Advent Calendar Activity Ideas: 40 for the Family

The best Advent calendar activity ideas for families are short enough for a school night, cost little and mostly use what you already have: a paper chain, a mug of proper hot chocolate, a walk to see the Christmas lights, charades after tea, a card for a neighbour. Below are 40 ideas sorted by type, with a rough time and age for each, and a simple way to spread them over the 24 days so the big ones land at weekends.

Planning 24 days around school, work and weekends

Look at the real calendar before you write a single card. In the UK, early December is full of nativities, Christmas jumper day and class parties, and most schools break up in the week before Christmas. US winter break usually starts around the same time. Match the activity to the day:

• School nights (Monday to Thursday): 15 to 30 minutes, nothing to buy and not much to clear up. Hot chocolate, a story in a den, charades.
• Fridays: a film night or a games evening, when nobody has to be up early.
• Weekends: the longer outings and the messy crafts. The woods, a Christmas market, baking, potato prints.
• Busy days: write “nativity”, “party” or “late shift” on your plan first, then give those days the shortest card, or let the event itself be the activity.
• From the end of term: once school has broken up, there is time for baking to give, wrapping presents and the memory jar on Christmas Eve.

Crafts and kitchen ideas

Crafts (8 ideas)

• 1. Paper chain countdown (30 min, 3+): 24 linked strips of coloured paper or old magazine pages. Remove one link each evening.
• 2. Window snowflakes (30 min, 5+): fold a square of paper into a triangle several times, snip shapes along the edges, unfold and stick on the glass.
• 3. Snowy pine cones (30 min plus drying, 3+): dab white paint on the tips of the scales and hang them with string.
• 4. Potato-print wrapping paper (45 min, 3+): a grown-up cuts a star or tree into half a potato; children stamp it onto brown paper.
• 5. Clove oranges (30 min, 5+): press whole cloves into an orange in lines or spirals and tie a ribbon round it. Make the holes first with a cocktail stick if small fingers find it hard.
• 6. Salt dough decorations (1 hr plus baking, 4+): two mugs of plain flour, one of salt and about one of water, rolled, cut and baked very low until hard, or left to air-dry for a couple of days.
• 7. Handmade Christmas cards (45 min, 3+): one for each grandparent, teacher or friend who lives far away.
• 8. A jumper for Christmas jumper day (45 min, 5+): felt shapes stuck or sewn onto an old jumper or T-shirt, so nothing new needs buying.

In the kitchen (7 ideas)

• 9. Proper hot chocolate (15 min, all ages): warm milk, chunks of dark chocolate, a pinch of cinnamon, drunk under a blanket.
• 10. A fruit Christmas tree (20 min, 3+): kiwi slices, grapes and clementine segments arranged in a tree shape on a big plate.
• 11. Biscuits to decorate (1 hr, 3+): roll, cut out stars and trees, bake, then ice once cool.
• 12. Cinnamon popcorn (20 min, 4+): a grown-up pops the corn in a covered pan; children add sugar and cinnamon for film night.
• 13. Mince pies (45 min, 5+): ready-made pastry and a jar of mincemeat make this a one-evening job.
• 14. Chocolate-dipped clementine segments or pretzels (30 min, 3+): melt, dip, add sprinkles, chill on baking paper.
• 15. Truffles to give (45 min plus chilling, 4+): chocolate melted into hot cream, set in the fridge, rolled in cocoa and bagged up for teachers or neighbours.

