Activity Advent Calendar

Last year, my husband and I decided we would do an activity advent calendar instead of one filled with chocolates, or pictures, etc. Our reasoning was, the holidays are a time for family and we want to make sure that any new holiday traditions we do will bring us together as a family. So last year I made a list, and this year we're implementing it! I'm so excited! Here's our list of activities:

1. visit White House Christmas tree & Arlington Cemetary
2. drive around to see Christmas lights
3. decorate the tree
4. make Christmas cookies
5. open one present
6. sing Christmas carols
7. watch a Christmas movie
8. make Christmas potpourri
9. decorate the house
10. read the night before Christmas
11. write a letter to Santa Claus
12. buy a new Christmas album and listen to it
13. color a Christmas picture
14. make hot chocolate and stir with candy canes
15. wrap Christmas gifts
16. go out for a Christmas treat
17. Go visit Santa Clause
18. open your special ornament and put it on the tree
19. buy a Christmas tree
20. donate old toys to other children
21. build a gingerbread house
22. go Christmas shopping
23. find the pickle
24. go to ICE!
25. See what Santa brought! Merry Christmas!!

Don't forget to pin this post so you can refer back for ideas to do with your family every holiday season!
I have it so big special items, like "go to ICE!" are on days when my husband is not working. Bean and I are also going Christmas Shopping with Gramma this month, so I put the "go Christmas shopping" on that day. Once days like that are figured out, I just filled in the blank days with the generic activities, like "color a Christmas picture". Now that it's all together I cannot wait for December 1st to get here so we can start!

The Advent Calendar we're using for this we found at the $1 Bin at Target last year. Then I cut appropriate sized pieces of scrapbooking paper, and wrote the activities on the back/white side of the paper.