One of the great things about an advent or Christmas countdown calendar is that the activities are hidden, so if something pops up and you need to do a switcheroo, the kids may never know!
Here is my list of advent activities to do with the kids! There's a few more than our 24 countdown, just in case we need a backup plan! (not in any particular order)
- Read from the Children's Bible about the birth of Jesus and put out Nativity set
- Decorate Christmas tree and indoors
- Decorate outdoorsWrite a letter to Santa
- Go to a UTSA basketball game
- Starry Night at Landa Library 12/12
- Christmas Celebration at Sea World
- Make Gingerbread house at home or San Antonio Children's Museum 12/3, 12/4
- Buy a gift for a child on the Angel Tree - Ingram, Rolling, Southpark, Northstar
- Make Hot Chocolate with marshmallows and watch a Christmas movie
- Take Family to FROST at the Westin La Cantera
- Visit the Riverwalk, Rio River Tour and tree in front of the Alamo
- Make and decorate cookies
- See Happy Feet 2
- A second Hot Chocolate and movie night
- School Holiday party
- Small gift - Gold Chocolate coins
- Small gift - Christmas erasers
- Small gift - Rudolph light up nose ($1 Target)
- Small gift - Stickers
- Small gift - Candy cane
- Drive around to see Christmas lights
- "Nutcrakers" at the Magik Theatre
- Dinosaur George at Phil Hardberger Park 12/3
- Wrap gifts for family members
- Family Fun at your local library - Saturday Afternoons - MySApl Calendar
- Cousin/Friend get-together
- Make paper snowflakes to hang in the house
- Game Night
- Take some baked goods/snacks to a firestation
- Craft Night
- Los Pastores at Witte Museum - 12/4
- The Pirate's Holiday (Magik Theatre performance) at Free Tuesdays at Witte 12/13
- Guadalupe Cultural Arts - Fiesta de Navidad - 12/16
Some Tips:
- Check out Pinterest for craft ideas
- DVR some holiday specials or holiday movies instead of buying dvds
- Incorporate school, church and community activities
- Keep it simple, don't lose the meaning of the holidays :)
- Check out simplemom.net and their Plan Your Peaceful Christmas series
Hope you enjoy your family time before the big day!
It's not too late to make your own countdown! Give us a comment if you found any of these San Antonio advent activities helpful!