50+ Advent Calendar Activities for Kids & Families {Free Printable}

Make Christmas countdowns more fun with 50+ Advent calendar activities for kids and families,
plus free printable activity cards and blanks.

Christmas can be a time of stress. You have tons to do- buying and wrapping gifts, Christmas dinner, social obligations, and more.

But lots of times, kids are going to remember the little things. The times you snuggled up in the dark and watched a Christmas movie. Decorating Christmas cookies. Driving around looking at Christmas lights. These Advent calendar activities are designed to help you make those memories.

There are over 50 activity ideas (along with links to tutorials and free printables) below.
I also have free printable Advent activity cards (plus blanks so you can write your own activities) for you.

If you’re getting ready for Christmas, you have to check out the printable Christmas Binder.

It has EVERYTHING you need for a fabulous holiday. It’s 160+ pages and includes:
• Planner section- calendars, party planner, Christmas planner
• 15+ different games & activities
• Decor (banners, wall art, food & drink wrappers, cupcake toppers, and more)
• Christmas cards, tags, & gift certificates
• Christmas recipes
& more

Christmas Crafts & Creative Activities

• Make a Christmas ornament. Making an ornament for the Christmas tree is a great Advent activity. I have a few options below.
1) Color and cut Christmas ornament is a super-easy, very little equipment required option. Thrifty Mama Tips has a free printable with 12 different ornament outlines for the kids to color.
2) Paper craft ornaments. Use paper- either scrapbook paper for “fancier” versions or just regular construction paper- to make Christmas tree ornaments. Reese Dixon has a heart-shaped Christmas paper ornament craft and another site has a simple construction paper ornament.
3) DIY spice ornament– no baking required. These are really easy to make and the creator says the ones her kids have made have lasted for years.

• Make a snowman craft. If you’re looking for an easy paper craft, check out these easy Accordion Fold Snowmen. If you have popsicle sticks and a few basic materials, you can go a bit further and make Snowman Popsicle Stick Ornaments.

• Make a DIY Snow Globe. This easy snow globe project by Messy Little Monster uses a Mason jar, a small Christmas ornament, white glitter, water, and clear glue. You’ll need a hot glue gun for the adult portion of the project.

• Make play snow. No snow outside? Try making your own! You can make this soft Snow Dough with basic kitchen ingredients (requires about 5 minutes stove-top), or make Sparkle Snow with cornstarch and shaving cream (the peppermint and glitter are optional).

• Make a pinecone bird feeder. Get a pinecone and tie a string so you can hang it. Smear peanut butter over it. Generously sprinkle with birdseed. Hang outside.

• Make a paper garland. Cut strips out of red, green, and white construction paper and loop them together to make a classic paper-chain garland for the Christmas tree or around the house.

• Decorate a Christmas wreath. Start with a plain wreath and decorate it together using ribbon, ornaments, pinecones, greenery, or whatever Christmas decorations you already have on hand. Glitter optional. Or, if you don’t want to buy a wreath, check out this printable wreath craft.

• Make paper snowflakes.

Christmas Baking & Treat Activities

• Make Christmas cookies. Does anything say “it’s Christmas time” more than baking cookies? If you’re looking for a recipe, I found Easy Sugar Cookie with Frosting and Gingerbread Cookies for you to try.

• Christmas candy. Along with cookies, sweet Christmas candy is another tradition many people look forward to. If you’re looking for ideas, check out Christmas Peppermint Bark or Easy Peppermint Pretzels.

• Build a Gingerbread house. I have an absolutely FABULOUS resource for you. This site not only has a gingerbread recipe for you, but also has multiple free printable templates for you. You can find it HERE.
Of course, you can also go the easy route and just buy a gingerbread building kit from the store! (I confess, that’s what I did this year…thank you, Target.)
And if you don’t want to deal with actual gingerbread, Ayelet Keshet actually has a free printable gingerbread house template to print, color, and put together.

• Make Reindeer Chow for Santa’s Reindeer. Whip up a batch of magical Reindeer Chow to leave out for Santa’s reindeer on Christmas Eve. You can find my easy Reindeer Chow recipe here.

• Make a popcorn garland. Pop some popcorn and make a popcorn garland for the tree. Feel free to taste-test the “building materials” haha.

• Make a Christmas breakfast.

Christmas Games & Printable Activities

• Christmas word activity. Try a Christmas-themed free printable word search, crossword puzzle, or word scramble.

• Color Christmas Pictures. Grab the crayons, markers, or colored pencils and print some free Christmas coloring pages.

• Make Christmas cards. Make a handprint Christmas tree card, or pull out construction paper, crayons, stickers, etc. and let the kids design their own. You can even get really crazy and add some glue and glitter…haha.

• Play Christmas charades. Grab some free printable Christmas charades cards from Childhood101.

• Have a Christmas treasure hunt. Send the kids searching around the house with a Christmas treasure hunt! My free printable Christmas Treasure Hunt includes 30 rhyming clues you can mix and match to create your own hunt.

Christmas Outings & Experiences

• Look at Christmas Lights. Pile into the car, turn on some Christmas music, and drive around looking at Christmas lights and decorations.

