Join the festive countdown with these 24 easy advent activities for children complete with a free printable Christmas Tree Advent calendar.
Welcome to NurtureStore’s fun Advent activities for children. You can use my free printable Christmas Tree Advent Calendar to countdown to Christmas and join in with twenty-four fun and easy Advent activities.
This page is interactive!
Click on each bauble in our countdown to see a simple Advent activity for each day.
Our Advent activities include arts and crafts, good deeds, festive play ideas, and easy recipes.
All the activities are easy to do, suitable for children aged 4-ish to 10-ish, and all tried, tested and approved by real kids – mine!
Free printables included!
To accompany this interactive Advent countdown, you can print an Advent Kit for your children, which includes:
:: a Christmas Tree Advent Calendar, with baubles numbered 1 – 24. Colour in each bauble as you complete that day’s activity.
:: a set of Advent Activity Cards, with a simple Advent activity for each day of the countdown. Place your Advent Activity Cards in a basket and have your children pick one out each day, giving you one simple activity for each day through to Christmas. Use the links on this interactive page to show you full details of what to do each day – with lots of bonus free printables included.
:: a blank set of Advent Activity Cards – so practical! With these blank cards, you can personalise the Advent Countdown to exactly suit your family. You can use as many of my suggested activities as you like but there’s also space to add in your own activities, so you can include things like ‘visit Granny’ and ‘go to the carol concert’ to match your own family’s Christmas traditions.
Follow the instructions at the end of this article to get access to the Advent Kit in the Christmas Printables section of NurtureStore’s Free Printables Library.
December 1 :: make a Advent wreath
Let’s being our countdown to Christmas today with an Avent Wreath.
Use my free printable to make a colour-in Advent wreath.
Or mix up a batch of homemade salt dough and make your own Advent candle holders.
December 2 :: make Mary and Joseph
On Day Two of our Advent countdown, let’s begin to build a nativity scene.
Use the printable Mary and Joseph puppets from my Nativity Unit, colouring them in and setting in the place to build your own nativity scene.
Or use paper rolls to make your own nativity puppets.
December 3 :: make Christmas cards
On Day Three of our Advent calendar, let’s make Christmas cards to give to friends, family and neighbours.
Try these easy Christmas card designs.
December 4 :: make a paper and twig Christmas tree
On Day Four of our Advent activities, use paper and a twig to make an Christmas tree ornament to hang on the tree or in the window.
December 5 :: candy cane sensory play
On Day Five, let’s have fun with candy cane-themed sensory play.
Try candy cane goop
December 6 :: make the shepherds
On Day Six, let’s make the shepherds to add to our nativity scene.
You can use the colour-in puppets from my Nativity unit
or make your own shepherd craft using paper rolls.
December 7 :: Christmas play dough
On Day Seven it’s time for play dough!
Make this Christmas play dough recipe
and use it with this Christmas Tree Play Dough Mat
or make play dough angels
December 8 :: make a paper gingerbread house
Let’s decorate a paper gingerbread house on Day Eight of our Advent activities program.
December 9 :: make a 3D paper bauble
On Day 9, let’s turn 2D circles into a 3D paper paper bauble.
December 10 :: make a wreath for the door
On Day Ten of our Advent celebration, let’s make a wreath for the door.
Try this printed Christmas wreath
Or make a handprint wreath – you could use Christmas-scented paint
December 11 :: create a stained-glass Christmas tree
On Day Eleven, let’s create a stained-glass effect Christmas tree.
December 12 :: bake Christmas spice cookies
Day Twelve is delicious! We’re using an easy recipe to make Christmas cookies.
December 13 :: make the Three Wise Men
On Day Thirteen, let’s add the Three Wise Men to our nativity scene.
You can use the colour-in Wise Men printables from my Nativity Unit.
Or make your own Wise Men craft using paper rolls.
December 14 :: take a star-gazing walk
Take a star-gazing walk on Day Fourteen. You can use the constellation guide from my Space Unit to learn about the stars in the sky and think about the star from the nativity story.
December 15 :: draw winter stars
Let’s draw our own winter stars on Day Fifteen.
December 16 :: make a paper bauble
On Day Sixteen, let’s add another ornament to our tree by making paper baubles.
December 17 :: make candy cane fudge
Yummy! Let’s make candy cane fudge on Day Seventeen.
December 18 :: set up a winter cafe for the birds
On Day Eighteen, let’s set up a cafe in the garden to help feed our neighbourhood birds over the winter.
December 19 :: make an angel
On Day 19, let’s make an angel for our tree or nativity scene.
You can use the colour-in angel from my Nativity Unit.
Or make an angel from a paper roll.
December 20 :: make peppermint creams
On Day Twenty, let’s make snowy peppermint creams.
December 21 :: make a lantern
On Day 21 – the shortest day of the year – let’s make a lantern to brighten the dark night.
You could make a paper house lantern
Or a night-sky lantern.
December 22 :: take a winter walk
Take a winter walk on Day Twenty Two. You could take a winter nature walk to spot the signs of the seasons or walk around your neighbourhood to see all the Christmas lights.
December 23 :: write a letter to Father Christmas
On Day Twenty Three, write your letter to Father Christmas. You can use my Letter to Santa printable.
December 24 :: make baby Jesus
And on the final day of our Advent countdown, let’s add baby Jesus to our nativity scene.
You can use the colour-in Jesus printable from my Nativity Unit.
How to get our free printables
To download my free printables, you'll need to visit the NurtureStore Printables Library, which is available to all subscribers to my email list, and of course to Play Academy members.
Pop your email address in the form below and you’ll get access to all my free printables, lesson plans, activity ideas, weekly newsletter, and a whole lot more!
After subscribing, be sure to check for the confirmation email. After you confirm your email subscription, we'll send you a welcome email which includes instructions for downloading our free printables.
If you're already subscribed to our email newsletter: check your email for the latest edition of the newsletter where you’ll find a link to access our free printables library - the link is usually at the bottom of the email.
For help accessing our printables, click here.
By subscribing, you consent to our use of your personal data as per our Privacy Policy, which includes agreeing to receiving interest-based email from us.
Leave a Reply