Punch-box advent calendar

I saw this post on Pinterest a month or two ago and instantly knew what this year’s advent calendar was going to look like (last year’s is here). So I took the box from our new vacuum cleaner, flattened and wrapped it

Cut 24 holes and covered them with tissue paper

Placed a candy and an activity card on each square

Covered the squares with lunch sacks

I found it worked best to cut the top part of the bag so that it was even with the bottom when it was folded up

And put the whole thing back together

I’m going to stick a big bow on top and I’m debating putting some trim around the circles, but Brady is thrilled with it

And now that you’ve seen the calendar, here are the activities ( click here for free, downloadable activity cards )

1) Sea of Lights (at our local aquarium)

2) Write a letter to Santa (printable templates here)

3) Buy a toy to donate (we do this every year, this year Brady will be using his own money from chores)

4) Salt dough ornaments (here’s a recipe)

5)Make Russian teacakes (recipe here, we make cookies throughout the month and freeze them and then give out trays close to Xmas)

6) Paper snowflakes (the old fashioned kind or these Star Wars patterns are fun)

7) Movie night (I make kettle corn, basic recipe here, in Christmas colors by shaking the sugar in a bag with a few drops of food coloring before adding it)

8) Chanukah (to try to teach Brady about other cultures we will be making latkes, playing with a dreidel and reading a book about Chanukah on the first night of the holiday)

9) Breakfast with Santa

10) Thumbprint cookies (recipe here)

11) Make melted snowman ornaments

12) Go out for dessert (a local restaurant has a pie and coffee (or milk/hot chocolate/etc) special on Sundays and Wednesdays. I believe it’s $3.95 and it makes a cheap, fun family outing)

13) Sugar cookies

14) Make glitter ornaments

15) Gingerbread houses

16) Take a drive with hot chocolate and Xmas music and look at the lights (here’s a fun scavenger hunt printable)

17) Oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies (this recipe looks similar, but we add chocolate chips)

18) Make lebkuchen 

19) Make peppermint bark

20) Make ritz cookies (2 ritz crackers with peanut butter in-between, dipped in white chocolate w/sprinkles on top-they sound weird but are awesome. Promise.)

21) Make fudge

22) Family game night

23) Go see a movie in the theater (I’m thinking “Rise of the Guardians,” but it might be too scary)

24) Open a present (always new pjs)

And that’s how our December is shaping up. Do you do an advent calendar with your kids? Any fun activities I should add to next year’s?

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