Christmas is just over two months away, which means it’s time for holiday blog content! I have a couple of gift guides planned, but this year I’m steering away from shopping-focused content. The holiday posts you’ll see this fall and winter are more about doing and less about having.
This year I’m incredibly excited for December because we’ve planned a month full of Christmas-y activities to do with the kids. All of the advent calendar ideas below are ones we plan on doing with our toddlers (and 13-month-old)–so no late nights or two-hour concerts here!
Toddler-Friendly Advent Calendar Activities
The bolded activities are ones more suitable to weekends–for us at least–since Eric works full-time and the kids go to school three days per week.
- Build a gingerbread house.
- Make paper snowflakes and hang them on the windows.
- Hot chocolate night after dinner!
- Walk or drive around the neighborhood (weather-dependent) to admire the holiday lights.
- Wrap some presents.
- Make and decorate sugar cookies! (This is our favorite GF recipe.)
- Make peppermint bark. We melt a few bars of white chocolate and mix in crushed candy canes–no recipe necessary.
- Bake gingerbread cookies bars.
- Decorate Christmas ornaments for presents.
- Have a board game night with Christmas music.
- Bake gingerbread granola to give as gifts.
- Shop for Toys for Tots at Target.
- Make and hang a festive paper chain.
- Read bedtime stories by the Christmas tree.
- Make peanut butter pinecones to set out for the squirrels. Side note: whenever we put out a suet cage, the cutest red squirrel family comes to visit our backyard!
- Check out Christmas-themed library books.
- Celebrate Lucia Day! We live in Minnesota which has strong Scandinavian heritage–so I’m familiar with lussekatter and pepperkakor. Maybe we’ll make our own this year!
- Help prepare Christmas cards to mail.
- Make up a bag of pantry staples for the local food shelf.
- Go sledding!
- Choose a local holiday event to attend–such as the European Christmas market or a local tree lighting.
- Make collage wreaths to decorate the house.
- Drink tea after dinner by the tree.
- Celebrate Christmas Eve at Grandma’s house.
- Open gifts on Christmas morning!
The Calendar Itself
There are so many options for advent calendars these days! If you’re on a budget, there are plenty of great DIY ideas on the Internet (such as this one). This year, I splurged a bit on a wooden one that I know we’ll use again and again.
Originally, I spotted this gorgeous advent calendar on the L.L.Bean website last year, when I was ordering Baby K’s stocking. A stocking that didn’t arrive in time for Christmas… but moving on. When I started thinking about Christmas 2023, it immediately came to mind and I knew if I was still thinking about, it was a sign to go ahead and get it.
It’s not the most expensive or flashiest option out there, but it suits our home and decor taste perfectly. It’s beautifully made and a classic piece that won’t go out of style. I’m excited to fill it and make memories with the kids this year!
What’s your favorite holiday tradition? Any toddler-friendly advent calendar activities to add to the list?
xx Claire
