I had really been wanting to buy an Advent Calender - it's a good start to the season around here. The only problem for me is the chocolate. I think my kids get enough candy during the holidays that I really don't need to give them anymore.
The problem was that I needed something that they would still be excited about....which for two boys - ages 7 and 2 - this can be a difficult task! I decided that I needed something that would give us 'jobs' to do each day that would help get us into the holiday spirit and remember what we are really celebrating.
Here's what I came up with:
I decided to go simple. How much simpler can you get then a paper chain?
I came up with 24 ideas that would be great for my family...here are a few examples:
- Visit Santa
- Write Santa a letter
- Make Christmas Cookies
- Read "The Night Before Christmas" together
- Be Santa's secret helper
- Build a snowman
- Watch "The Grinch" together
- Stay in our PJs all day
- Have a snowball fight
- Cook dinner together
- Take cookies to the neighbors
and on Christmas Eve, our link says that we need to read the story of Jesus' birth.
Thinking now, it would have been more 'green' to just write the tasks out on the pieces of paper instead of printing them - but I just wasn't thinking then!
I used some extra pieces of Christmas scrapbook paper and let my oldest son, Ashton, cut them into strips. I took over from there and glued the pieces of paper into the links so that he wouldn't know what the tasks were and would get a nice surprise everyday.
Sneaky mom trick: I put the links in the order that I wanted. For example...I know that on Sunday we're going to go see Santa. So, I made sure that when we rip the chain on Sunday that it will magically tell us to go see Santa! On the day that I know we'll be having some people over for a Christmas party, I put the link that we were suppose to "Be Santa's Secret Helper".
I hung the chain up yesterday and Ashton was really excited to see if when he got home. We waited until Dad got home from work before we ripped the first link - it said we were suppose to drink hot chocolate. I think tonight we're suppose to watch a movie together.
I really love this idea - because I could tailor it to my family, without giving the kids more candy and each task is something we can do together as a family and get into the Christmas spirit!
Thanks for stopping by!
I'm a new blogger and I'll be posting organic coupon deals, product reviews, cooking and crafts! If you enjoyed this post, please become a follower and share this with your friends!
I've linked up to:
Found you from Bacon Time! I love this idea, so fun and nothing to buy! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete