In our house, we are always counting down to something -- a special event, a birthday, a vacation, or a holiday. I think "counting down" is an important part of the fun, as it builds a lot of anticipation and excitement. Here are 5 ways we "count down" to special events in our house.
1) Paper chains - I love an old fashioned paper craft, and paper chains are simple, fun, and can be color coded to any special event or holiday. You can find our more info on our Christmas paper chain advent countdown here.
2) Chalkboard or calendar - We have a chalkboard in our kitchen, and it always documents the next special day in our house. It just doesn't get any easier than this!
3) Wrapped books or movies - Nothing builds excitement like unwrapping a gift. At Christmas, our Elf on the Shelf wraps all our Christmas movies and books. You can read about it here.
4) Treats/Gifts - A sweet treat each day of a countdown can be a lot of fun. Check out our "Kiss" Countdown here, and our "Smartie" Countdown here. You can also purchase a chocolate advent calendar or a calendar filled with little gifts. My son received this Playmobil advent for his birthday, and is super-excited to give it a try.
5) Balloon Pop - Filling balloons with notes containing special activities is a fantastic way to count down to Christmas. Why not have items like "drink hot chocolate" or "make Christmas cookies"? Simple and fun! (You can go here to find out how a balloon pop works.)
How do you count down to Christmas in your house?
♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)
My boys are super-excited about Halloween, and are constantly asking me, "How many more days until we can go trick or treating?" So, today my four year old and I made an adorable Paper Chain Halloween Countdown.
Isn't it cute? We started by making a super cute handprint spider.
1) I painted my son's fingers and palm with black (washable) paint.
2) I pressed his hand onto a paper plate.
3) I painted his other hand, and pressed it onto the plate... with overlapping palm prints.
4) I let it dry, and then my little guy added two googly eyes.
Then, we added a paper chain.
1) I divided sheets of construction paper into 1 1/2 inch strips, and my four year old cut them out.
2) We linked the first strip around a slit in the paper plate, looped it around, and stapled the ends. Then, we added all the links and secured them with staples.
3) We finished by adding a ribbon hanger to the top of the paper plate.
Didn't it turn out cute? How are you counting down to the big day?
♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)
Don't you just love a good "countdown"? Me too! So... with five days left to the end of school, I put together this fun, easy, and inexpensive balloon pop countdown for my boys.
Each day, my boys will pop a balloon, and we will do the activity that is written on the slip of paper inside the balloon. Fun, right?
Here is what we have written inside our balloons:
You can download a pdf version of our list here.
All you need to do is:
1) Print out the list, and cut it into strips.
2) Roll up the strips, and pop them into the balloons.
3) Blow up the balloons, and write numbers on them (if you want to do your activities on specific days).
That's it! We are having fun counting down to summer vacation, but you could use this simple idea for any occasion. What exciting event do you have coming up?
♥
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)
