Countdown to Christmas: Advent Activities

Christmas is coming! I don’t know what it’s like in your house, but here in the Artsy House, we get awfully excited as we count down the days until we celebrate Jesus’ birth with our family and friends. For us, Christmas is anticipation and joy.

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The joy of time with loved ones. The joy of participating our favorite traditions together. The joy of decorating, of giving, and of sharing. I always knew that as much as I loved Christmas, it would be ten times more special once I had a child…and I was right. To see his excitement and the way he looks forward to all the festive things about the season helps me to see it with fresh eyes. Years ago, we started an advent tradition to make the month of December particularly special, and it’s become one of his {and my} favorite things.

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Around the end of November, hubby and I sit down and make a list of all kinds of fun activities to do, then we pull out the calendar and assign each one a day. We save the more involved activities for the weekends and choose the best fit for others based on what we know our schedules are going to be. I write out the activities on slips of paper that get folded and placed in the pockets for each day. Then comes the fun part…each morning throughout the month of December, Little Crafter gets to pull out the paper and find out what we’re going to do together!

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He literally runs to the calendar each morning; sometimes it’s the very first thing he does!

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Here’s a list of some of the activities we like to include; maybe some will be things you want to incorporate into your own traditions!

Make a gingerbread house
Bake and decorate cookies
Wrap Daddy’s/Mommy’s presents
Buy a gift for a friend
Kiss under the mistletoe
Dance to Christmas music
Decorate the Christmas tree
Take a gift to your teacher
Drive around and look at Christmas lights
Watch Elf
Buy a gift for the Giving Tree at school
Make an ornament
Visit the Festival of Wreaths
Read a Christmas book
Make someone a card
Watch A Charlie Brown Christmas
Deliver cookies in the neighborhood
Sing Christmas carols

Visit Mom-Mom
Read the Christmas story
Prepare and mail Christmas cards
Make a clay snowman
Bake a birthday cake for Jesus
Christmas Eve Service

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We’ve had several different advent calendars over the years, but my favorite is the one we got this year, the Embroidered Fabric Advent Calendar from Balsam Hill. I love the size of it and the designs are adorable. You can personalize the top with your family’s name or a message…we chose “Joy to the World” for ours.

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Right now, the folks at Balsam Hill are counting down to Christmas just like we are. They’ve asked 24 bloggers to share what Christmas is in our homes, and I’m glad I got to be a part of it! Tomorrow, be sure to visit Christine from the DIY Dreamer to see what she has to share! For the full lineup, check out this list.

Also, be sure to enter the Balsam Hill giveaway for a chance to win one of 25 $100 gift cards! Good luck!

 

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6 Comments

  1. love this idea! I looked everywhere this year for one of those chocolate advent calender’s but couldn’t find one that i liked. I will have to make this next year! This year we just did the traditional paper chain 🙂

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