Christmas Countdown Ideas

Counting down the days until Christmas with creative Christmas Countdown ideas is part of the magic of the season.  As a kid, the anticipation of Santa coming just makes you burst with excitement. As an adult, Christmas countdowns can help you focus on the meaning of Christmas, keep your busy season organized, and help you slow down a bit to truly enjoy the season with your family.

There are so many ways to do advent calendars. Buying one or making one. Building one or crafting one. However you do it, a Christmas Countdown will bring you at least a small minute of family time each day to enjoy the season together.

We have some of our favorite advent calendars that each of our families do and we can’t wait to share these ideas with you.

You can get the printout here and print the pages on brown cardstock. Then cut out the houses, fold them, and fill them. It’s as easy as that! We decided to add more character and detail to our houses, so we traced the detail lines with a white gel pen. It made the houses look so festive.

Another way to make it more personalized is to print the houses on white cardstock and let the family color each house. Then cut and assemble the houses to make your own gingerbread village advent.

We have loved how these add a magical touch to our Christmas decor and can double as an advent.

For these cute houses, there are some tags to attach to help you make an advent out of them. We simply printed those tags (part of the house file) on brown paper and traced the numbers with a white gel pen. Then, we filled each house with small treats or a little surprise! The kids love it and they look like decor!

If you’re on the lookout for more creative ways to use the gingerbread house for decorating during the holiday season, be sure to check out our blog post linked below. We share a variety of fun ideas that will inspire you to make your gingerbread house a centerpiece of your Christmas decorations.

We love reading together. Christmas books are no exception! Each year, we incorporate our Christmas countdown ideas by wrapping up our Christmas books and opening one book each day in December! This brings excitement and a short family moment each day.

Unwrapping a book each day is a reminder to slow down in all of the holiday hustle and bustle to spend time with your kids. The holidays sometimes get busy and we forget to focus on the best parts. Spending these small moments with your family brings on the joy of the season.

Starting might feel overwhelming, but fear not! Begin with just a few books. Maybe do a book per week of December to start. We have a list of some of our favorite Christmas books listed here in this blog post. You can buy a book or two each year to add to your collection and eventually get to 12 books for Christmas or even the full 24 days like we do! This is a tradition our kids love!

Pro-tip: Each year as you put away your Christmas, use leftover wrapping paper to wrap up your books. That way, next year you will be ready to go the moment you pull it out!

*You may also want to keep a list of your books somewhere, so you don’t buy the same one twice.

Transform your Christmas season into a meaningful celebration with our printable Nativity set, perfect for creating an Advent countdown. Each day, reflect on a scripture verse that aligns with the Christmas story, adding a touch of Christ-centered activities to your day.

This set includes 14 pieces, offering flexibility in how you approach your Advent countdown. You can check out our ideas for setting up an advent on our Nativity Blog Post.

This is a classic countdown style that is quick to put together. This one you can easily make with the kids! Grab various colors of construction paper and cut them into strips. You can easily match your Christmas decor or let your kids choose the pattern, either way, you surely will have a good time making a chain as a family.

Family Fun Tip:

Personalize the links with handwritten messages, fun drawings, or festive wishes, adding a unique touch to every link in your countdown chain!

Using plastic wrap and small candies, such as kisses and ribbon; this countdown is easy to make. Place a piece of candy for each family member in the plastic wrap and tie off a section for every day. Each day in December, you can cut open a section and have a small treat. This advent can also easily be used as a neighbor gift.

To get your hands on our darling Hershey Kiss Advent topper, simply download it using the button below. For immediate access, subscribe to our newsletter by filling out the form provided. As a new subscriber, we will occasionally sprinkle your inbox with other fun family ideas, along with complimentary printables that have been release! Already subscribed? Just enter your email address below and click download without worries of being 'resubscribed' or receiving additional emails.

Each of our families has one of these mini-book collections. Our kids love getting a new story to read each day.

Disney Advent: Story & Activity

Putting together advent calendars can be a wonderful family bonding experience and a helpful reminder to slow down and spend some magical Christmas time with your family. May your Christmas season be filled with cherished moments and the magic of family traditions.