Advent Calendar Ideas for Christmas

Christmas is just around the corner! And, of course, it seems that Christmas comes quicker every year than it did the year before. So, we must be intentional in planning for the advent of Christmas if we want to get everything done that we need to and not feel stressed doing it! To help get your planning off to a good start, we have compiled the ultimate list of advent calendar ideas for Christmas.

Looking for fun activities to add to your DIY Advent calendar this Christmas? Here are 45+ Advent Calendar Ideas! #Christmas #advent #adventcalendar #Christmascraft #Christmasdecor #DIY

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. Please know that all opinions are mine alone and are honestly conveyed.

When you are planning out your Christmas advent calendar activities, you will probably need to do a bit of research ahead of time to find out local events that you may want to attend as part of your advent celebration. Visit your local chamber of commerce or visitors and convention bureau online to find a list of community events that are planned, check local newspapers, or even just do an internet search for current events in your area. Many of the events you find are probably free or relatively inexpensive. Of course, you can add big items, such as going to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, or even the Nutcracker ballet

This article will mainly focus on the money savvy activities that are family-friendly and fun because you don’t need to spend a lot of money to make wonderful memories with your family! Here is a list of 45+ activities and advent calendar ideas to help you make celebrating the coming of Christmas even more special this year.

Budget friendly Christmas Advent calendar ideas

Pick out and chop down your Christmas tree
Trim the Christmas tree together
Decorate the house for Christmas
Bake Christmas cookies
Make homemade Christmas tree ornaments (you are definitely going to want to try my homemade cinnamon ornaments recipe—so pretty and they smell delicious!!)
Watch a Christmas movie (see list below for suggestions!)
Read the Bible passage about the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:1-20)
Volunteer at a soup kitchen or shelter
Go on a Christmas scavenger hunt
Donate new toys to a charity
Make a Christmas countdown chain
Go to a local tree lighting ceremony
Make homemade Christmas cards for grandparents
Play Christmas BINGO
Write a letter to Santa
Visit Santa
Take a (yearly) picture with Santa
Make paper snowflakes
Learn about Christmas traditions around the world
Make a Christmas craft
Read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve
Play Christmas music
Have some fun with Christmas MAD LIBS
Wear your Christmas jammies all day (weekend or on pj day at school!)
Create a family Christmas video—just for fun! Have each family member say what they love the most about Christmas…
Get family pictures
Use Elf Yourself and watch members of your family in a silly Christmas dance video
Pick a new ornament for the tree—maybe something special to remind you of a vacation or big event that happened during the year and write the event and date on the back.
Make hot cocoa
Have family game night
Turn off all the lights, except for the Christmas tree and other decorations and enjoy the beautiful glow!
Drive around town and look at all the Christmas lights
Go watch a Christmas play or concert
Go sledding, skiing, or ice skating!
Sing Christmas carols
Ride a Santa train
Take a Journey to Bethlehem
Play a family game of Christmas charades
Decorate your room for Christmas
Read a Christmas book together
Make a gingerbread house
Track Santa’s route and more on the official NORAD Santa Tracker (starting Dec 1)
Check out what Santa’s reindeer are doing on the ReindeerCam
Take a look at what Santa does to get ready for Christmas on this Santa cam
Catch an elf visiting your house with this Santa spy cam
Set up a call with Santa

Here are just a few Christmas crafts that you may want to use for some of your advent calendar ideas:

Homemade Cinnamon & Applesauce Ornaments

5 Minute Homemade Christmas Tree Ornaments #Christmas #ornaments #christmascraft #clearornaments #DIYornaments #DIYchristmas #Chrstmasdecor #Christmasdecoration

Clear Ornament Crafts (you can make these in 5 minutes or less!)

Christmas ornaments and crafts for kids (you will love these on the tree or as decorations around your house!)

Beautiful Christmas ornaments that your kids can make that you will actually want to hang on your Christmas tree! #Christmas #ornaments #Christmastree #christmasornaments #christmascrafts #kidcrafts #diy #christmasdiy #christmasdecorations

Christmas Mason Jar Craft

Read this post to learn how to turn a Disney souvenir button into a Christmas tree ornament. I love this idea, because you can use any vacation souvenir to make this craft and then reminisce each year…

These funny Christmas gift tags are sure to make you smile…

Check out the 2019 Hallmark Channel Christmas Movie Schedule

If you are like our family, we love to watch Christmas movies! Honestly, I can’t get enough, so I love the fact that the Hallmark channel is going to have Christmas movies 24/7 starting October 25, 2019! Want to know when the new movie premieres are? Here’s the Hallmark Christmas movie schedule. And as much as we love all the new Christmas movies from Hallmark, we have to take in as many of the classic Christmas movies as we can!