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An Advent Calendar is always a special way for my family to celebrate the Christmas season. We look for a special Christmas calendar each year. This countdown calendar for Christmas focuses on bringing the family together and spending time with each other.
Just print out this advent calendar, assemble it, and be ready for a month of fun and togetherness with your family. Read on for fun activities, and more fantastic calendar ideas. You might even want to make homemade Christmas gifts.
What is an Advent Calendar?
Advent Calendars are such a fun way to bring your family closer during the holidays. I love to count down the days to Christmas with them. With fun advent calendars, each day is always a surprise of what advent activities we’ll be doing next.
Advent is traditionally marked as a season that anticipated the birth of Jesus Christ. The word “advent” is Latin for “coming,” and the start of the season can fall between November 27 and December 3. Most modern Advent calendars start on December 1 and have holiday-themed activities.
It makes me stop this busy season and take a moment to make memories with my family. I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday season and enjoy this time with your families!
DIY Advent Calendar
This printable kid’s Advent Calendar counts down to Christmas with a fun activity each day. What a great way to celebrate and countdown to Christmas with your family every day for the month of December.
This Printable Advent Calendar is modern, full of color, and sure to brighten up any space in your home this holiday. This specially designed calendar is easy to put together and a great way for you and your family to spend some time with each other and assemble the mini envelopes, and get each of you thinking about what you’d like to do for each day of the month. There are plenty of blank cards to add your own ideas.
printables
- Download the Printable Advent Calendar here
- Insert Activity Cards – These cards work great for any advent calendar.
- Blank Insert Cards
Calendar Assembly
This is how easy it is to assemble the envelopes together. This is quick and easy.
- Download and print the envelopes, insert activity cards, and blank insert cards if you are going to use them.
- Cut out all of your envelopes and fold the tabs, the middle, and the top of the envelope.
- Put glue on the tabs and fold over the envelope, pressing firmly on the sides so that the tabs and the front of the envelope stick.
- Insert your activity card and fold it over the top of the envelope.
For the activity cards, there are 25 that are all ready to go and you can simply print, cut them out, and insert them into an envelope or there is a page of blank activity cards for you to fill in for your own homemade advent calendar ideas.
Advent Calendar Activities
Here is a list of fun activities for your Advent. All are great ideas that can be Christmas themed or just family-oriented to help you spend more time together. Every day your family can have a fun surprise.
- Play a game Family game nights are a favorite at our house
- Decorate Christmas cookies Here is my favorite sugar cookie frosting. It is smooth creamy and oh-so delicious! I promise you it really does make the very best sugar cookie.
- Have a special friend for dinner
- Turn glass ornaments into beautiful keepsakes and show off your child’s artwork. Make Christmas ornaments
- Make hot chocolate and read Christmas stories
- Decorate a Gingerbread House
- Play cards
- Drive around to see neighborhood Christmas lights (put hot cocoa in to-go cups and put on PJs)
- Watch a Holiday movie
- Roast marshmallows in the fireplace
- Do a Christmas craft
- Have ice cream sundaes with special toppings
- Have breakfast for dinner
- Handwrite letters to friends that live away
- Write something nice about each family member on a slip of paper and place it under their pillow
- Bake Cookies
- Buy a gift for someone in need
- Make a handmade gift
- Memorize a bible verse
- Write a letter to Santa
- Cut snowflakes for the windows
- Color a Christmas Coloring Page
- Make a family video
- Decorate a paper bag or paper to create special gift-wrapping is a fun project for kids.
- Do something nice for a neighbor
- Decorate the Christmas Tree
- Do a puzzle together
- Play Christmas Charades
- Build a Snowman out of paper with this free printable snowman template. It only takes a few simple supplies to create the cutest snowman decorations.
- Draw Santa and Christmas Trees
Megan from Short Stop Designs has created this darling printed advent calendar just for you! Now you are ready for family fun all the days leading to Christmas.
I am hoping this printable advent calendar helps you enjoy each other and slow down this holiday season and spend time together.
More Best Advent Calendars
I love to make advent calendars and have made several over the years. Having a Christmas countdown leading up to Christmas also makes fun holiday decorations! Look at all the fun DIY Advent Calendar ideas you can make yourself. What a wonderful keepsake!
