List of Advent Activities

Countdown until I go back to work......6 days.  Boooooo.
Countdown until we start our daily advent activities........9 days.  YAY!

See below

I am so excited about using our advent calendar to stick little notes in for each day giving us some kind of Christmas activity to do together to savor the season.  I have built up in my head this magical, perfect beginning family tradition and I realize that, hey, I have a two year old with the attention span of a sesame seed at times.....expectations are recalculated to low.........BUT this could just be the start of something great! I developed a list of activities  and then realized that Tommy isn't going to know what the words mean so I thought up a GENIUS idea to picture cards for each day instead.  I googled images and clip arted to my hearts content.  I would love to share all of the pics here, but I did not save links to all pictures to give credit, so, I will share my ideas and some links and you can google your own pictures.  I will include a Christmasy picture of mine so you can pin the post if you like.

• Attend the Family Christmas Party (times 2 for 2 family parties)
• Bake reindeer Christmas cookies (PB or sugar cookies with M&M eyes, chocolate pretzel antlers, gumdrop nose)
• Watch Charlie Brown Christmas
• Bake Christmas tree cookies for the neighbors
• Ride The North Pole Express Train
• Meet Santa Claus
• Write a letter to Santa Claus
• Read The Night Before Christmas
• Drive around to see Christmas lights
• Do a Christmas craft to give someone as a present
• Drink hot chocolate and watch a Christmas movie (changed to sippy cup friendly chocolate milk)
• Make a gingerbread house
• Open your special ornament and put it on the tree
• Attend a Christmas tree lighting
• Play a new game
• Play in the snow
• Visit NYC and the big Christmas tree
• Make paper chain garland
• Decorate gingerbread men
• Holly Leaves Craft
• Picnic dinner in front of the Christmas tree
• Make Christmas Cards
• Bright Nights
• Help wrap presents for your teachers
• Family dinner at Friendly’s
• Watch Frosty or Rudolph
• Turn the fridge into a snowman

BE PREPARED.  I made a list where I tried to think of everything we might need to complete each of these activities without having to distract an eager toddler while his father runs to the corner store to get scotch tape so we can tape our snowman parts to the refrigerator. Try to think through each activity you plan and how you will complete each activity so you don't forget things.....example....North Pole Express train.  We have the tickets, but I need to write down to purchase Christmas pajamas so that when the day comes and we are putting coats on to go to the car I don't have a last minute, "Oh (insert expletive toddler to reapeat 50 times here)!  We don't have proper attire!"

I also brainstormed extra activities so if something bombs or doesn't pan out for the day I planned I have other go to options.  Next year I hope to include more Jesus centered activities, but he is so not ready for that yet.  Iam on the hunt for a very basic birth of Jesus story.  Any suggestions?