I’ll be honest: I never had an advent calendar growing up. This was not taught in my Southern Texas, Mexico bordering town. Instead, Christmas was (and still is) a time to think about the plethora of tamales we were going to make, the type of gifts we’d be able to open on Nochebuena, and trying to remember the names of every single aunt, uncle, and cousin that you were going to see at every posada.
I’m sure you and many others can recall the times of the pandemic and the uncertainty we had around gathering in large groups. Because we were so disconnected from family, I wanted to ensure we had something planned to extend that magical feeling of Christmas while we were slightly more isolated. That was when I discovered Advent calendars and the many ways that a family could customize them to fit their needs.
This quickly became one of our favorite holiday traditions. Not only are my kiddos excited about what’s ‘behind door number 1,’ but I’m also enjoying the challenge of planning and creating more magic for our entire family to enjoy.
First things first, advent calendars are completely customizable. So please don’t feel pressured to copy whatever anyone else does; we have a habit of trying to one-up the families we see on social media. Do not fall into this trap. Remember that you are doing what works best for you and your family, not for others.
We’re not a religious family, so the theme of our advent calendar doesn’t align with any one religion. Instead, we generally focus on gifts or experiences that either our children alone can enjoy or something the entire family can enjoy or do together. What I love about advent calendars is you can customize the theme(s), the duration of your advent calendar, what is ‘gifted’ for each day, and who participates.
Here are some of my favorite advent calendar ideas:
- Holiday themed treats
- Not just chocolates, your treats could include going to grab donuts together, making your child’s favorite cookie recipe, or making and enjoying a hot chocolate together.
- Art supplies
- The ideas are endless, and the limit does not exist regarding art supplies. You can do as little or as much as you’d like, from art brushes, paint, stamps, stickers, new drawing journals, play-doh, coloring books, coloring pencils, crayons, markers, ribbon, paper to make snowflakes, yarn, etc.
- Lego
- This one is near and dear to my heart. You can give big sets or find little sets that your child will enjoy. You can even purchase a bigger set and make snapping pieces together a part of your family’s daily advent calendar celebration.
- Family board game(s)
- Finding the right board game that your entire family can enjoy can be tricky, but it’s a fun challenge that I implore you to try out. Seeing our four-year-old holding court is hilarious as she makes her dad pay up when he lands on her spot in Monopoly.
- Books
- Our advent calendar has quite a few of these sprinkled throughout the month. I will purchase books for subjects that my kiddos are currently intrigued by, like tigers, the solar system, or baking. I’ll also do a couple of books that could challenge their current reading skills, and finally, I’ll try to find a holiday-themed book that represents our culture or talks about how another culture celebrates this time of year.
- Another great idea is doing an advent calendar that is nothing but books with a few chocolates or other treats sprinkled in. Honestly, this would probably be the perfect advent calendar for me.
- Clothing or Accessories
- Lately, my girls have gotten into wearing headbands or little bows in their hair. While I didn’t include clothing or accessories in our advent calendar this year, I could see myself purchasing fun socks and cute t-shirts or maybe even doing our yearly family PJs as one of the day’s gifts.
- Family themed activities
- You know that trip to the Children’s Museum or the special trip to see Santa? Make that part of your calendar! We also like to add other out-of-the-box activities like ice skating, a movie night, hitting up the arcade, or bowling.
- Our family likes to play certain video games together. Perhaps you could do a family night of playing Fortnite, Fall Guys, Mario Kart, or any other game that brings laughter and excitement to your evening.
I hope my list helps you come up with fun ideas to engage your little ones, make you the Holiday hero, and give you that extra bit of holiday magic you’re searching for. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share. It takes a village!
