Can you believe it is already that time of year again? Time to pull out the Advent calendar and fill it will goodness. In our house this is a tradition we have had since the boys were tiny. We have an advent calendar that we got from Target after Christmas one year that has served us well. I never even thought of making my own until I recently saw a friend write about a DIY advent calendar she was working on. So I went on a hunt to see if I could find some creative and unique DIY Advent Calendar Ideas!
Wow, did I ever find some cool advent calendars! With plenty of prep time and plenty of patience, we might just be able to make some of our own this year and set aside our tried and true advent calendar we have had for years.
Creative and Unique DIY Advent Calendar Ideas
- Morning Creativity: Paper Roll Christmas Calendar
- I love how this uses paper towel rolls, yet looks so “professional”
- DIY Network: Now Sew Advent Calendar Bags
- Anytime I can make something without sewing, I am a happy momma.
- Destination Craft: Muffin Tin Advent Calendar
- I never would have thought of using a muffin tin for an advent calendar. I love how it is so simple.
- Next to Nicx: Robot Advent Calendar
- By far my absolute favorite. This one entices me to create a DIY advent calendar. I know both my boys would love something like this.
- Mr. Printables: Christmas Street Advent Calendar
- This one reminds me of all the little cities I would make with my students when we learned about communities. Bones would really like this one.
- Studio DIY: Punch Box Advent Calendar
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- Who wouldn’t want to punch this day after day?
- Canadian Living: Christmas Elf Advent Calendar
- Bones loves playing with anything tiny and anything Christmas. This would be a great addition.
- Monkey Choa: Pinata Advent Calendar
- Wow! How awesome would this be?
- Design Sponge: Falling Stars Advent Calendar
- I love the nature element in this one. Seems so simple, yet so elegant.
- Oh Happy Day: Mini Tree Advent Calendars
- I don’t have a place to display this one, but it makes me smile every time I look at it.
What Goes in Our Advent Calendar?
About 2 weeks before Thanksgiving the boys start to ask when the Advent calendar will be making its appearance. In the past, I have been uncreative and just added a Hershey Kiss in each door. Last year, however, I became frustrated with this part of the tradition, as I didn’t really want the boys eating candy EVERY DAY until Christmas.
That’s why I decided to start a little earlier with some planning.
I sat down with the boys and asked them for 25 of their wishes. What do they wish we could do together as a family? What memory would they want to make? What exploration do they want to do? This coincides really well with our first week of homeschool because the children are interested and eager to try many new crafts and explorations.
Our Very Own Advent Calendar Activity List
- Movie Night
- Pancakes for Dinner
- Stay up Late Day
- Make Cookies
- Hot Cocoa Buffet
- Tape Track Floor
- Feet Painting
- Car Painting
- Toilet Paper Marble Run
- Yarn Ball Ornaments
- Chocolate Covered Pretzels
- Salt Dough Ornaments
- Build a City
- Jello Jigglers
- Homemade Water Beads
- Edible Playdough
- Shaving Cream Fun
- Calm Down Sensory Jars
- Decorating the Tree
- Finger Knit Necklaces
- Make our own Gift Boxes
- Snow Globes
My plan is to type this list onto small pieces of paper and insert them into the calendar randomly. After finishing our list, I couldn’t help but research what other people like to do for their activities since this is only our first year adding this to our traditions.
So if your children are too young to give you ideas or you just need a few ideas to get you started, I found the following lists extremely helpful…
10 Advent Calendar Activity Lists
- Living Montessori Now: Hundreds of Holiday Activities
- Crazy With Twins: 24 Family Activities
- Hip Homeschool Moms: Family Friendly Advent Activities
- Carrots For Michaelmas: 25 Advent Picture Books
- Apartment Therapy: Advent Activity List
- The Peaceful Mom: Printable Advent Activities
- Modern Parents Messy Kids: Activity list
- The Minimalist Mom: Clutter Free Calendar
- Imagination Tree: 20 Christmas Activities
- Dirt and Boogers: Advent Calendar Ideas
Hi Dayna! I commented on your Facebook post making sure it’s ok with us if you reference Sarah’s Advent post. I thought I’d comment here as well, though, just to be sure you see one or the other of my messages. 🙂 You have our site listed as “Hip School Mom” above in your list. The correct name of the site is “Hip Homeschool Moms.” I just wanted to let you know and to ask you if you will please correct it. Thanks so much!
Fixed. Thank you for making sure I gave credit correctly 🙂
Thanks so much!!
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Found your post on the Newbie Bloggers Club. I really like how you used activities instead of treats or candy, such a great idea. And thanks for sharing the ones you used too. 🙂
Thank you so much for all your kind words. We are a bit behind on our advent calendar due to kiddos getting sick and splitting time with Mr. X. But I hope to update this list with posts from our advent adventures…Keep checking back, or stop by facebook and follow for updates 🙂
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We have always made a simple DIY calendar by wrapping up candy in colorful tissue paper and hanging them up. This year my husband (he is a crafty one in our family) sewed up felt pouches (they are in my Afterschool Advent Roundup post). We are OK with daughter eating a candy every day, she does it anyway as a breakfast dessert, but this year we also inserted occasional “coupons”, especially for Sundays. I quite like your idea of asking children about their special wishes and trying to incorporate theirs into the calendar!
Just starting homeschooling, this worked great because they are always asking “today can we..” I can’t fit it all in, I need some sort of schedule. The advent let me spread it out. I think I might do something for the other months too, what do you think?
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Great ideas 🙂 I hope you’ll share this on Thank Goodness It’s Thursday at http://jordansonion.blogspot.com/2013/12/thank-goodness-its-thursday-blog-party.html- the party is live now
Thank you for your kind words. I actually wasn’t planning on sharing the Advent calendar anymore since I figured it is a time sensitive post. 🙂
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Fabulous post that can be re-read year on year!
Thank you very kindly for linking to my advent activities list.
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