Top 10 Advent Countdown Ideas for Kids... and adults will like them too.

When it comes to Christmas, the days leading up to the big day are my favourite. I adore listening to Christmas carols, baking cookies, watching Christmas movies and counting down to the big day. Advent countdowns come in many forms (from homemade to store bought), and today, I am sharing 10 of my favourite ways to countdown to the Christmas!

**Note: This post contains a few affiliate links. I have 100% chosen these items because I love them, but I want to let you know that if you make a purchase using one of my affiliate links, I may get a small commission on your purchase... at NO additional cost to you. Thank you!**

1) For the Star Wars fan - My boys are huge Star Wars fans, and the LEGO inside this advent calendar is out of this galaxy. (See what I did there?) You can find out more here.

2) For the book and movie lover - This is a favourite way to countdown to the holidays in our house. I wrap our Christmas books and movies and number them 1-24. Then, during the lead up to Christmas, my boys take turns unwrapping the packages. Also... sometimes our Elf on the Shelf does it for us. 😀

3) For the LEGO fan - I absolutely love LEGO, and what is cuter than the LEGO Santa included in this LEGO City advent calendar. This LEGO friends advent calendar is adorable too!

4) For the chocolate and peanut butter fan - This advent calendar is my favourite. How great would it be to start every day in December with a small and delicious sweet treat?

5) For the child who likes surprises - Every time you open a window of this advent house, you get a surprise, including: 9 Kinder Mini Eggs, 9 Kinder Choco-Bons, 3 Kinder Chocolate, 2 Kinder Hollow Santa and 1 Kinder Surprise

6) For the creative child - This crayola Christmas countdown is perfect for a young child who likes to draw and colour. This is a fun one!

7) For the family that likes to keep things simple - Print this FREE calendar and use a marker, stickers or glued-on pom pom to countdown to the big day. Or... just use a chalkboard.

8) For the "old school" family - I made these paper chain countdowns when I was a child, and I made them with my boys when they were small. The time spent together crafting is just as much fun as the countdown. Find the instructions here.

9) For the family that prefers experiences - I love the idea of choosing activities over things. Fill each balloon with a fun activities you can do together (e.g. play a board game, watch a Christmas movie, make a tree ornament, etc...), and pop one balloon every day in December. Fun, right?

10) For the hockey fan - We had this fun calendar last year, and my boys love it. We especially loved the Santa on skates!

How do you countdown to Christmas? I absolutely love all these advent countdown ideas. We usually choose a couple of options because it's so much fun... and it's too hard to choose just one! 😀

♥ 
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

Christmas Countdown {printable}

Advent calendars can be pretty expensive, but my boys and I love counting down to the big day. Today I am sharing a cute Christmas countdown that you can download for FREE!

To download and print this simple Santa advent calendar: right-click on the picture above, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 8X10 photo.  (I printed my Christmas countdown at our local office supply store for 39 cents.)

This adorable print can be placed in an inexpensive dollar store frame, and each day the kids can cross out one of the dates. It would also be sweet to use white stickers or white pom poms to cover the numbers.

How do you plan to countdown to Christmas?

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Elf on the Shelf Book Countdown

It's December 1, and it's time to start "counting down" to Christmas.  Luckily, last night (while we were sleeping) our Elf on the Shelf decided to put together a Christmas countdown for us.

If you don't have an Elf on the Shelf, this is still a great idea.  Dig out 24 of your Christmas books and movies, wrap them up, and number them.  Then, each day, the kids unwrap and read/watch the book/movie they opened that day.  Fun, right?

Our Elf is usually pretty smart.  He numbers the books/movies to ensure that there is always a movie on family movie night, and "The Night Before Christmas" is always the last book my boys open.  Such a clever Elf!

How do you count down to Christmas?

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

You can find more fun Elf on the Shelf Ideas here.

Paper Chain Advent Countdown

It's December 1.  Let the countdown begin! 

I have very fond memories of my childhood... especially around the holidays.  In raising my three boys, I try to remind myself that it will probably be the simple things we do together that will make the biggest impact on them.

One of the things I will always remember from my childhood is the excitement of counting down to Christmas with an advent paper chain.  I decided to share this tradition with my boys. 

Here is what we did:

1)  I marked out 1 1/2" strips on construction paper, and my boys cut out the strips.  We are starting our countdown on December 1, so we cut out 24 strips.

2)  The boys used crayons and markers to decorate the strips of papers.

3)  We looped the paper into connected rings and secured each ring with a staple.

That's it -- literally, as easy as 1, 2, 3!  We hung our chain from a ribbon, and on December 1, we will start ripping off one ring each day.  Can't you just feel the excitement building?  :-)

♥ 

Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)