We’re going beyond the chocolate-a-day advent calendars with this list, although if you love the nostalgia of those, feel free to indulge. As a planner and list-maker, I love advent activities. Maybe even more than my kids! Here are 12 advent activity ideas for your family.
No pressure to do all of these. Pick something that sounds fun, and do-able for your family. You can also adjust to make these a “12 days of Christmas” activity if 24 days seems like too much. The goal is fun, not frantic!
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1. Advent Readings
Our family has done all kinds of different advent readings over the years. We have done a scripture a day and used various books. Last year, I wrote my own advent devotional to use with my family. I found that we weren’t keeping up with the daily readings during the busy Christmas season, and I wanted a devotional that continued on after Christmas Day. The story doesn’t end with a baby in a manger! If you’re interested in using my family devotional, Light of the World, this Christmas season, it’s available as a Kindle download on Amazon.
We’ve used this book many times over the years!
My new family devotional for the month of December!
Countdown has ornaments that can be hung on a tree or banner display.
Daily advent readings for families with young children.
2. Advent Gifts
Years ago, as new parents, we were so excited to do all the Christmas activities with our toddler! We purchased an advent calendar house from Costco. It has 24 little doors to open, with space to put a small candy or tiny toy inside. Many years later, after adding two more kids, they still get excited about waking up each day in December to a tiny treat in the advent house. Some years I plan specific items for each day, but most years I put a Hershey kiss or gummy bear for each child in the door and they are thrilled with that!
If you want to get creative, here are a few gift ideas for your advent house:
- mini ornaments to decorate a mini tree
- puzzle pieces (a few pieces each day)*
- LEGO figures or pieces
- finger puppets
- hair accessories
- coins
- lip balm (or makeup for older kids!)
* For a fun non-candy idea, get a puzzle that you can break up for your kids. For example, I have 3 kids, so a 300 piece puzzle means they each get 100 pieces (4 per day). It’s a little extra work, but if you do the puzzle in advance, you can break it up into pieces that fit together so that they can easily add pieces each day. The nativity scene puzzle shown below can be done from the outside in, leaving the baby Jesus pieces to be added on Christmas morning.
Beautiful neutral advent calendar with drawers
Adorable set of 24 mini Christmas tree ornaments
Chocolates wrapped like pretty little presents—so cute!
3. Advent Countdowns
Make your own banner, chalkboard sign, or paper chain. The DIY options are endless! Here are a few that I love. A paper chain is such a simple, fun addition to a child’s bedroom or playroom that they can do themselves.
If you’d rather not DIY it, here are some ready-to-use countdown options that I love.
My kids have used this magnetic countdown calendar for at least 5 years, and they still love it!
Star sticker countdown
Burlap bag countdown
4. Nativity Scene Advent
One advent activity idea that we continually use year after year is a nativity scene. We’ve used variety of them over the years because I have a really hard time resisting a beautiful nativity scene. A beat-up magnetic version is added to our refrigerator each December, and I’ve created several 12 days of Christmas options that we use to bring out one figure each day from December 14th through the 25th. And yes, I do know that the 12 days of Christmas begin on Christmas day, but sometimes it works better to do an activity for 12 days instead of 24. I want to enjoy the Christmas season, and not feel pressured to do a lot of specific things each day. Any of these nativity scenes work well as an advent activity, setting out a piece each day for either 12 or 24 days.
Felt nativity countdown. This is just too sweet. Perfect for little ones who aren’t still putting everything into their mouths!
Magnetic nativity scene: my kids have used the same one for 10 years and look forward to it each year.
12-piece nativity set. I love this set. Simple, rustic design, but sturdy enough for kids to play with.
We’ve used this wooden set for several years, unwrapping the stable on day one, and the figures individually on the following eleven days.
5. Christmas Acts of Kindness
If you want to help your kids focus on others this Christmas season, rather than “me, me, me” materialism, try an Acts of Kindness advent activity. Download my Christmas Acts of Kindness printable and choose one to do each day leading up to Christmas. Or keep it flexible and choose 12 to do on any 12 days in December.
Advent Activity Ideas for Christmas Acts of Kindness:
- Put a grocery cart away for someone
- Bring a treat to a neighbor
- Mail a card to a teacher
- Tell a store or restaurant worker how much you appreciate them
- Leave money to pay for someone in line behind you
- Write a thank you note to someone
- Give a Christmas treat to a delivery driver
- Donate food to a shelter or food bank
- Give a little toy to a child who is crying in a store (and an encouraging smile to the mom)
- Offer to pick up groceries for someone
- Be a secret Santa for someone
- Give a Christmas sticker to a kid waiting in line
- Send a card to a soldier
- Give money to a stranger
- Let someone go ahead of you in the checkout line
- Take treats to your local fire or police station
- Give a flower to a stranger
- Leave an extra big tip for someone
- Leave an encouraging note somewhere it will be seen
- Bring coffee or hot cocoa to someone working outside
- Write a comment card praising someone’s good service
- Offer a free Christmas book to a child
- Donate a toy to a toy drive
- Offer a candy cane to someone
6. Advent Wrapping + Prayer
If you have a long Christmas gift list, try wrapping a gift each day and while you wrap, pray specifically for that person. If your Christmas schedule is too hectic to allow you to wrap a gift each day, you can still make a list of 24 people to pray for and make it a point to pray for each one of those people during the month of December.
