100 + Advent Calendar activity ideas

by Katrina - The Organised Housewife

100+ ideas of how to fill your calendars with something other than chocolate. Encourage kids to spread Christmas joy with these homemade advent calendar activity ideas.

It’s often a tradition in most households to start an Advent calendar on the 1st December.  It’s 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 (although there is nothing wrong with that!). Activities are a great way to have some fun with kids, with activities such as giving to others, baking, crafting and more.

Download this Advent calendar activity printable that includes the stockings that can be cut out, as well as several activities that can be stuck to the back of each stocking. You might like to do this for your child as a surprise or they might enjoy doing the craft activity with you. Hang them on string or use Blutak to stick them to the wall, turning one around each day to reveal the activity.

  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 FAMILY’S FAVOURITE ADVENT CALENDAR ACTIVITY?

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