40+ Christmas Countdown Activities {Free Printable}

40+ Christmas Countdown Activities Jar. Free printable. Just print, put in a jar, and draw one each night. Or pin them to a calendar and plan in advance.

Christmas can be a time of stress. You have tons to do- buying gifts, wrapping gifts, Christmas dinner, and more. And everything should be big and fabulous and the best ever. But the kids are going to remember the little things. The times you snuggled up in the dark and watched a Christmas movie. Decorating Christmas cookies. Coloring Christmas pages. This Christmas Countdown Activities Jar is designed to help you make those memories.

There are 40 Christmas activities for kids below. You might not put them all in the jar. For example, if you’re not into making gingerbread houses, just toss that one in the trash so it won’t get drawn. You can also put items in there more than once. For example, watching a Christmas movie and reading a Christmas story are easy ones. So you might want to print out two or three of those and include them in the jar so you’re not doing an involved, time-consuming activity every night.

Some of these require a little advance work. But don’t worry. Below, I have a list of links to the various crafts, recipes, and activities that you might want to do. So before you add an item to the jar, make sure you have the items gathered so once your child draws something, you can immediately hop into it. I did all the research for you! There are multiple options for each item.

I also included a page of blanks so you can add your own family traditions that I might not have included.

There are few different ways you can do it:

1. Just draw one item and do whatever it says. 
2. Have one kid draw three and let the second child pick which one they want to do.
3. Draw three and let the one of the kids pick which one they want to do.
4. Have the kids draw three and you pick which one you want to do. 
5. Pick out the ideas you want to do in advance. Stick them to a calendar (so you can juggle other activities) so they’re all scheduled out in advance. (This is my favorite and what I’m going to do when I have kids). 

If you liked this you, you’ll LOVE the Christmas & Peppermint page. It’s full of Christmas treats and free printables. Be sure to check it out!

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Instructions for printing

Instructions:
• Print options: regular paper works, but you can also use card stock or glossy photo paper.
• The file is in pdf below.  Just hit the “download” button (or pink word “download,” depending upon browser).

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Christmas Countdown Activities

^ That is a preview of the first page of all the Christmas countdown activities printable. Here is the file:

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Prep Work/Activity Ideas:

As I mentioned above, some of the activities are going to require some prep work. They’re are also multiple options for some of them, such as the tree ornament. So I gave you plenty of great options below. Pick your favorite, print it out, and make sure you have the items on hand for when the activity gets drawn from the jar.

• Tree Ornament– there are multiple different ideas for tree ornaments. I’m going to list them here. Pick one and make sure you have the items prepped for it. 
– DIY Embroidery Hoop Christmas Ornaments
– Snowflake Gold Glitter DIY Ornaments
– Snow Owl Ornaments
– Various Colored Paper Strip Ornaments
– Paper Heart Ornament
– Candy Christmas Ornament
– No-Bake Cinnamon Spice Ornament
– DIY Glitter Ornaments
– Paper Ornaments

• Christmas Cookies– as you can imagine, there are hundreds of Christmas cookie recipes online. Here are a few: 
– Easy Sugar Cookie with Frosting
– Dark Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies
– Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
– Gingerbread Cookies

• Christmas Candy– Country Living has a fabulous resource with 70 different candies! There has to be one you like there.

• Christmas Cards– prep construction paper, glitter, glue, or other items that you’re planning on using. 

• Christmas Charades– here are a couple websites that have free printable Christmas charades (no e-mail signup required). 
– UnOriginal Mom Christmas Charades
– Childhood 101 Christmas Charades

• 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! 

• Reindeer Chow– you can find the recipe for the most fabulous reindeer chow HERE.

• Snowman Craft– you have a variety of options when it comes to snowman crafts. Pick the one that works best for you and prep the materials ahead of time. 
– Paper Chain Snowman Countdown
– Snowman Card
– Craft Stick Snowmen
– Accordion-Fold Snowman
– Snowman in a Bag Craft

• Peppermint Bark– you can find the recipe for the most fabulous peppermint bark right HERE. 

• DIY Snow Globe– you have a variety of options. Pick the one that works best for you:
– Easy Snow Globe for Kids
– Waterless Snow Globes
– DIY Snow Globe

• Make Play Snow– there are a few different recipes out there for play snow. Here are a couple: 
– Play Snow
– Snow Dough
– Sparkle Snow

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Wrapping It Up

There you have it! 40 fabulous Christmas countdown activities. Remember, you can pick and choose which ones you want. And you can always stick the same activity in the jar multiple times. Like I said, I would have at least 3 Christmas movie nights!

Can you do me a favor? Please share this post on social media if you found it helpful! The share buttons are on the top.

Or comment below letting me know which activity you liked the most.

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