Skip to content
DigitalRDDigital downloads & more

24 Advent Calendar Ideas for Kids (Easy Christmas Activities)

An activity advent calendar swaps the daily chocolate for a small shared moment: baking cookies, a pajama dance party, a walk to see the lights. Kids remember these long after the chocolate is gone. Most of them cost nothing.

Here are 24 ideas, one for each day from December 1 to 24. They're aimed at kids aged about 3 to 9, and nearly all use things you already have at home.

Week 1: cozy starts

  1. Make a paper snowflake
  2. Have a hot cocoa party
  3. Write your letter to the North Pole
  4. Build a blanket fort and read a winter story
  5. Bake and decorate cookies
  6. Make a paper chain

Week 2: making and giving

  1. Draw a picture for someone you love
  2. Have a pajama dance party
  3. Go on a walk to see the lights
  4. Make a bird feeder for winter birds
  5. Watch a holiday movie with popcorn
  6. Make salt dough ornaments

Week 3: kindness and crafts

  1. Do a kind deed for a neighbor
  2. Color a Christmas coloring page
  3. Play holiday charades
  4. Make a sock snowman
  5. Choose a toy to give to a child in need
  6. Stamp your own wrapping paper

Week 4: the final countdown

  1. Have a winter picnic on the floor
  2. Make a gift tag for a family present
  3. Play I-spy with the Christmas lights
  4. Make a thank-you card
  5. Make a pinecone craft
  6. Hang your stocking and say goodnight to the tree

How to set up an activity advent calendar

  • Write each activity on a small card and put one in each of 24 bags, envelopes, socks or matchboxes. Number them 1 to 24.
  • Hang them up on a string, a ribbon or a branch, or line them up on a shelf.
  • Check the week ahead every Sunday. Busy weekday? Swap in a quick activity and move baking or crafts to the weekend. Kids won't mind the order.
  • Add a tracker. A color-in countdown tree or a paper chain (tear off one loop a day) helps little ones see how many sleeps are left.
  • Keep it small. Ten minutes of your full attention matters more than a big outing.

Tips by age

  • Ages 3 to 5: pick sensory, hands-on activities like cookie decorating, dancing, paper chains and coloring. You do the cutting.
  • Ages 6 to 9: add kindness tasks, games like charades and I-spy, and let them read the card aloud each morning.

Ready-made printable version

The Wiggle Wonders Christmas Countdown Kit has all 24 activities as illustrated, cut-out cards, with 24 number labels and a color-in countdown tree and paper chain. It also includes a stocking wish list, a letter to the North Pole with a reply from Santa for Christmas Eve, 12 gift tags, a Nice List certificate and 6 coloring pages, plus a 29-page Winter Break activity pack. It's $10 as an instant download and takes about 20 minutes to set up.

Want to try it first? Get our free printable letter to Santa and gift tags.

Planning the grown-up side of Christmas too? Christmas Done Right has a gift budget planner, a meal planner and gift tags.

Get it ready to print