheat sheet’ – so when I assign the activities to each day, I keep a master list of what we’re doing on what day. That way I always have the things I need on hand, and I can check what we’ll be doing each day in case I need to make a last minute switch!

Some things are day specific – say, going to a Christmas market or the panto – and others I can just pop in wherever I feel like it! You can see last years calendar here and the year before that’s here.

This year I picked up this advent stocking garland in town – I was going to reuse last years envelopes but I couldn’t’ resist this when I saw it! I’m just putting the finishing touches to my 24 activities and working out what is going on each day.

Here are 50 ideas for advent activities to put in your family advent activity calendar:

1. Take an evening walk  look at the Christmas lights
2. Read a Christmas Story
3. Make Christmas Paper Dolls
4. Make a Gingerbread House
5. Celebrate the Solstice
6. Make a button ornament for the tree
7. Make paperchains
8. Go to a Christmas Market
9. Make Cinnamon Ornaments
10. Go out for Hot Chocolate
11. Make Bottle Top Snowmen
12. Decorate the Tree
13. Make Reindeer Food
14. Bake Christmas Cookies
15. Make a window garland
16. Make paper snowflakes
17. Watch Christmas cartoons
18. Make Christmas cards
19. Make Paper Lanterns
20. Swap me for the Christmas Eve Box
21. Organise a Secret Santa with your family
22. Go to the winter funfair
23. Go Christmas Caroling
24. Go to a Christmas Concert
25. Watch the Nutcracker Ballet
26. Make Christmas Playdough
27. Make Snow Globes
28. Decorate Pine Cones to make a table centerpiece
29. Make a Pine Cone Birdfeeder
30. Have a living room dance party to a Christmas album
31. Unwrap and read a new Christmas book
32. Check your shoes on Saint Nicolas Day – {December 6th [Leave the kids a few sweets hidden in their shoes.}
33. Watch ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’
34. Watch Elf
35. Watch The Polar Express
36. Watch The Grinch
37. Watch A Christmas Carol
38. Watch Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
39. Watch It’s a Wonderful Life
40. Make a Poinsettia Bouquet
41. Make thumbprint snowmen
42. Colour some Christmas pictures
43. Make thank-you cards for after Christmas
44. Hang some mistletoe and give everyone a kiss
45. Make a popcorn garland
46. Decorate a wreath
47. Visit Santa’s Grotto
48. Deck the halls with boughs of holly
49. Make footprint reindeer
50. Make salt dough ornaments
51. Go to a Panto