25 Days of Christmas: Counting down to Christmas

I really wish I would have wrote about this sooner, but this holiday season really snuck up on me. I did write about this last year, but I had felt that A was too young to do this type of activity so I didn't do it. But I knew this year I wanted to. Throughout the year, I collected stuff for it so I could just throw it together and get on the roll with it. It is such a simple concept and such a great idea for toddlers and preschoolers.

25 Days of Christmas full of fun activities. It is somewhat like an advent calendar but without candies and trinkets. The general idea is to fill a box or bucket with some envelops and fun little activities for the children to do throughout the month of December leading up to Christmas. This year I numbered the envelops and activities because I included basic things that I knew I needed to be prepared for and would want them on a weekend - like decorate the family tree.

First, I bought a red metal bucket. I wanted something fun and festive, but I also wanted it to be able to be used throughout the year.

Then I wrote all the activities that I wanted to do leading up to Christmas. Here is my list:

1. Decorate the family Christmas tree. We went out and bought our Christmas tree. We got it home and decorated it together while a Christmas movie was playing in the background.

2. Make a Christmas Ornament. This year I got some clear bulbs and we added some glue and glitter. We closed them tight and shook them up.

3. Make reindeer footprints. We used fingerpaints for this.

4. Build a snowman.

5. Learn a Christmas song. A and I sang Jingle Bells to E. We were all giggling by the time it was over.

6. Watch a new Christmas movie. I wrapped up a new Christmas movie for this one. The Polar Express.

7. Make a wreath.

8. Donate toys. This year we donated all in good condition toys and books to A's school because they have started a new second language program, which is English.

9. Play Christmas matching game. I printed this template and cut them out. I taped one set to a file folder and laminated the other set. A loves matching right now.

10. Bake cookies for the Airmen cookie drive. This year we baked 14.5 dozen in peanut butter, white chocolate macadamia, oatmeal, chocolate chip, and sugar. 

11.  Deliver baked goods to neighbors. Every year we bake for our 3 neighbors. We all deliver one afternoon. 

12. New Christmas book. This year a wrapped a Christmas book for A to open. It is the story of the gingerbread man. 

13. Drink hot cocoa. 

14. Color a Christmas picture. I just printed some color pages from the computer and let A pick one to color. 

15. Christmas sensory bottles. I have been making both girls some sensory bottles. I decided to wrap each of them one to open. E's is a green glitter shaking one and A's is an I Spy red one.

16. Build your own Christmas scene with stickers. 

17. Learn something new about Christmas.

18. Adopt angels/buy for the less fortunate.

19. Make candy cane reindeer. 

20. Create teacher gifts. (Chocolate Hazelnut Puppy Chow layered with red and green M&Ms in a glass jar with a ribbon tied around.)

21. Make reindeer magic dust for Christmas night.

22. Read a book about the Christmas story.

23. Bake Santa cookies.

24. Bake Jesus' Birthday cake.