110 Fun Advent Calendar Activities For Families + Printable

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Advent calendars are a unique way to count down the days until Christmas. For kids, they’re a magical time of year when you get to open one surprise each day and anticipate December 25th, although those surprises do not need to be treats or gifts!

Why not create an activity Advent Calendar instead this year? These advent calendar activities are fun for the whole family to get into the Christmas spirit!

An Advent activity calendar is a perfect way to spend quality time together during the busiest month of the year, making new favourite memories on the countdown to Christmas morning.

We are sharing fun Advent calendar activity ideas for kids and families as well as printable Advent activity cards so you can print off your favourites and save time during this busy festive time of year!

GET 110 FREE ADVENT ACTIVITY CARDS HERE

What Is An Activity Advent Calendar

There are so many different types of advent calendars available for the holiday season – from chocolate advents to small gift advent calendars and even those you can make yourself – that there is something for everyone.

Instead of the treat-filled advent calendars, you may be most familiar with, the focus of an activity advent is to instead give daily tasks or Christmas activities to complete.

This is a special way to create new family memories and Christmas traditions each December with tasks you can complete as a family, or by giving your kids their own special activities each day.

Best of all, your activity advent doesn’t need to be fancy!

You can use a reusable advent calendar to pop your daily advent activities in or you can keep it really simple and use numbered envelopes or any of these simple DIY advent calendars!

Activity Advent Calendars

If you do not already have an advent activity calendar and would prefer to purchase one rather than make your own, here are some wonderful options for pre-made advent calendars that are perfect for use with Christmas countdown activities.

These advent calendars also make a wonderful extra festive decor in your home as they look beautiful while still serving their fun function throughout December!

You can add your advent activities on slips of paper or use the printable advent cards instead.

It’s up to you if you decide to add small gifts each day along with your activities or keep them just to activities. An activity advent can also make a great gift for the whole family.

Advent Activity Ideas For Families

It’s always fun to do something new and different every year, and Advent activities can be a great way to not only try new things but also fit in your favourite December traditions as well!

We like to change up our ideas each year with a few new ones while keeping some the same, such as putting up the Christmas tree on the 1st and making our favourite Christmas treats sometime during the month.

It can also help to have a few backup activities for when the weather doesn’t cooperate or your schedules change.

That is why you will love this huge list of advent activities for your Christmas countdown, with plenty of fun activities to choose from that suit different ages – from young kids to older kid activities and activities for the whole family!

Baking & Christmas Food

71. Bake and decorate Christmas cookies
72. Make rum balls
73. Make gingerbread cookies
74. Build a gingerbread house together
75. Make a special Christmas breakfast
76. Make eggnog
77. Make hot cocoa bombs
78. Make frozen hot chocolate
79. Plan your festive menu
80. Make a traditional dessert
81. Make a Christmas dish from another country
82. Make Santa and reindeer food for Christmas Eve
83. Make cookies for the neighbours
84. Host a cookie decorating party
85. Build a Christmas grazing platter

Kindness & Giving Advent Activities

86. Do a random act of kindness for a neighbour
87. Write a letter to someone
88. Write a letter to Santa Claus
89. Make a handmade gift for a friend
90. Write out Christmas cards
91. Donate a gift to a Christmas charity
92. Declutter toys and donate to charity
93. Donate old towels and bedding to an animal shelter
94. Volunteer in your local community
95. Take a gift to an elderly neighbour or relative
96. Write each family member a letter with reasons why you love them
97. Make cards for the school support staff
98. Give out candy canes with positive messages to school friends
99. Donate food to a local charity drive
100. Leave a gift for your postie or parcel delivery driver

Just For The Grown-Ups

Advent calendars aren’t only for kids. If you’re running one for yourself or with your partner, or you just want a few days in December that aren’t about the children, swap some of these in.

