Thursday, December 1, 2011

Celebrate Christmas All Month Long: Custom Advent Calendar

I found some of these fabulous ideas on my favorite blog:   Passionate Homemaking.   I wanted to share with you my list, some of which was borrowed from PH.  I encourage you to make your own and have fun celebrating the days before Christmas. 

At some point during each day from Dec 1-Dec 24, we read our Christmas celebration idea and then do it:

  • Use musical instruments and dance to Christmas music (this will also be done a few times)
  • Read 2 Christmas books  (this will be done a few times)
  • Read the Christmas story and "act it out" with Little People sets
  • Bake cookies for cookie trays (this will be done a few times)
  • Cut out snowflakes
  • Take silly Christmas photos
  • Decorate (collage-style) a plate for Santa's cookies
  • Drive around local neighborhoods and see the Christmas lights
  • Make a "nice" and "naughty" list (things that are nice to do, things that are naughty)
  • Make Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn to enjoy and share with neighbors
  • Deliver our Christmas project items
  • Wrap gifts while doing one of the following:  praying for the receiver, sharing a memory about the receiver, allowing your kids to customize the package using art supplies, etc. 
For parents who like a little more control over what happens each day, depending on how the day is going, you can hang an envelope somewhere in your home (off the tree, on the fridge, whatever) and before the kids get up, select the celebration that best fits into your day and stick that piece of paper in your envelope.    You can also decide when to open your envelope---morning, afternoon, evening, depending on your family's schedule.      
I found this resource to be particularly helpful.  It explains the history and meaning of an Advent calendar.  

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