Our kids are getting a little older and it's time to start more Christmas traditions with them! I have always loved the idea of an Advent calendar, but not the idea of just getting candy or chocolate every day. I wanted to celebrate the spirit of giving with our kids, so we decided to come up with 25 service and family fun activities for our Advent calendar! I've partnered with Step2 to share our list, and I've got a giveaway for you too.
25 Service and Family Fun Activities for Your Advent Calendar
One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is all of the giving opportunities. We love to participate in service projects with our MOPS group and community. Since we're doing these things anyway, I thought it would be fun to combine them with our daily Advent calendar so our kids can really get in the spirit of giving! Along with service projects, I thought it would be great to fill the rest of the days with small crafts and winter activities. Check out what we came up with! This is a free printable, so click on the photo below to grab the PDF. Then you can cut them out and put them in your own Advent Calendar!
We cut these out and filled our brand new Step2 My First Advent Calendar. Our kids can't wait for December 1st when we can start our service projects and activities! This brand new interactive Advent Calendar from Step2 is just adorable and is perfect for young kids. With generously sized bins for each of the 25 days, kids can pull them out each day to find the surprise inside!
Step2 My First Advent Calendar
Step2's Advent calendar is very sturdy and fits in perfectly with our holiday decor. The kids are going to be so excited each day to open the little bins! Our five year old is working on recognizing double digit numbers and this is a great tool for her to do that! Our two year old son can also practice colors and learning small numbers too.
If you don't want to commit to 25 days of activities and service projects, you could do a combination of those and candy, or other small items! The bins are generously sized without being huge, so they're great for little treats or pieces of paper. We really enjoyed coming up with ideas to fill our bins with. The great thing is you can personalize your Advent calendar with things your family loves! There's no one size fits all.
The Most Kid-Friendly Advent Calendar
With a variety of stackable red and green bins, Step2's Advent calendar is easy to store year to year. The special Christmas bin is behind the closed door! It's a gorgeous gold color and so fun to open on Christmas day! I think we'll do something fun for this box along with a little treat.
This is the cutest Advent Calendar on the market and would make a great early gift this holiday season! You can purchase it from Amazon. Our friends at Step2 are generously offering our readers their own My First Advent Calendar! Enter using the Giveaway Tools form below.
Open to the US only, ages 18 and up. Ends 11/26/18 at 11:59 PM EST.
Enter using the Giveaway Tools form below. Good luck!
Disclosure: I received this Advent Calendar from Step2 at no cost to share 25 service and family fun activities for an Advent Calendar. As always, all opinions are my own. One winner will be randomly selected using the Giveaway Tools random selector. Winner will be notified via email. Once notified, the winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or Google. Viva Veltoro and Thrifty Nifty Mommy are not responsible for prize fulfillment. Void where prohibited.
Miranda says
THIs is such an awesome idea! I love this Advent House!
Kathleen Z. says
This is wonderful, easy for children to manipulate, sturdy construction and from the activities I looked at, a joyful way for children to prepare for the upcoming season.
Manda B says
This is adorable! My kids would love this!
mami2jcn says
My daughter has been wanting an advent calendar like this!
Jamie says
This looks like a lot of fun! Especially for our age kiddos! Love that it's durable too!!
Melinda says
What a fun advent calendar house I love how versatile the bins are.
Nancy says
These are great ideas for family fun and helpfulness.
Mia Rose says
What a lovely idea to include service projects as part of the calendar.
Leela says
My little ones would think this is amazing!
Tiffany J. says
Adorable, my child will love this.
Eva Mack says
Make each day personal...lots of options besides candy!
Casey Morrisette says
I love this!
Kerianne dibbell says
My kids would love this! It’s so special!
Rachel C says
Awesome idea for the younger kids. Thanks for the great activity ideas! My activities would probably be a lot of baking and crafts 🙂
Nancy Thompson says
This is so cute!
Julie Lundstrom says
I would love this for my grand daughter for Christmas. Looks so much fun.
Linda Manns Linneman says
This is such a great idea for teaching our children how to share and help others. I would love one of these for our family. This is such an important lesson for our little ones to learn
Lauralee Hensley says
The older three could do a lot of these activities, maybe not all of them. Though all of them could wear Christmas PJ's. These are all great ideas for families and at least some could be accomplished I would think.
Marie Kozloski says
I usually buy one at the dollar store. Had a beautiful handmade one but it ihas been MIA for a few years.
Cass says
This is a really great idea for an advent calendar! I love it. Thanks for the ideas and encouragement.
Nancy says
Love this advent calendar. My daughter would love it.
Amanda says
Love the suggestions for advent calendar fillers! Thanks!
granny2ava says
What a wonderful idea to have such kind activities for an advent calendar. And the perfect time of year to do such thoughtful deeds! I will definitely be copying this idea!
Lauryn R says
What a super cute idea, I love that you can reuse it year after year! I also love the generously sized bins, I have 3 littles so I would put something in there for each of them. This is really hard to do with the usual advent calendar. I also LOVE the idea of doing community service projects or activities! Thank you so much for the printable!
Amy Hall says
My little kids would love this
kathy pease says
What a great way to teach kids the true meaning of Christmas
Jane Jakins says
love the total concept of this