Activity Advent Calendar

I just barely finished our Activity Advent Calendar in time for December 1.  I’ve been reading blog posts about Advent Calendars and seeing Advent Calendars all over Pinterest since September, so I know many of you are way ahead of me.  I’m just proud to have this project completed.  We still have to hang it on the wall, but let’s go ahead and call this project “done”, okay?

Here’s my version:

I was originally going to use some scrap plywood we’ve got in our garage, but that stuff is HEAVY!  So I went with a canvas (24″x36″?) instead.  Canvases are frequently on sale for 50% off at Hobby Lobby and Michael’s.  I covered the canvas with burlap.  Then I hot glued the red envelopes to the  board.  (The envelopes got trimmed to 4 1/2″ x 4 1/2″- it was a happy accident that they wound up perfectly square!).  I dipped in to my stash of Christmas scrapbook paper and fun scissors to decorate the envelopes.  The numbers are glittery chipboard stickers.  I would have preferred another color besides white, but they were the best I could find.  I purchased lots of embellishments to use, but once I got started, I didn’t really like the way they looked.  I may jazz up my board further for next year (add some trim, words, other embellishments), but I’m pleased with it for now.

So what’s in each pocket?  Well, there is a little slip of cardstock with a Christmas activity printed on it.  Each slip has a green ribbon to make it easy to pull out of the envelope.  The ribbons in the picture look a little wonky to me…I might need to trim those.

Here is a list of the activities I’ve included for this year with our 4 year old (and I haven’t discussed them yet with my husband, so he may be raising his eyebrows at a few of these!)  I tried to include a nice balance of crafts, baking, doing things for others, fun traditions, movies, Santa, and celebrating the birth of Jesus.  Easier said than done, if you ask me!

Our Advent Activities: (not in order!)

• Make cinnamon applesauce ornaments
• North Pole breakfast
• Build a gingerbread house
• Make hot cocoa and watch The Polar Express
• Visit Santa
• Write a letter to Santa
• Pop popcorn and watch Elf
• Watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
• Make cookies for Santa and reindeer food
• Make gifts for teachers
• Make gifts for grandparents
• Shop for Giving Tree gifts
• Make “stained glass” ornament to hang on the window
• Thumbprint Christmas tree out of salt dough
• Bake a birthday cake for Baby Jesus
• Make candy cane playdough to give to friends
• Go look at Christmas lights
• Button and nail Christmas tree craft
• Birdseed ornament or wreath for the birds
• Kidz XD Christmas Eve Eve Celebration
• Donations to Ronald McDonald House at Texas Children’s Hospital
• Shop for and wrap gift for Dad
• Decorate Sugar Cone Christmas trees
• Sleep under the Christmas tree
• Christmas scavenger hunt

The Littlest Apple is very excited to start this tomorrow!  We’ll also be starting our Christmas Book Countdown….now I’m off to wrap some books!

What fun holiday traditions do you have?