DIY Fabric Calendar – Another cute and clever use of wooden clothespins and your brightest bits of fabric!
Felt Reindeer – Hang your reindeer on ribbons by using clothespins for the antlers. So much fun to fill with treats and toys.
Paper Stockings – cut this out with your Cricut or Silhouette cutting machine (free cutting files)
A cutting machine makes quick work of cutting out vinyl numbers. Use a heat press to put them on premade bags and felt garland. This makes an easy Christmas advent calendar full of holiday cheer.
Little Birdie Felt Calendar – How cute is this free template? What a great Christmas ornament idea, too!
DIY Tree – I just love the rustic look of this one!
Recycled K-cup Christmas Tree – You could also use toilet paper rolls
Christmas Tree with wooden boxes
Advent Calendar featuring tools
Christmas Book Countdown – This is such a fun 12-day calendar. You can’t go wrong with a selection of classic books to cozy up with!
The story of the Nativity – A nativity theme with the manger scene is a traditional way to count down to Christmas.
Use this Christmas stocking pattern to create an Advent Calendar to use year after year. This one could easily become a family heirloom.
Advent Calendars to Buy
So many perfect Advent calendars for kids! If you are looking for something to purchase, how about these for this year’s calendar?
- Wine Advent Calendar
- This Spa theme would make a great adult advent calendar – or a teen advent calendar.
- This Makeup Advent calendar would be fun! (affiliate link) Who wouldn’t love to have face masks, perfumes, lip balms, and other beauty products?
- A fun little Jewelry Calendar for those little girls that like a little bling.
- This is a darling chocolate calendar.
- If you like it all… milk chocolates, white chocolate, dark chocolate this Godiva Calendar will be a hit.
- Harry Potter fans will love this Lego Calendar
- My boys always love the Lego Builder Advent calendar!
- Star Wars lovers will enjoy this Star Wars Calendar.
- But I have to say my boys top pick will always be Playmobil.
I would love to keep you fully stocked with creative ideas, yummy recipes, fun crafts, and loads of free printables. Subscribe to Skip to my Lou to get new ideas delivered to your inbox. Follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram for all my latest updates.
Cindy Hopper says
Alyson, There are three links, one to print the envelopes (print, cut, and fold), one page of activity cards, a blank page of cards to write your own activities if you choose.
Alyson says
This is such a great idea! Do I just print these on card stock paper or are there special envelopes I need to purchase?
Toni Dash says
I love this!! Really beautiful and great ideas! Thank you!
Beth says
This looks so much fun! Perfect for my kids and so fun! I can’t wait to do this for them!
Jen says
I love that it’s centered around family activities and not necessarily getting something. So perfect for the season.
Laura Reese says
Love these ideas! So many cute calendar ideas.
Diane says
I came across your site by accident and I am so glad I did! this is the most adorable idea!! Thank you for putting it out there for all to enjoy! I have teenage grandchildren at home and it’s always a struggle to get some Christmas joy in their Bah Hum Bug phase! I think this will do it!! I know it will for me!!! Thank you so very much!!!
Cindy Hopper says
Sally, I believe it was about 16 inches wide by 24 inches tall. That could be adjusted by how closely you hang the cards. Hope this helps.
Sally says
Love this! What size of board did you use?thanks!
Sharon Gore says
Thanks so much for sharing this!! We are very excited about doing this. Thanks again!
Delynn Bowen says
This is adorable! We are thinking of doing it as a young women activity. What size is the board?
Jeanine says
I just wanted to say Thank You for such a wonderful idea. I have made my envelopes and cards and now just need to put them all on the board (that this weekends activity). But it already looks amazing.
Thank you so much for this and for all your other amazing ideas!
Mellie says
What font did you use for the Activity Cards – I wanted my personalized ones to match :).
Thank you!
Cindy says
Hi Britney, I don’t have one right now but that is a great idea. In the mean time did you see I included a blank sheet so you could write your own activities?
Britney says
wondering if I could get an editable file of the Insert Cards so I could type in some stuff to print for each of my kids. Super cute! Thanks!