If you ask my kids what they look forward to most during the holiday season, I think their Advent Calendar would rank right up there in the Top 3.
My daughter forgets to put her shoes in the basket every time she takes them off. My son can’t seem to ever remember to put his cup in the sink at the end of the night. But there has not been one December yet in almost 14 years when they have forgotten their advent calendar for even a day.
I’m telling you, 2 days ago, on Nov. 30th, we were running around like mad. We had appointments to keep, shopping to accomplish, rooms to clear for new carpet, 3 rooms we were finishing up painting. It was a crazy day and we all couldn’t wait to fall in bed.
As they were giving out their goodnight kisses and hugs, doesn’t that girl pipe up with “I can’t wait to see our Advent calendar tomorrow!!” Her brother, almost 14 and 5’11”, adds, “I know! I’ve been thinking about it all day”!
They.Never.Forget.
Nobody is happier than this momma, that her kids still love the family traditions and activities that come with each day in our advent calendar.
They’re simple activities that we most likely would have done anyways. But the fact that they’re wrapped up in a little package with small pieces of candy, make them that much more exciting!
We’ve also done a random acts of kindness advent calendar and a Grinch advent in other years!
This was a quick, last minute Advent calendar that I threw together using only what I had on-hand (minus the candy that I had picked up last week just for this purpose).
Supplies:
Wrapping paper
Empty wrapping paper tube
candy
blank paper to write activities on
Free Numbers Printable from Simple As That
tape
scissors
Directions:
I have 2 kids, so each “gift” includes an activity card and 2 pieces of candy.
Wrap it up and then cut a piece of baker’s twine to wrap around it.
Be sure to tape the twine on the back to help hold it in place
On the front, I placed a little loop of tape and then put the baker’s twine on top of it. The number gets pressed right on top of that.
Tie a simple knot at the end of your twine.
Cover the empty wrapping paper tube in paper. Then slide your numbers right onto it.
Using more twine, tie a knot on each end to hang your entire advent calendar from.
The kids just cut off each day, so there’s no loose threads hanging around.
I also printed out a blank calendar to keep track of the activities. My memory is not as good as theirs, and this calendar becomes my life-saver so I’m never surprised by any of the activities that might need to be planned for ahead of time!
Go ahead and ignore the weird trim job. I was using the edges to write my activity cards. Waste not, want not!
Then I hung the whole thing right beside our fireplace!
It’s so pretty and the colors match the rest of our house perfectly!
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