So I know I'm a little late with this post seeing as we are already a few days into December, but my sister-in-law just posted about an advent calendar that she made over Thanksgiving that I love and wanted to share also.
She used a mini muffin tin, and painted it red. The papers for each day are held on with magnets. You can put what ever you want inside, such as treats or ideas of an activity to do that day. Here's the list my sister-in-law included:
Use puppets to tell bedtime story
Star gazing
Give everyone crazy hairstyles
Go out for ice cream
Have an indoor picnic
Pick a toy to donate
Pick cans of food to donate
Watch a Christmas movie with popcorn
Watch a Christmas movie with popcorn
Dance like crazy to music
Have a webcam with cousins or grandparents
Have a bubble bath
Fancy dress for dinner
Drive around to see Christmas lights
Sing Christmas songs around the piano
Make cookies or a treat together
Eat breakfast for dinner
Pack our bags for our trip
Do a Christmas craft
Look at family scrapbook of other Christmas’
Drink hot chocolate with marshmallows
Make little snowmen with big marshmallows, pretzels and candies
Wrap a Christmas gift
Read a Christmas story
Use nativity figurines to play out Jesus’ birth
Cut paper snowflakes out
Go caroling to a few neighbors
So fun! Thanks for the idea, Tati! What other advent calendar ideas do you have?
(One of my favorite ones as a kid were the chocolates hiding behind each door:)
One that my husband and I do is make a small flip book of paper, one page for each day 1-24. Then we switch back and forth writing notes to each other. It's always a treat to find the little booklet waiting for you on your pillow at night!
An advent calendar that we have done in the past, but not this year, is a sticker calendar. We cut out "windows" that fold back in a piece of construction paper and label each window with a number 1-24. Then we paste another piece of construction paper behind the first. Under each window flap we tape a sticker (still with it's backing on). Then each day we open a flap and have a stick to wear. (We've done this also with scriptures about Christ under each flap.)