You can download my printable Christmas Prayer Tags to let someone know that you were praying for them this season. Attach to a gift or tuck it inside a Christmas card to encourage your friends and family.
7. Christmas Memories
Pull out Christmas pictures, videos, cards, journals, or scrapbooks from years past, and spend a few minutes each day reminiscing about the fun, silly, and meaningful memories of Christmas past. Keep it simple and post a random Christmas picture on the fridge each day, or plan ahead and go back through the past 24 years of Christmas seasons day by day. Either way, a few moments spent remembering your family’s favorite Christmas memories is time well spent.
8. Christmas Baking
If baking is your jam (see what I see there…hehe), feel free to dive into a 24 treats of Christmas challenge. For many of us, baking is a fun part of the Christmas season. If you have a child who is crazy for cookies, you can create a fun baking advent activity without actually baking something each and every day. Make it a 12 days of Christmas activity, and follow the schedule below:
- Day 1: Browse ideas for treats and make a list of ideas
- Day 2: Choose which treats to make
- Day 3: Decide on who you will bake treats for
- Day 4: Make a grocery list
- Day 5: Decide how you will package treats for gifting
- Day 6: Shop for your ingredients and packaging
- Day 7: Make or gather gift tags, labels, cards, and other packaging materials
- Day 8: Bake treats
- Day 9: Package treats
- Day 10: Bake treats
- Day 11: Package treats
- Day 12: Deliver treats
You can involve your kids in each step of the process. Not only will they love getting a say in choosing which treats to make, they will understand so much better all the steps involved in creating a special handmade gift.
9. Christmas Watchlist
I don’t know about you, but in my house, there is rarely an occasion when all three kids agree on what to watch. This year, I’m trying an option to (hopefully) cut down on the arguments about whose turn it is to pick and how much the others DO NOT want to watch whatever the picker is picking.
I’m choosing Christmas movies in advance this year, and printing them on little cards to put in a Christmas box. An elf hat or jar would be cute, too. The idea is to pull a card out of the hat, jar, or box, and whichever movie is printed on the card is the movie of the night. We’ll see how it goes! If you want to use my Christmas movie cards, I’m offering a free printable download to you.
10. Christmas Crafts
If you’re a crafty type, you’ve probably got loads of craft ideas to do with your kids already. If you want a simple, easy advent activity, download my free printable Christmas Banner Coloring Cards and have your kids color one card per day for 12 days. Then, punch holes in the top of the cards and thread onto ribbon or twine for a sweet, handmade Christmas banner.
For more Christmas coloring pages, check out the selection available at Free-n-Fun Christmas.
11. Kind Words Advent Project
Have your kids think of a kind word or phrase to describe or encourage a sibling for the 24 days before Christmas. Alternatively, they could choose a friend or teacher to focus on.
It’s okay to give a little assistance here if needed. Ask leading questions like, “Can you think of a time they gave you something?” or “What do you enjoy doing together?”
Think of descriptive words that start with the letters of their name, or things that they excel at. What a sweet gift to give to a grandparent, teacher, or friend!
I plan to do this FOR my kids this year. I’ve printed one copy for each of my daughters, and each day I will write something positive I noticed or thought about them. I’ll give the list to them on Christmas morning!
Download a free printable to use for your own Kind Words Advent Project.
12. Christmas Countdown Journal Prompts
Create a reflective morning tradition of journaling with your kids. Here are 24 winter and Christmas themed journal prompts to encourage your kids to write all month long. You can download a free printable list of my Christmas Countdown Journal Prompts to use with your family this season.
- Write about a favorite Christmas family tradition.
- What are you most looking forward to this Christmas?
- Which job would you have if you were an elf?
- What are your favorite Christmas treats, and why?
- What do you enjoy doing outdoors in December?
- Write about a fun secret Santa gift you’d like to give.
- Describe a favorite Christmas morning memory.
- What is your favorite Christmas movie, and why?
- Write about your favorite holiday smells.
- Write about a time someone did a kind deed for you.
- What is your favorite Christmas carol, and why?
- Describe your perfect Christmas dinner.
- What is your favorite way to warm up on a cold day?
- Write about a reason you are thankful for family.
- What is your favorite Christmas breakfast?
- Write about a Christmas decorating memory.
- What are your favorite Christmas symbols?
- Who would you love to see on Christmas Day?
- Describe your earliest Christmas memory.
- What tradition do you want to continue as an adult?
- Write about the best gift you have ever received?
- What makes you feel cozy in the winter?
- Finish the phrase, “All I want for Christmas is…”
- Describe a Christmas Eve memory.
All 12 Advent Activity Ideas
Whew! Did you make it all the way to the end?? I hope you found a fun and meaningful advent activity idea to try with your family this year. Our family loves celebrating the season of hope, joy, and peace at Christmas, and I’m excited to try a couple of new activities this year. Here’s the recap on all 12 advent activity ideas:
- Advent Readings
- Advent Gifts
- Advent Countdowns
- Nativity Scene Advent
- Christmas Acts of Kindness
- Advent Wrapping + Prayer
- Christmas Memories
- Christmas Baking
- Christmas Watchlist
- Christmas Crafts
- Kind Words Advent Project
- Christmas Countdown Journal Prompts
Don’t forget to download your free printables and Pin this post for later! Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas!
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Great post! Specially love #12!
I love to create journaling prompts for my kids!
What an amazing thoughtful list, love the ideas in particular the chalk board advent seems cool.