It was pouring cats and dogs yesterday evening. Daddy had a report to complete; Mommy had to edit the photos taken at LEGOLAND so Dana enjoyed a special movie treat, watching a Charlie and Lola DVD which we had loaned from the National Library. After an episode on ‘How Many More Minutes Until Christmas‘, she came and requested if we can make an Advent Calendar together.  In all our years of existence, we’ve never had an Advent Calendar but being the loving Mom that I am (*erhem*), I hastily googled for the significance of an Advent Calendar and simple DIY ideas. 

According to Wikipedia, “An Advent calendar is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of Advent in anticipation of Christmas. It takes the form of a large rectangular card with 24 “windows”; one is opened for each day of December leading up to Christmas Day.  In many of these calendars, each window opens to reveal an image, a poem, or a portion of the Nativity of Jesus.”

I saw some really elaborate and pretty ones on Pinterest but they looked too challenging and time-consuming for a non-crafty me.  Thankfully, I managed to find one which fits our needs and relatively easy to execute.  I’m sharing with all busy Moms so you too can make your own Advent Calendar and count down to Christmas!

To download the Printable, click here.

Supplies:

• Cardstock
• 2” circle punch, or scissors
• Lamination (optional)
• Mini-clothes pegs, or ribbon to attach ornaments to Christmas Tree 

Directions:

1.  Print, laminate for durability (optional), then cut or punch out ornaments with a 2” circle punch. Use mini-clothes pegs to attach each ornament to your Christmas tree (or a garland).

2.  Starting on 1st December,  have your child take down one ornament each day, and do whatever activity is printed on the back. You can choose to print the original activities (included in the download) or you can print just the ornament fronts and write in your own activities.

Here are some customised activities which I’ll include for Dana’s 1st Advent Calendar:

1. Make a donation to Boys’ Brigade Christmas ‘Share-A-Gift‘ Charity Box
2. Make Paper Snowflakes
3. Bake Christmas Cupcakes!
4. Make a Snow Globe!
5. Write Christmas Cards for Grandma and Cousins
6. View old family photos taken at past Christmases
7. Make Christmas gifts for Teachers
8. Dance and Sing to Christmas Music
9. Read a Parable of Jesus
10. Play a Christmas tune on the Piano
11. Make a Pipe Cleaner Candy Cane Craft
12. Watch ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
13. Use Puppets to tell a Bible Story
14. Eat a Ginger Cookie with Ice-cream!
15. Go and view the Christmas Lights
16. Read a storybook about Christmas
17. Dress in Red and Green 
18. Learn to say ‘Merry Christmas’ in Korean
19. Have a Hot Chocolate and Marshmallows
20. Buy an ornament (from Korea) for the home
21. Enjoy a snow fight at the Ski Resort!
22. Root Beer Floats tonight!
23. Read the story about Christ’s Birth
24. Surprise our Neighbours with Presents!
25. Merry Christmas! Open presents!

You can also jazz up these Advent activities with holiday graphics for younger kids. Click on the link to download and customise the Advent Graphic Printable!

Source: Wendolonia