100 + Advent Calendar activity ideas

It’s often a tradition in most households to start an Advent calendar on the 1st December.  A special calendar used to count down the days with anticipation to Christmas. Some Advent calendars hold chocolates, sweets, a small gift, a poem, or a kind gesture.

Below you’ll find 100+ ideas of how to fill your calendars with something other than the usual piece of chocolate that you get from the supermarket Advent calendars (Even though there is nothing wrong with that).

If you need some ideas on how you can create your very own Advent calendar, you’ll find my 15+ Christmas Advent Calendar Ideas here.

This is a sweet idea, painting stockings and adding your personalised message to the top.

Image found at muminthemadhouse

1. Donate a coat or jumper to charity (leaving a happy note in the pocket)
2. Decorate cookies
3. Read a christmas story
4. Watch a Christmas movie
5. Drive around and look at Christmas lights
6. Make some Christmas craft
7. Play games by the tree
8. Send Christmas cards
9. Make an ornament
10. Make a gingerbread house
11. Have breakfast for dinner
12. Wrap a gift for dad
13. Colour a Christmas Picture
14. Bake cookies for a friend
15. Build a blanket fort
16. Give to others
17. Write a letter to Santa
18. Play festive Christmas songs and dance
19. Go to watch some Christmas Carols
20. Make reindeer food
21. Take some homemade cookies to a neighbour
22. Donate toys to your favourite charity
23. Tell a silly joke to make someone laugh
24. Donate food to your local food pantry
25. Let someone go ahead of you in a line
26. Make a coupon for a hug to give to someone you love
27. Give candy canes out to your friends
28. Call a faraway friend or relative to say Hello
29. Give a random act of kindness
30. Pay it forward at your local coffee shop
31. Take supplies to your local animal shelter
32. Do a chore for someone in your family
33. Give a compliment to a friend or family member
34. Thank your local postman
35. Pick some flowers and give them to someone you love
36. Pick some flowers and leave them at your neighbours doorstep anonymously
37. Leave a post-it-note on a mirror that says ‘You are Beautiful’
38. Volunteer your time or make a donation to those less fortunate
39. Take your kids to a charity centre where they can help the less fortunate
40. Let 5 people you know how thankful you are that they are in life
41. Have some Me-time doing what you love
42. Collect and decorate pinecones for the christmas table
43. Take a walk with your family looking at Christmas lights in your local community
44. Make up a Christmas board game
45. Learn a new carol
46. Write your Christmas cards and deliver local ones
47. Make up a Christmas story
48. Have a picnic under the light from the christmas tree
49. Hang a Christmas wreath on your door
50. Make Thick Hot Chocolate with marshmallows
51. Make a family traditional dessert
52. Sing Christmas carols
53. Write a Christmas poem
54. Choose three of your toys and give them away to a charity shop.
55. Write a Christmas wish and hang it on the tree
56. Hang up your Christmas stocking
57. Help wrap presents
58. Research christmas jokes
59. Make some crackers
60. Get a photo with Santa at your local shopping centre
61. Visit an elderly neighbour and take them a Christmas gift
62. Donate to the local food bank
63. Make christmas cards for your neighbours
64. Leave change in the vending machine
65. Sort through your toys and donate any that you no longer play with to charity or your local church
66. Leave chalk messages around where you live
67. Sharpen all the pencils in the classroom at breaktime
68. Write a letter to your sibling telling them why you love them
69. Leave a beautiful homemade bookmark in your library book and give one to the Librarian
70. Leave the pound in the shopping trolley next time you go to the supermarket
71. Tidy your bedroom
72. Write a note and mail them to the houses with great christmas lights saying thank you for lighting up their house for you to see
73. Sit next to someone you normally don’t at the lunch table and be nice to them
74. Be a holiday helper – volunteer to deliver local christmas cards
75. Make a bird feeder
76. Send a care package to someone in the military
77. Find three of your toys to give to the local childrens hospital
78. Pass on some of your books to friends
79. Give a lottery ticket to a stranger
80. Donate books to your school library
81. Leave out water for the birds
82. Write thank you cards for your teacher, coach, Cubs leader or people that have influenced you in a positive way
83. Clean up the area where you live by picking up litter.  Make sure you wear gloves and do it with an adult.
84. Help round the house without being asked to
85. Donate pet food to a local shelter
86. Put together a shoebox for your local church
87. Write a thank you note for the bin collectors and post person
88. Wash your parents car
89. Give a homeless person a blanket
90. Deice your neighbours windshields in the morning
91. Take everyone in your class a candy cane or cookie
92. Take poinsettias to your nearest nursing home
93. Make a christmas card for the school receptionist
94. Offer to help an elderly friend or neighbour with their christmas decorations
95. Make christmas flowers for the reception at school
96. Make a thank you card for the school crossing staff
97. Cook dinner for your family
98. Offer to pack the shopping bags of the person in front of you and behind you at the supermarket
99. Invite a new friend for a play date or out to play
100. Walk someone elses dog
101. Give out a complement
102. Give out free hugs today
103. Hold the door open for people all day
104. Smile all day
105. Let someone go in front of you in a queue
106. Introduce yourself to someone new at school and chat with them
107. Ring an elderly relative and have a nice chat to them
108. Make a tree decoration for your baby sitter

What is your families favourite Advent Calendar activity?