Advent Calendars

Yesterday Sandi, from rubber boots and elf shoes, was wondering if anyone had any ideas for a Christmas countdown calendar, other than the ubiquitous Santa with the cotton puff beard.

The bearded Santa is the one I've done every year, but when she expressed a desire for change, it got me thinking, too.

So I started searching online for alternatives.

I have to tell you!!! there are TONS of advent calendar ideas out there but not many that kids can actually make.

Here's what I finally came up with. I've pinned all these so if there's one you like, just click on the image to go to my board.

Okay, it's still a Santa with a fluffy beard, but I like the idea of cutting off (or adding) a loop each day.

This one has lots of fluff, too, but at least you don't have to add it each day. Again you can either cut off (or add) a loop.

I really like this one. Have the kids make these easy trees, pencil in the numbers, then put on a foamy sticker every day. You could also add glitter (some people hate glitter, but I love it!) and of course, save the star for the last day.

I like this one, too. Those are pompoms on the tree and the white lines are puffy paint.


Hmmm....so hard to decide, but you know what? I think I'm going for the colourful stand-up trees. Our bulletin board space is always at a premium in December, so they could line up along one of my top shelves.

Here's my quilted Advent Calendar that I bring to school each year. I use this in addition to the individual calendars the kids have. I put chocolate in each of those trains (they have little pockets) and each day the special helper gets a chocolate.

I'd love to see what your kids will be making for a Christmas countdown calendar. Be sure to let me know ... and Sandi, too :)