I thought this post may be useful to anyone who has the type of advent calendar with 24 days to fill somehow, and wants ideas for activities – or just wants some fun things to do with DCs during December in the run-up to Christmas. I have gathered them over the years from lots of other websites and Mums, just stuck them all in a document and thought they might be useful for others too.
Please note: There are a lot more than 24 ideas here. I have NEVER used all the ideas myself, and certainly not even anything like 24 in any one year (there's probably a few repeats have snuck in as well - oops). Instead, I use this list as a resource to pick a few that will work in a given year – depending on the age of DD (in my case), what is already booked in diaries etc (Christmas or other items) and the general levels of energy I can devote to such things. They are meant to be ideas to inspire – and often, I have looked at something and changed it when I actually did it too. 
The other thing to remember is that regular favourites can often be changed up to become seasonal crafts or games – so if your DCs love “pin the tail on the donkey”, that can change to pinning the nose on Rudolph or antlers on any reindeer. Just think outside the box.
I hope they’re useful to people, and I also look forward to seeing the ideas that others have that I haven’t thought of!
- Write a letter to Santa
- Colour in some Christmas pictures (free printables from the Net or draw some yourself)
- Make some Christmas Cookies
- Make and decorate some salt dough decorations.
- Watching Christmas Dvds
- Making and decorating a gingerbread house
- make cards,
- do potato print wrapping paper,
- go out and look at all the christmas lights then home for hot chocolate,
- have a charity day when we sort out all their toys and take the extras to the charity shop,
- bake biscuits to take to the local fire station to say thanks for working to keep us safe over christmas while we are busy having fun,
- decorate the tree out the front with strings of dried fruit and popcorn for the birds,
- stick cloves in oranges
- decorate xmas biscuits
- put xmas decs up
- choose xmas tree
- make a Christmas present for dad
- put on Christmas Carols/Music and have a dance
- Do a Christmas kindness each - just aim to do something for someone else that is just kind. Like buy the person behind you in the queue their coffee or help someone to carry their shopping or something else similar.
- "See if you can go for a whole day without asking how many days it is till we put the Christmas tree up"
- Make paperchains
- make card for Nanna, Granny
- Make some crackers?
- Go for a walk with a torch
- Go to Carol service
- Wrap presents
- Tidy bedroom
- learn the words to a Christmas song or poem or a joke and recite to Dad when he gets home
- Make mum a cup of tea
- Make a bookmark
- make paper snowflakes (one of the few crafty things I know how to do!)
- Collect pinecones, leaves and twigs to paint and turn into a centrepiece.
- Ice skating
- Track Santa (for Christmas Eve)
- Read a Christmas book (How the Grinch stole Christmas)
- bake stained glass biscuits to decorate the tree with
- put baby jesus in the nativity scene if you have a nativity scene
- make mince pies/cookies for santa
- have a fashion show and pick the outfits that everyone should wear on christmas day
- if it snows...you can put in, "build a snowman
- Make a Christmas crown to wear
- What did the three wise men bring?
What do you think the Wise men would bring today?
Name three things you need to make christmas pudding?
Sing jingle bells backwards?
Name three things that glitter?
Imitate a turkey?
Do 5 star jumps
Think of 3 words that rhyme with "Yule"?
Think up the next line of this poem:
At Christmas time the thing I like the best
Name 3 plants or trees associated with Christmas?
Name 3 animals or birds associated with Christmas?
Name 4 reindeer?
Sing a Christmas Song
Name 5 carols?
4 3-letter words from Christmas?
4 3-letter words from stocking?
Name a carol with someone's name in the title?
Name a song with Santa in the title?
What was given on the 9th day of christmas?
In the 12 days of Christmas - how many birds altogether were given?
Name two animals in the traditional nativity scene?
Make a snowflake out of paper?
Tell the story of the first christmas in less than a minute?
Name 5 christmas foods?
Make something to hang on the christmas tree?
Think of 3 names for father Christmas?
- Make glittery tree decorations using cookie cutters as templates to draw round on card. Cover in glue, add glitter and thread on a red ribbon to hang.
- Visit ducks in the park to wish them a very Happy Christmas and give them some bread
- Make secret den in order to discuss secret Christmassy stuff and wrap presents
- watch a christmas film under the duvet
- do some Christmassy puzzles (will find some online to print off I'm sure)
- Write cards to school friends
- Sing carols or Christmas songs while you do the washing up (or some other chore)
- Have a Christmas-sy bath. Use "Christmas scented" bubble bath/bath oil/essential oils or Lush bath bombs. Think orange, tangerine, cinnamon...
- One day, go for a walk in the local park/beach/interesting place, looking at nature in winter; use the opportunity to collect some pine cones, shells, sticks etc for another day
- Another day (see above), use those bits of nature to make various crafts with a seasonal twist – pine cones with glitter tied to the tree with ribbon, twigs tied together to make a mini-tree for a DCs bedroom, feathers glued onto a cardboard bird as a tree decoration……