Happy December!
Today I wanted to share the DIY advent calendar that I made this year. I have fond memories of the advent calendar from my childhood and I knew I wanted to do something similar for my family. Insert throwback 90’s pictures here 😉
As you may know, my goal is to do one Christmas related activity every day during the month of December – even if it’s as simple as a Christmas coloring page or watching a Christmas movie as a family. So not only did I want to include some cute trinkets and special treats in the calendar, just as my Mom did, I also wanted to add in fun activities for us to do together. I figured we would be doing all of the fun things anyways so it would be an exciting way for Juliette to discover what we are doing that day!
While there are so many adorable calendars on the market I knew that most of them wouldn’t be able to fit a lot of the things that I wanted to include. I found this over the door shoe organizer on Amazon with 24 pockets…just what I was looking for! I wasn’t able to find one with solid pockets (this one has mesh) but I think it makes it even more festive to wrap up the items in red and green tissue paper.
I made the number labels on the computer and attached them with cute snowflake clothespins, also found on Amazon. We will see how Juliette does with it hanging on the outside of the door, we may have to flip it around on the inside if she is too tempted! I did compile a list of fillers and activities for each of the days but I will be stuffing it the night before just in case plans change or I decide to do something different.
- A treat, of course
- Stickers
- Play-doh
- A small toy / trinket
- A craft to do that day
- Small board book
- Fun Christmas socks
- Play jewlery
- Magnets
And of course, they don’t have to all be physical objects! You can stuff a note with an activity or place to visit during the month of December.
- Visit Santa
- Help wrap presents
- Decorate the tree
- Have a Christmas music dance party
- Watch a Christmas movie
- Write a letter to Santa
- Donate toys to the less fortunate
- Bake Christmas cookies
- Drink hot chocolate with marshmallows
- Decorate gingerbread men
- Track Santa
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I will be sharing all of our Christmas fun each day over on my Instagram if you’d like to follow along and get some inspiration for your kiddos!