As our kids have gotten older and the Lego advent sets aren't quite as appealing to them, we have started to focus our advent season on experience-based memories. In that spirit, we have compiled a list of 101 advent activities for your (and our) homes. We like to mix things up between baked goods, a community event or two, and volunteering. We don't have set ones we use every year, and we certainly don't do all of these in a single year, but we use this list to guide our thinking and planning throughout December. If you would like a printable version of our list to make things easier, grab it here for free from our shop.
In the Kitchen
There's nothing quite like the smells of cinnamon, oranges, vanilla, and sugar wafting from the kitchen at Christmas time. Here are 14 of our best cooking ideas. Grab the kids and the aprons and blast the Christmas music.
Christmas cookies
Learn a traditional family recipe
Make peppermint hot chocolate
Learn how to make homemade marshmallows
Make apple cider
Make Christmas-shaped treats for the family pet
Have a family pizza night and shape your pizza into a Christmas tree, candy cane, or Santa’s hat
Make gingerbread houses
Bake minced pies
Make Christmas punch
Make a cranberry Dutch Baby
Make an allergy friendly Christmas treat for someone you know with food allergies - they will really appreciate this!
Make Christmas tree pancakes with all the decorations!
Gingerbread cookies
For Others
The best thing about Christmas is focusing on others and not on ourselves. There are endless meaningful ways to provide for others. Here are 13 ways to get the kids involved in activities that help them to be aware that others can be in need of help or encouragement:
Make a meal for someone who needs it
Make a Christmas card for someone who needs some encouragement
Pick up litter from a park or beach in Christmas hats
Go Christmas shopping for friends or neighbors
Wrap gifts today!
Give some of your baked Christmas treats to neighbors
Donate to a local food bank
Pay for someone’s meal at a café or restaurant
Place a kindness stone in a park
Go through your toys and clothes and donate any unused item
Offer to babysit for someone who needs help
Make hot chocolate packets for others
Volunteer at a shelter/soup kitchen
Out in Nature
Not everyone gets the chance for snow in the Christmas season, so here's a list of 11 outdoor activities - most of which you can do no matter what your weather is!
Record signs of winter in your nature journal
Bundle up and take a winter walk
Note the times of sunrise and sunset and see how they’re different from the times in the summer
Make a bouquet of evergreen twigs
Take advantage of the darker winter nights and look for constellations and planets
Make a snowman
Make a birdhouse
Find a place for a Christmas campfire
Plant an evergreen tree
Go sledding/skiing
Identify some winter birds outside your house
Movies
We love to take advantage of the cosy night candles and twinkling lights and gather on the couch or floor with a movie as a family or with friends. We compiled a list of 19 family-friendly movies. You certainly don't need to get through them all, but pick a few off the list and maybe even combine them with some of the kitchen treats.
Klaus
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
It’s A Wonderful Life
Jingle Jangle
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas
A Christmas Carol
Home Alone
Polar Express
Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas
The Nutcracker
A Boy Called Christmas
The Preacher’s Wife
Little Women
Muppet Christmas Carol
Jack Frost
Star
A Christmas Story
Elf
In the Community
When you're ready to get out of the cozy house and enjoy the community, look for ways that your local community has worked very hard on their own seasonal offerings. Here are 8 ways that you can get to know your own town or city. These are often free and a fantastic way to support your friends and neighbors
Go caroling with friends
Drive around and see Christmas lights
Go to a Christmas concert
Find the largest Christmas tree in your city or town
Go see Santa!
Go ice-skating
Find a Christmas artisan fair and support local artists!
Watch a Christmas play
It’s A Party
There's nothing quite like a good Christmas party to bring the festivities to your friends and family. Here are 6 ideas for your Christmas party. Have your kids help set the mood and decorate for the event!
Host a Christmas murder mystery dinner
Have a Christmas costume party
Play Christmas charades
Host an Ugly Sweater Christmas Party
Make a Christmas scavenger hunt for your neighborhood
Play White Elephant/Dirty Santa
Just For Fun
Need some interesting yet simple ways to fill the Advent boxes? These 8 ideas are some of our favorite options:
Play a (harmless!) Christmas prank
Play Christmas mad libs
Camp in the living room under the Christmas tree lights
Make s'mores
Gather Christmas books & stories to read under the Christmas tree
Have a meal by candlelight
Board game night with the family
Christmas music dance party
For the Creative Writers
Some children absolutely thrive on creative writing prompts. We have one of those kids. If you have one, too, (or just need a festive way to add a writing exercise) here are 9 ideas. Remember not to correct the the grammar or style. The goal is pure fun and joy! We have tried many of these ourselves and love them! If you have littles who are too small to write, have them narrate, and you can type or write it up. This would absolutely be a cherished item to keep for years to come.
Write a complaint letter to one of Santa’s elves about a toy
Rewrite the Christmas Carol with your own plot twist
Write a description of how you normally feel this time of year
Write a story of what would happen at your house if there were no presents at Christmas
Write a Christmas poem
Make a list of what makes Christmas special to you
Write funny Christmas haikus and place them around a park
Write a Christmas card to your future self and write the year you should open it on the envelope
Write a letter that Santa would write to your parents
Arts and Crafts
There's something really special about the homemade crafts and art of the season! Here are 13 ideas for the little artists in your family:
Make a popcorn & cranberry garland
Make pinecone bird feeders
Draw and color or paint a picture of your house in winter
Make your own ornaments
Create your own present tags
Wrap a plant pot in wrapping paper
Play roll-an-elf (available free multiple places online)
Make decorations for your bedroom door
Draw yourself as a reindeer
Paint an abstract painting and frame it for someone else
Make salt dough ornaments
Make Christmas tie-dye t-shirts
Cut paper snowflakes
We would love to know what else you would add to the list. Comment below and let us know!
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