• Enjoy some self-care doing something you love
• Have a pamper session
• Do a Secret Santa gift exchange with friends or colleagues
• Host a brunch or lunch
• Host a festive dinner with friends
• Host an ornament exchange
• Organise a gift wrapping party
• Host a holiday book club
• Plan an amazing New Year’s Eve party
• Learn about Christmas traditions in another country
• Buy a special new ornament for your tree

Advent Activities For A Southern Hemisphere Christmas

Most advent activity lists are written for a northern hemisphere December, which is why so many of them involve snow, sledding and staying indoors where it’s warm.

An Australian Christmas is a different thing entirely and we love our Summer Christmas activities. It’s hot, and some of these activities are better done outside at 6 pm than at 2 in the afternoon. These are the ones that suit our version.

• Have a swim to kick off the school holidays
• Build a sandcastle instead of a snowman
• Have a backyard water fight in Christmas hats
• Make ice blocks instead of hot chocolate
• Have a backyard cricket match
• Eat dinner outside under the Christmas lights
• Go to the beach early on a Sunday morning before it gets hot
• Make a summer Christmas grazing platter with mango, cherries and prawns
• Run through the sprinkler with the Christmas playlist on
• Have a Christmas movie night with the air con up and the blinds down
• Camp out in the backyard one night in the school holidays
• Freeze a batch of rum balls and eat them straight from the freezer
• Have breakfast outside on Christmas morning

A note on timing if you’re in Australia: the school year ends around the second week of December, which means the last two weeks of your advent land in the holidays. Front-load the quick activities to the school days and save the outings for after term finishes.

These activities for Advent calendars are so much fun either on their own or paired with a daily treat or funny Christmas joke.

In fact, on the days that your activity involves certain ingredients or materials, you can wrap those up along with the daily activity!

GET THE FREE ADVENT ACTIVITY CARDS HERE — 110 activity cards plus blank ones so you can add your own.

Why Activity Advents Fail (And How To Make Yours Last)

Most people who start an activity advent give up somewhere around the 12th. Here’s why, and how to avoid it.

Too many big activities. If half your cards involve an outing, a bake or a craft, you’ll hit a Tuesday where nobody has the energy and the whole thing quietly stops. Aim for roughly two-thirds quick activities and one-third bigger ones. The quick section above exists for exactly this reason.

No backups. Weather changes, kids get sick, work runs late. Keep three or four spare cards you can swap in, so a cancelled outing doesn’t mean a day with nothing.

Supplies not bought ahead. The fastest way to abandon a plan is opening a card that says “make gingerbread cookies” and realising you have no golden syrup. Go through your 24 before December, write a shopping list, and buy it all in one trip.

Numbering things on the wrong day. Some activities have to land on a specific date. Decorating the tree wants to be the 1st. The lights drive wants a Friday or Saturday. Anything involving other people needs a day they’re free. Number those cards first and fill the rest around them.

Setting the bar too high. The best advent activity is one you’d have done anyway. Watching a Christmas movie counts. Reading a book together counts. It doesn’t all have to be an event.

Free Printable Advent Calendar Activities

We know how busy this time of year is for everyone!

To save you time we have created this free printable Advent calendar activities sheet for you to print and off and choose which activities you want to do.

Pop them into envelopes or into your family advent calendar and you are ready for a December full of fun and special memories!

The printable sheet also includes some blank Advent activity cards so you can add your own ideas.

GET THE FREE PRINTABLE HERE

The great thing about an Advent calendar is that you can make it age-appropriate and fun! This list has plenty of advent activities perfect for kids, no matter how young or old they are. There’s something for everyone, so go ahead and pick your favourites!

I hope these Christmas advent activities help you plan lots of fun as you count down how many days until Christmas!

Need more Christmas inspiration? Check these out:

• DIY advent calendar ideas
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• Free printable Santa gift tag
• Fun Christmas games
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• 100+ Fun ideas to do with kids at home
• Photo Christmas cards with candy canes
• Fun Christmas day activities for families