Because my 2.5 year old daughter is thrilled by holidays, I had a hunch that she would enjoy mkaing an activity-based advent calendar. And when we were still going strong after an hour had passed, I silently patted myself on the back.
This project is more crafty than our usual process-based happenings, but N got so into the industry of selecting images and do-dads to glue onto the bags that I feel compelled to share this for the benefits of developing fine motor skills, making aesthetic choices, practicing with a glue bottle, and commitment to completing a fairly large project. I think she really enjoyed the camaraderie of working side-by-side, and I must admit that she’s pretty good company too. Oh, and did I mention that she was invested in this for a solid hour? Seriously.
Cut your paper to desired size and fold it in thirds. One side should overlap the other by about 1/2 inch.
Fold the bottom up about 1/2 inch and crease the paper.
Open everything up. Make two cuts (see photo).
Fold the paper together and add glue to seal it up.
Add some more glue, and the envelope is ready for embellishments. Make 23 more, and you’re ready to go. I punched holes in the back of the envelopes, strung them with string, and hung them on our mantle.
Decorate away! And don’t forget to add some numbers.
In case you’re wondering, here’s a sample of our activities: Make cookies, play with friends, make and hang ornaments, and take canned goods to those in need.
Ideas from our friends around the web:
Painted Tree Calendar: The Artful Parent
Matchbox Calendar: Craft Lovely
Photo Calendar: Martha Stewart’s Craft Dept.
An ENORMOUS list of Ideas and Activities for each day: Uncommon Grace
What activities do you have planned around the holidays?
Looking for more holiday ideas? This activity is linked up to the Idea Room’s list of Christmas projects.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
activity based?! I love it. never would have thought. and now that each day already has a planned activity, I can think even less!
i’ve added a few activities that we wouldn’t normally do (like make gingerbread house), but it’s mostly things we’re already planning. We’re actually kicking it all off with “celebrate Hanukah”…not exactly your traditional advent calendar! Yay for building excitement while keeping things easy.
whoo hoo! an hour you say? worth mentioning *several* times
i really like the style of your advent calendar. i’ve seen so many this year—of course the year i decided to take a break from a month of pocketed activities in our advent calendar (we’ll still do things, i just can’t handle planning anything). this one really caught my eye, maybe because it’s simple and pretty and… kept your little one busy for quite a while
i can’t promise that others will get a full hour out of this, but it worked for us. i was surprised! i wonder if i’ll take a break next year too, once i experience how much work this actually is
We’re off to buy scrapbooking paper the minute the kids get up!! What a fun idea!
Yay! Glad you’re inspired
Hope you all had fun with this.
Last year I made an Advent calendar with coin envelopes and filled each one with an activity–first looking at the calendar to see what we already had planned. Some envelopes also had stickers, and some had little chocolates. This year I cheated and bought the Lego Advent calendar, but all three of my kids, even the 2yo, adore Legos. December is always busy, with a birthday as well as Christmas, and this year my husband is away for a week in December as well. My goal is always to keep the month sane and as slow as possible, so we enjoy it. I always remind myself that I don’t want my children’s enduring Christmas memory to be of Mama weeping into the cookie dough. (And this year it has to be gluten-free, eggless cookie dough. Who needs the stress?!?!)
lego advent calendar! i had no idea such a thing existed! as a parent of two girls, i wonder if that would have ever made it on to my radar? i like your thoughts on keeping things sane (we also have december birthdays). i think i’ll revisit my calendar to mix in a few treats and make sure the whole thing doesn’t have me spinning in circles. thanks for the reality check, amy
thank you so much for this! we had great fun coming up with our activity list this afternoon. i have been working for several years to get my extended family into an activity mindset instead of only thinking about gifts. doing the advent calendar is a great way to frame the whole season with that in mind. as someone mentioned hugely important to look at the calendar for what is already on the books!
my favorite activity which is now a tradition is our beach clean. we’re doing it saturday the 18th at shoreline harbor park in oakland if anyone wants to join! bagels, hot chocolate and a little “greening” of the holiday!
Hooray! We’ve also been invested in keeping holiday “stuff” to a minimum, and I’ve found it to be a really hard pitch. Thanks for sharing the beach cleaning event — if you want to post it the Facebook page, it may get seen by more folks. It may be difficult for us to join you with the baby, but I’ll check the calendar. N would love it!
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