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These are all items that I have personally purchased or plan to order this year. PLUS, in the Family Fun section, I've included a great FREE Printable for you!
(The items all have affiliate links, which means if you click and purchase through them, I will receive a small commission. This does not affect your price at all.)
Devotionals
As I showed in my Instagram stories, this is the 2023 Women's Advent study from Daily Grace Co that I will be using. ($5 off coupon below) I love the theme this year studying Jesus as Prophet, Priest, King and Messiah. Since the Christmas story is so familiar and something I've read books about, heard sermons about and more for so many years, I am always excited to learn new things that I haven't heard before.
I am very excited to do this as a family. ($5 off coupon below) Each day is short and has Scripture to read, a devotional, discussion questions and a prayer. We will do it at dinner time as I know this is the most reliable time we can do it each day. I love that it matches the adult version so I can learn more and then teach my kids.
Their 2023 collection includes SO many other resources besides the two that I got. Definitely check it out and don't wait too long to order so you can have in time to start on December 3rd and before things sell out. Daily Grace Co often has great sales.
For an additional $5 off your order, CLICK HERE for a referral coupon code.
We started doing advent candles a couple years ago. The first time, our church handed out little sets with tea lights and a guide for each week with Scripture and discussion points. Last year, I wanted to get a colored set to have for several years.
I wanted something that didn't take up a lot of space and was more simple.
My kids have loved playing with this set. They love that it plays music and lights up. They like to re-tell the story using all the little figures.
Book Countdown Basket
One thing we have done for many years and have so much fun with is our Christmas book countdown basket. I wrap the Christmas books we own and number them 1-24 and put them in a basket. We unwrap one to read each day. I have grown our personal collection over time but at the beginning, I even wrapped some library books - I did them more at the beginning of the countdown so they could be returned before their due date. Here is the link to the blog post I shared recently with Our Favorite Christmas Books.
If wrapping 24 books is too much for your plate in the next week but you love this idea - check out these Advent Book Calendars from PaperPie.
Helpful for Christmas Cards
This isn't exactly advent related but I send Christmas cards during this time and I have loved having this self-inking return address stamp.
My second helpful tip for Christmas cards, is that I keep all of the mailing addresses in a spreadsheet on Google Drive. I can easily edit when someone moves, I can re-order, add, delete as things change over the years. I can also access from my phone anywhere with the app. I use the highlight tool to mark once I've sent and ones I need to deliver in person. It's a great system for me to keep it all organized and I also access this sheet many times throughout the year to get addresses for other reasons.
Kid Christmas Party
For the past 4 years, we have hosted a Kids Christmas party. We will be doing it again this year. It is so much fun. Everyone wears their Christmas PJs. We do a craft, games, a Nativity themed lunch, $1 gift exchange and a treat as well.
This is the craft we did a couple of years ago. The kids just painted the wooden ornaments and then we added the string and bell.
I'm excited for a better option for candy canes! No artificial dyes, no artificial flavors and no high fructose corn syrup! Yes, they are still candy, but I love having a better option for a treat. These are great for adding to hot chocolate and little treat gifts at our kid Christmas party.
We have used a different set of these and my kids love them. There are 12 stickers and 2 suncatchers. The gems are larger than typical diamond painting sets so easier to manage for littler hands. I am getting this set for the craft for the younger kids at our kid Christmas party.
This is the set I am getting for the older kids to craft at the Kid Christmas party. There are many great Christmas themed sets out there but I went with snowflakes so there was less arguing over who gets what and with only 3 colors the patterns are simpler to follow - or not, if kids want to make it their own design.
Family Fun
The Christmas season is just so fun and full of wonderful activities and things to do. We like to do an Activity Countdown. We're going to do all the things at some point in the season anyways, but letting the kids discover each one the morning of just adds an extra bit of magic with the anticipation and surprise. I also love this system because it allows me to space all the things out and plan simple activities for busy days and do any prep needed ahead of time. We discuss ahead of time and I ask the kids things they want to do during the Christmas season. I make sure to include their desires and then also add lots of other ideas - new options and beloved traditions. Then the kids know and trust that we will get to all the things but they don't ask me every day "when are we doing X?" or "can we do X today?" I also feel more organized knowing all the things we want to do WILL happen this way.
I found this beautiful countdown house at Target several years ago. Each day is a little drawer and I type up all the activities, print and cut them into strips, and fold up and put in the drawer. There are so many different fun options like this with little drawers. You could also do envelopes to open. When I was a kid, my mom cut Christmas shapes (trees, gingerbread men, etc) out of construction paper, wrote the activity on one side and the numbers on the other and strung them all on a ribbon and hung on the wall. Each day we ripped the next one off to turn over and read. It was also a great visual of how many days left until Christmas.
I will say, one positive aspect to the little drawers is that I don't fill them all on November 30th. I fill the ones I know for sure that are scheduled items. But then I can decide each night what is best for the next day. For example, some things we need snow for, or some things require me shopping for a specific item so I like having the flexibility to schedule most of them as we go versus like the ribbon system that my mom did requiring everything being fully planned and ready ahead of time to happen on each day.
I will say, one positive aspect to the little drawers is that I don't fill them all on November 30th. I fill the ones I know for sure that are scheduled items. But then I can decide each night what is best for the next day. For example, some things we need snow for, or some things require me shopping for a specific item so I like having the flexibility to schedule most of them as we go versus like the ribbon system that my mom did requiring everything being fully planned and ready ahead of time to happen on each day.
AND...my gift to you...is a FREE PDF printable with over 50 ideas to make your own Activity Countdown fun. I've included several things that we have done over the years. You can print and pick the ones you want to cut and use.
OR, here is an editable version so that you can add any of your own traditions or planned activities to the same design before printing.
Of if you prefer a book that provides a countdown of activities, here are a couple options:
One of the activities we enjoy doing this time of a year especially are puzzles. Here are a few we love:
A fun simpler Christmas puzzle for kids.
We have done this one the last couple of years and the kids love working on it. At only 300 pieces it's a better family option that the kids can participate in more.
I have had this sitting in my cart for a long time and want to get this for a fun new puzzle this season.
Toy Advent Calendars
My mom loves to get the kids a little toy advent calendar each year. They absolutely love them. Here are some we've done in the past plus the ones for this year.
Okay, I think that's everything I have to share for a fun countdown to Christmas season. I hope some of these ideas were helpful.
Merry Christmas
- Hannah