advent activity calendar

As we put away our Thanksgiving decorations, our fall leaves, and our pumpkins today, Maddy asked repeatedly when we would start our "little toy" boxes that count down to Christmas.

We've used a Play Mobile calendar for the last two years, which the children love, but when I ran across a new idea in my most favorite-ever magazine, Family Fun, I had to try it.

It seems to be a more meaningful, soak-up-the-season kind of Advent Activity Calendar, and I'm already looking forward to starting it. C'mon, December. . .

• Advent Activity Calendar: The Advent Activity Calendar is a special calendar that has one holiday activity scheduled for each of the 24 days of Advent.
  

I printed two copies of the calendar; one I cut apart, and I put one square into each of the pockets of a big felt Advent countdown tree that I found at a local store for a few dollars last week. The other copy of the calendar I kept for reference in case we needed to make last-minute changes or activity switches.

Then, I downloaded a plain calendar template and added one activity for each day. I tried to jive it with events that were already on our calendar, like Maddy's birthday, our Polar Express event, and a few others.

Our sweet Advent Activity Calendar!

Our first-ever Advent Activity Calendar is here to download if you'd like. I did make some last-minute changes, but it's essentially the same as the picture. This new one includes decorating our Christmas tree (whew!).

Holiday activities like 'Put on your aprons and make cookies today!' and 'Watch a holiday DVD with friends' are on the calendar, as well as a reminder to drive around and look at neighborhood holiday lights.

I'm hoping that the day we drink a cup of hot cocoa and look at pictures of past Christmas holidays will help us to sit back and really appreciate the holiday season and that our before-bedtime holiday music dance party will be something the kids remember.

I also wanted to make sure we set aside time to empty our Give jars and deliver the money to the Salvation Army volunteers, to work on Holiday Notes for our family, and to deliver holiday sweets to our neighbors.

I loved this idea because unlike our other Advent calendar, this one involves us all--every day--in an activity that we'll all enjoy.

It's easy--for me, at least--to rush through the holiday season without really stopping to think about it, too, especially when I'm trying to keep up with three kids, only 5, 4, and 2 years old. Maybe this will slow us down a bit.

I anticipate making changes to the calendar each year, but for this year, this Advent Activity Calendar seems like it might work. Happy Holidays!

fyi:
If this doesn't work for your family, head over to my friends at ABC and 123; Katie and Katie have gathered a bunch of really awesome Advent ideas, and they're worth checking out!

And thanks a million to the Mischler family for sharing their Advent Calendar idea with Family Fun Magazine!