A Christmas activities advent calendar is a great way to enjoy quality time with your family this holiday! Make your own activity advent calendar using these printables, and then do one family-friendly activity each day leading up to Christmas!
Advent calendars are a family favorite tradition for the Christmas season! But what if your kids are tired of opening the same small pieces of candy or micro-mini dollar store toys in their calendars each year?
Then try filling your advent calendar with experiences instead of “stuff”!
You can make your own DIY advent calendar filled with Christmas activities cards that the whole family can enjoy together… everything from picking out a gift from the Angel Tree to making handmade Christmas cards for teachers to baking Christmas cookies.
And since I know it’s the holidays and you’re probably already SUPER busy doing all the things, I’ve made this Christmas tradition easy for you!
With my printable advent calendar kits, you can create your own DIY Christmas activities advent calendar with some cute advent numbers, activity cards, and mini envelopes!
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What is a Christmas Activities Advent Calendar?
Think of a Christmas activities advent calendar as a traditional advent calendar that helps you countdown to Christmas, except instead of opening a small toy or piece of chocolate each day, you’ll open a small envelope with an activity card instead!
The daily activities can be as elaborate or as easy as you like… or you can include a mixture of simple activities that you can do at home, like making S’mores, with activities that take more time, like going to see a Christmas play or show. There are so many different activities that you can add to your advent calendar to make it fun for your family and to fit your budget!
But the best thing about making a DIY advent activities calendar is that it helps you spend more quality time together as a family!
Supplies Needed
Before diving into the excitement of planning 24 days of Christmas activities, you’ll need to gather some supplies to make your calendar. If you want to make the activities calendars like I have in this post, you will need:
- an open wood frame or wire wall photo grid – You can also use a bulletin board or create an advent calendar garland using ribbon or twine to hang on the wall or mantle. This is the gold photo wall grid that I used in this post.
- mini envelopes – The printable Christmas activities cards are sized perfectly to fit in 2.25″ x 3.5″ mini envelopes. These are the multicolored envelopes that I used.
- mini clothespins or clips – You can find mini clothespins at most craft stores in a variety of colors and styles.
- twine, ribbon, or string
- white card stock
- scissors, paper trimmer, or 2″ circle hole punch – If you’re using the round advent calendar numbers, they fit perfectly in a 2″ circle punch to make assembly super easy!
- the printable advent calendar kit – Available in my SHOP HERE!
DIY Advent Calendar Printable Templates – 3 Different Designs!
Here are examples of all 3 of the Christmas activities advent calendars that you can create with the printable advent calendar kit:
Black and White Ornament DIY Advent Calendar
We colored the outside numbers with colored pencils to create a multi-color advent calendar… but the actual printable template will print out in black and white. If your Christmas decor is more neutral, you can keep the cards black and white instead and use black mini envelopes. The choice is yours!
Blue Snowflake Advent Calendar
I used a combination of blue, white, and tan mini envelopes to create this snowflake themed advent calendar:
Red and Green Christmas Activity Advent Calendar
For a more classic look, try mixing red, lime green, and darker green envelopes for your Christmas activity advent calendar:
How to Make a DIY Advent Calendar with Christmas Activities
Making your own Christmas activities advent calendar is super easy thanks to these cute printable templates! Just follow these steps:
Step 1: Print the advent calendar printables on white card stock.
Decide which of the three designs that you would like to use, and print the pages for that design on white card stock. I prefer using the card stock because the activity cards are nice and sturdy when you take them in and out of the mini envelopes, and the numbers look nicer on the outside of the envelopes.
My printable advent calendar kit comes with three different designs, so you can choose which you like best. These ornament designs actually print in black and white, and you can color them in with colored pencils if you like:
Step 2: Cut out the advent calendar numbers and activity cards.
Next, cut out the advent numbers and activity cards. If you’re using the round numbers, then they fit perfectly in a 2″ circle punch to make this super quick!
For the ornament design, I recommend using a paper trimmer to quickly cut straight lines. Of course, you can also use scissors if you like, but your calendar will take longer to assemble.
Step 3: Assemble the Christmas Activities Advent Calendar
To assemble your Christmas activities advent calendar, first attach the numbers to the outside of the mini envelopes. Then, place one activity card inside each numbered envelope.
I used tape to attach the cut out advent numbers to the fronts of the envelopes, but you can also use a glue stick or a craft tape runner.
Then, just attach the prepared envelopes to the frame or wall photo grid that you’re using as the base for your DIY advent calendar. For the open frame calendar, I simply inserted a push pin into the back of the wood frame, and tied a piece of jute twine around the head of the pin like this to create a “clothesline” of sorts:
Then, just use mini clothespins or other clips to attach the envelopes to the twine or wire grid like this:
Step 4: Hang up your DIY Advent Calendar and enjoy!
Once your calendar is decorated and the activities are ready, hang the activity advent calendar in a central location where everyone can see it. And then you’re all set to embark on a month-long adventure of festive family fun!
Starting on December 1st, open the envelope with the number 1 on it, and do the activity on the card. The great thing about this DIY advent calendar is that you can put the activities in any order that you please, so if you always go for a Christmas lights drive on Christmas Eve (our family does this!), then put that activity card in the envelope labeled “24”.
Advent Calendar Christmas Activity Ideas
Here are the advent calendar activities that are included on the printable cards. There are 27 different cards included in each design, so you can choose the 24 Christmas activities that you like best:
- Take your family Christmas photo
- Visit a holiday market, craft fair, or Christmas festival
- Make magical reindeer food for Santa’s reindeer
- Have a pajama day
- Christmas story time
- Go through kids’ clothes and toys and find items to donate to those in need
- Build a gingerbread house – Or try a 3D paper craft gingerbread house instead!
- Have a Christmas movie night
- Visit Santa
- Purchase a gift from the Angel Tree
- Bake Christmas cookies
- Make handmade cards for community helpers like firemen, police officers, or military members
- Write a letter to Santa – You can use these free printable Santa Letter templates!
- Make a DIY ornament
- Have a family game night
- Have a pizza night
- Go for a drive to look at Christmas lights – You can use this free printable Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt to make this Christmas activity even more fun!
- Make DIY garlands for the Christmas tree or decor – Like stringing popcorn or making paper chains
- Go purchase one new Christmas ornament each – This is one of our family’s favorite Christmas traditions!
- Decorate the Christmas tree
- Go see a Christmas show, play, or movie
- Make fancy cups of hot cocoa
- Make handmade Christmas cards to give to teachers
- Go through your coats and winter gear to find items to donate to those in need
- Make S’mores
- Make a Christmas music playlist to play on Christmas morning or during your holiday party
- Go on a Christmas scavenger hunt
Get the Printable DIY Advent Calendar Kit HERE
Want to make your own advent calendar with fun Christmas activities to do all month long? You can check out the DIY advent calendar kit in my shop here!
And if you loved this easy Christmas idea, then be sure to check out some of my other Christmas printables:
- Free Printable Christmas Wish List – Choose from 16 different Christmas list templates for your kids to make their lists!
- Christmas Treasure Hunt with Printable Clues – Set up a fun Christmas scavenger hunt for your kids to find their stockings or “big gift” on Christmas morning!
- Santa’s Nice List Certificate – Use this printable to make an official Nice List certificate for your kids!
And don’t forget to PIN this post for later:
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