Games and cosy evenings at home

• 16. The story den (45 min, 3+): chairs and blankets, lights off, a torch, and a story made up one sentence each.
• 17. Christmas charades (30 min, 4+): snowman, reindeer, ice skating, Christmas pudding, acted out in silence.
• 18. Pass the parcel (30 min, 3+): a small gift wrapped in several layers of newspaper, with a silly challenge between each layer.
• 19. Hum that tune (20 min, 4+): hum a Christmas song without the words; whoever guesses hums the next one.
• 20. Indoor treasure hunt (45 min, 4+): five clues, each leading to the next. Use drawings for children who can't read yet, and for the others, pick from our 20 rhyming Christmas treasure hunt clues.
• 21. Pyjama film night (2 hrs, all ages): a Christmas film chosen by the youngest, with the popcorn from idea 12.
• 22. Card game tournament (45 min, 5+): Snap, Go Fish or Rummy, with a homemade trophy for the winner.
• 23. A letter to Father Christmas (30 min, 3+): written or drawn. If you want a reply, Royal Mail usually announces a posting deadline each year (in the US, look up USPS Operation Santa).
• 24. Christmas story night (30 min, all ages): a picture book or a chapter, read by someone different each night.

Outings and acts of kindness

Outings (8 ideas)

• 25. The lights walk (45 min, all ages): after dark, on foot, with a flask. Everyone picks their favourite house.
• 26. Forest treasures (1 hr, all ages): pine cones, acorns, twigs and leaves from the ground, saved for ideas 3 and 33.
• 27. An afternoon at the library (1 hr, all ages): borrow winter and Christmas books, then read them at home.
• 28. A Christmas market (2 hrs, all ages): agree a small budget per child first.
• 29. A light trail (2 hrs, all ages): many gardens and country estates run ticketed trails in December, so book ahead.
• 30. A carol service or Christingle (1 hr, all ages): many churches hold family services in Advent, often on a Sunday afternoon.
• 31. Starry night (30 min, all ages): around 21 December, the longest night of the year, wrap up warm and look for the brightest star away from street lights.
• 32. A winter park picnic (1 hr, all ages): soup in a flask and a run round the playground before dark.

Acts of kindness (8 ideas)

• 33. A feast for the birds (30 min, 3+): pine cones rolled in unsalted vegetable fat and seeds, hung from a tree.
• 34. Hidden notes (20 min, 3+): a kind note or drawing for each person in the family, tucked into a shoe or a coat pocket.
• 35. Cards for loved ones (45 min, 3+): for grandparents, a neighbour or someone who lives alone, posted or popped through the letterbox.
• 36. The sharing box (1 hr, 4+): toys, books and clothes in good condition for a charity shop or donation point.
• 37. A reverse Advent calendar (10 min a day, all ages): one tin or packet into a box each day, taken to the food bank before Christmas.
• 38. Thank-you notes (20 min, 4+): for the bin collectors, the postie or the school crossing patrol.
• 39. Help a neighbour (30 min, 5+): carry shopping, bring the bins in, sweep the leaves, with a grown-up.
• 40. The memory jar (20 min, all ages): on 24 December, everyone writes their favourite moment of Advent and seals it in a jar to open next year.

For a whole month of kind acts, see our kindness Advent calendar with 24 acts of kindness for kids.

Adapting the activities to your children's ages

• Under 5: short and hands-on. A grown-up handles the oven, knife and cloves.
• 5 to 8: they can follow a simple recipe, cut out snowflakes and read the card of the day aloud to the family.
• 9 to 12: hand over the lead. They write the treasure hunt clues, plan the film night menu or run the charades.
• Teenagers: give them a job they'd pick anyway, such as photographer on the lights walk or head baker.
• Mixed ages: pair a big one with a little one, and choose games where age gives no advantage, like charades or hum that tune.

A ready-to-print activity calendar

If you'd rather not write 24 cards yourself, our printable family Advent calendar has 24 of these ideas already on cards: five crafts, five recipes, five games, four outings and five acts of kindness. Each card lists what you'll need, the time and a suggested age, and a last page adds 4 blank cards and 24 number tags. It prints on A4 (Fit to page on US Letter) and is set up in about fifteen minutes. The recipe cards use grams, millilitres and °C. The printable Advent calendars page explains printing and paper in more detail.

And for Christmas Day itself, The Christmas Championship turns the whole day into a family contest: 40 games from drinks to pudding, over 250 cards to cut out, a score sheet and a champion at the end, for 3 to 20 players from age 4.

The 24 cards, ready to print

Printable Advent calendar: 24 family activities

€14.90

What if Advent became family time again?

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