There is nothing so special as a home-made advent calendar - and the best
thing about them is that you can choose exactly what will go in them each day,
personalising them to suit your family. We have lots of ideas to get you
thinking below...
Some home-made advent calendars are flat, others offer you a bit more flexibility
and allow you put in a little gift or edible treat.
We have lots of ideas here:
How about some Christmas quotes, bible verses or lines from popular
Christmas carols?
What do you plan to do that day? Leave an exciting message for the kids
to open and read: "today we will pick out our tree", "today we will take our
Christmas presents round to Nana's house", "tonight we will go for a drive
to see the Christmas lights", "this evening we will pop popcorn and watch a
family movie", and so on.
How about a coupon? Make your own!
You could write the first line in a Christmas story, which you will read
to the kids at bedtime
Gold and silver coins, or other Christmas treats
The first clue in a treasure hunt - how exciting! Save up some little
bits and pieces as the "prize"
The name of a recipe you will cook with the kids that day - perhaps some
special Christmas cookies (or a photo of the cookies you will bake!)
A miniature Christmas cookie cutter
Tickets to a special Christmas show or pantomime
Mini booklets with stories for the children to read (or leave them blank
ready for them to write their own stories). Perhaps you could use our
origami booklet
- try with A5 or even A6 paper.
Save up miniature toys, knick-knacks and puzzles (you could even save
Christmas cracker gifts from last year!)
If your pockets are big enough you could add a shop-bought miniature
Christmas cracker.
Have a "giving" day rather than a receiving day. Ask the children to
pick one or two toys to take along to a charity, or pack up a shoebox full
of goodies to give to your local Christmas scheme. Perhaps you could bake
cookies or a cake and take them to your local old people's home? Or clear
out some of the children's books and take them to a hospice or hospital?
Older children could do some research to find a cause they would like to
help, and spend the day making a plan to raise money.