• Visit a Christmas Nativity. Look for a local live, walk-through, or drive-through Nativity and make an evening of visiting it together.

• Go ice skating. Go to the local ice skating rink, strap on some skates, and glide away.

• Visit Santa. Find a local Santa and stop by for a visit. Take a picture if you can—it can be fun to look back at the photos from year to year. (When my son was 2, the closest he would get was about 10 feet away…and that was with his dad holding him…haha.)

• Go sledding. If you have enough snow, bundle up, grab the sleds, and head outside for some sledding.

• Visit a Christmas market or festival. I know every location is different, but it seems like every small town/suburb around us has their own Christmas market or event. It makes finding events for November and December easy.

• Go to a Christmas concert or performance. Check out school concerts, community choirs, The Nutcracker, church programs, local theaters, and other holiday performances.

At-Home Family Christmas Activities & Traditions

• Have a Christmas Movie Night. Pick your favorite Christmas movie, pop some popcorn, grab some treats, and snuggle up on the couch for a cozy night at home. (I’m a fan of A Christmas Story…but my husband hates it. My 4-year-old has decided The Santa Clause is one is HIS Christmas favorites.)

• Have a snowball fight. Bundle up and go have a snowball fight. If there isn’t any snow, bundle up paper and have an indoor paper snowball fight instead.

• Read a Christmas story. Pick a favorite Christmas story, snuggle up together, and read.

• Decorate the Christmas tree.

• Picnic by the tree. Instead of eating at the dining room table, spread out a tablecloth next to the tree. Turn out the lights and eat by the lights of the Christmas tree.

• Write a letter to Santa. Sit down and write (or draw) a letter to Santa.

• Have a Christmas game night. Pick a favorite board or card game, turn on some Christmas music, and play together by the tree. (In our house, Skip-Bo is a favorite…though I prefer Scrabble, which I almost always win.)

• Have hot cocoa by the tree. Make some hot cocoa, settle in by the Christmas tree, and talk about your favorite Christmas memories together.

• Make snow angels. If you’re lucky enough to have snow, bundle up, head outside, and make some snow angels.

• Have a Christmas dance party. Turn up your favorite Christmas music and have a family dance party.

• Sing Christmas carols. Or turn on some Christmas music and have a Christmas karaoke night.

• Build a cozy blanket fort. If you want to go all-out, add Christmas lights and some paper decorations to it.

• Take a family Christmas photo. Gather everyone together and take a Christmas picture. Dress up, wear matching pajamas, or simply snap a pic in front of the tree.

• Build a snowman.

• Wrap Christmas gifts. I have free printable Christmas gift tags and free printable Christmas gift certificates, if you need either.

Giving Back & Helping Others

• Give Back. Make helping someone else part of your Christmas season. One option is to choose a borrower through Kiva and contribute toward a microloan that can help someone grow a business, pursue an education, or improve their livelihood. As the loan is repaid, you can use the money in your Kiva account to help fund another borrower.

• Donate toys and books. Go through toys and books together and choose some that are no longer being used. Find a local organization that accepts gently used toys and books and donate them for another family to enjoy.

• Go Christmas Shopping. Pick someone on your Christmas list and let everyone help choose a special gift for them.

• Write a letter of gratitude. Write a note or draw a picture to thank a service member, veteran, or first responder. Operation Gratitude has current guidelines and ways for families to send messages of appreciation to those who serve.

• Help a classroom. Look for a local teacher or classroom that needs supplies, books, or help funding a classroom project.

• Volunteer at a food bank or other charity.

• Donate food. Check and see what the local food pantries or community organization needs. Then let the kids help shop for the grocery items to donate.

• Call or video-chat someone you love.

• Spread Some Christmas kindness. Do something unexpected to brighten someone else’s day. Leave a kind note, help a neighbor, give someone a compliment, or choose an idea from my Random Acts of Kindness post.

• Learn About Christmas around the world. Pick a country and spend a little time learning about its Christmas traditions, foods, and celebrations.

Free Printable Advent Activity Cards

You can use these printable Advent activity cards a couple of ways.

You can cut out the cards, pick out the activities you want to do, and add your own activities using the blank cards. Then mix them up and put them in a Mason jar, Christmas basket, or other container. When it’s time for an Advent activity, have someone draw a card. Then complete the task.

If you have a busy schedule, the best method is probably to pick out what activities you want to do (plus write your own using the blank cards), and tape them to the calendar. That way you don’t have a disappointed kid drawing “make a gingerbread house” when you only have 30 minutes before bedtime.

Tip: Look through the activities before filling your Advent calendar and choose the ones that work for your family’s schedule, ages, and interests. Some activities require a few supplies or ingredients, so you may want to plan those for days when you have more time.

Download & Print Instructions

• Print options: regular paper works, but you can also use card stock for sturdier cards.

• The file for the cards is in pdf below. The PDF file is below the last of the images. Just hit the “download” button (or pink word “download,” depending upon browser).

• The default size of these is full-page for 8 advent activity cards. However, if you want them smaller, simply reduce the print size of the pages.