Last year, I scoured the internet to find advent calendar ideas. As my son was almost 3, he was really getting to a point where he could enjoy the anticipation and meaning of the season. I settled on a simply envelope calendar similar to the one Frugal Granola posted about this week. I actually made our envelopes by finding a simple envelope pattern on the internet, not unlike this one. I made my list of activities and put together our envelopes.
It was a huge success! My son loved it, as did my husband and I. We opened one enveloped each day, and then we hung up the card and put the envelope away as we moved towards Christmas. It was a great visual reminder to our wait for Christmas day. It also gave structure to all the fun Christmas traditions we love and wanted to incorporate. There was no forgetting to do one when they had a special day on the calendar, and we weren't trying to cram them all into one day. Finally, I loved that I could switch the cards out with another day when neccesary, like when one said we were going to go sledding and there as no snow on the ground.
So, now I am quickly getting together this year's which is much easier than last year, because I just need to check the cards' content and make a few extra to fill in ones we don't want to repeat.
Here's a list of what some of our cards say for this year:
Go shopping for the church food pantry.
Bake Christmas cookies.
Take cookies and cards to our neighbors.
Read the Night Before Christmas.
Dessert First Night!
Make paper snowflakes and decorate the windows.
It's Christmas Day! Sing Happy Birthday to Jesus!
Go on a train ride with Santa.
Make edible gifts for the birds and squirrels.
Have a Christmas music dance party!
Drive around to look at Christmas lights in our pajamas!
Get a Christmas tree.
Buy toys for children in need.
There are, of course, a few more. Some focus on fun traditions of the season while others focus on the reasons behind the season, but we concentrate on the wonderful gift of Jesus throughout it all, because that gift is why we celebrate by giving our presence and presents to the world!
So, now I am quickly getting together this year's which is much easier than last year, because I just need to check the cards' content and make a few extra to fill in ones we don't want to repeat.
Here's a list of what some of our cards say for this year:
Go shopping for the church food pantry.
Bake Christmas cookies.
Take cookies and cards to our neighbors.
Read the Night Before Christmas.
Dessert First Night!
Make paper snowflakes and decorate the windows.
It's Christmas Day! Sing Happy Birthday to Jesus!
Go on a train ride with Santa.
Make edible gifts for the birds and squirrels.
Have a Christmas music dance party!
Drive around to look at Christmas lights in our pajamas!
Get a Christmas tree.
Buy toys for children in need.
There are, of course, a few more. Some focus on fun traditions of the season while others focus on the reasons behind the season, but we concentrate on the wonderful gift of Jesus throughout it all, because that gift is why we celebrate by giving our presence and presents to the world!
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