Advent Calendar Countdown Activity Ideas

I am looking forward to counting down the days to Christmas with an activity advent calendar.  We had a blast last year with various activities, outings, and crafts.  You can view last years list of activities here.  

This year I wanted to focus more on family time together and activities that have spend time together as a family.

Here is this years list!

• For the first two weeks in December the kids have Awana so for those nights I will have a joke and a piece of candy. Here are the two jokes I am going to use.

Q: What do snowmen eat for breakfast?

A: snowflakes

Q: What do Santa's Elves learn in school?

A: the elfabet

• Kids pick as many Christmas books as they want and we cuddle up on the couch with hot chocolate and read them all
• Watch Polar Express and make sleigh bell necklaces and bracelets
• Every year our town has a Lighted Christmas Parade
• Take turns taking pictures of each other (I have 3 cameras for us to use and I can just imagine this being a fun, goofy time and great memory keepsake)
• Make a giant picture together.  I plan on covering the table with one giant sheet of paper and have all around the table coloring and talking together.
• Build a gingerbread house
• Pizza & Christmas Movie
• Decorate sugar cookies
• Game night
• Write a Christmas Story together with everyone giving ideas
• Create Christmas cards
• Snowman Ice-cream Sundaes & Christmas movie
• Visit Stoney Ridge Farm
• Decorate picture frames to give as gifts
• Make homemade wrapping paper with different painting techniques
• See who can make the most words out of Merry Christmas
• Picnic Dinner in front of the tree using only the lights from the tree and candles
• Sleep over in the living room watching Christmas movies, eating Christmas cookies, cocoa, and sleeping to the glow of the tree
• Every Christmas Eve the kids get a pair of new pjs
• On Christmas morning we will have our traditional coyotes for breakfast.  I don't know the actual name for this meal that is what we called it growing up.  It is fried bread dough and then you can eat it with powder sugar, jam, or syrup.  
• Drive around and look at Christmas lights

Here are some other ideas we will do:

Make cookies 

Deliver cookies to family & neighbors

go cut down a tree

Decorate the tree and house

Shop for cousins

listen to lots of Christmas music

Christmas Crafts