Activity-Based Christmas Advent Calendar (2025)
Once Upon a Time… our children were super little and too young to understand the magic of Christmas. But now! Now, they are the perfect ages (9, 7 and 4) to be excited about candles everywhere, twinkling lights, Christmas adventures, giving back and little fun crafting and baking activities to fill their December days in the build-up to the big one! When we very first looked at our 90-year old Tudor revival house, I immediately had visions of how we would decorate and create the magic for them as Christmas has always been the one holiday of the year I cherish (more on that later), and our stairwell advent calendar was my first project to truly bring to life. I was so tired of advent calendars merely being sweets/chocolates or stuff shoved into little boxes, that I wanted to create something that focused on bringing the family together and creating real memories much like I had growing up with a father who ran a Christmas Tree farm!
Now into our fourth year(!!), our children get excited for specific moments in the calendar, and we’re a bit more seasoned about how we tactically divide up activities while keeping it manageable for us as parents. I’m so excited to say I’m finally offering my Advent Calendar ticket templates for sale here in my shop! So now, you too, can join in the magic!
Read on to see this year’s calendar line up of activities, the little fun trinkets we’ve sprinkled in along the way, how we create the physical calendar itself and how you can strategically handle making magic for your children as two parents with full-time jobs and a major old house renovation going on in the background. I’m not going to tell you it’s easy… it certainly takes some effort, planning and logistics… but the memories we make are priceless, which is the whole point, and it’s well worth it! My most important tip, above all else, is give yourself grace if things go wrong (the children rarely remember) and stay flexible because sometimes the pesky weather or unforeseen events can make things a little challenging. Winter is coming after all…
Jump to:
Advent Calendar Strategy | Mini Gift + Activity Surprises | The Calendar Itself | Our 2025 Dated Activity List
The ticket that started it all! On our first Polar Express steam train adventure at New Hope Railroad.
Advent Calendar Strategy
But whyyyy do you need a strategy for a simple 24 days of one month? Oh my friend, it is necessary, trust me! While the purpose of doing this is experiences (versus stuff) and creating quality memories for us as a family, the reality is with two working parents who don’t have a lot of spare time - you’re going to lose track, have “oh shit” moments and downright forget some days too. So, we sprinkle in fail-safes like mini gifts to keep them entertained and us sane, as well as things that are insanely easy to do (or catch up on) like going to view Christmas lights or painting things. Do I have a Google Sheet for this every year?? Heck yea we do! (and you should too…)
Here’s some helpful little tips to keep you on the right track as you start planning:
Tip #1: Follow the same structure every week, it helps you remember and build a bit of a cadence so you’re not constantly having to refer to a calendar and can just think Wednesdays… ah yes that’s the gift day because everyone has other pre-planned activities (sports clubs, music lessons, etc.).
Tip #2: Use the 4 categories of activities to cycle through a variety of things to do — baking, crafting, experiences (small), experiences (big), and little gifts (that keep them busy).
Tip #3: Use the gifts (more like trinkets) to your advantage - we try to make the gifts something that either creates an activity in itself (reading a book, doing a craft, creating a decor item) or something that will entertain them without constant supervision (e.g. the Tonie character or Lego). Below is a quick list of little gifts we’ve put in the boxes over the years - if it’s on here, we’ve bought it ourselves and can attest to it’s quality or entertainment value.
Tip #4: Separate at-home activities into two separate things to bulk out the calendar and make it easier… bake one day, decorate the next. You’ll notice we follow this pattern with a few things… buy a tree, decorate the tree; choose gifts, wrap gifts, deliver gifts; bake cookies, decorate cookies, etc.
Tip #5: Use your family if it’s an option! Sleepover with the grandparents, bingo two days of activity! Combine it with another memorable moment that the family can do like watching a movie, ice skating, ice cream or going to see Christmas lights and it’s fun for everyone. This can be as simple and FREE as having a family (or close friends) meal together.
Tip #6: The key is to KISS it. “Keep it simple, stupid”. Kids LOVE the tiniest, stupidest little things and think they’re amazing, so it doesn’t need to be expensive presents or experiences, or even things that are “specific” to Christmas…. think about going out to dinner, making a special breakfast, wrapping gifts, handwriting cards, etc … for your kids is really exciting!
Tip #7: Start planning early! The earlier you can set your calendar in place, the easier (and cheaper) it is. After all, the dates aren’t changing!! We start around September booking the big experience(s), and then coordinating with family, planning for people visiting, parties, school calendars, etc as we head into October/November. We also have a lot of fall birthdays, so we’ve found the sooner we get this set, the less stress it causes. And the benefit is you can repeat a lot year after year too, which then becomes a tradition and makes the memories that much better when your kids actually look forward to particular events.
In addition to all of these, now we’re a few years in, we have some repetition behind us to know what works. For example, we always do the same thing on the 1st of December (new family matching pajamas and an appropriate-level Christmas book each) and the 24th of December (carols, candles and reading The Night Before Christmas together in pajamas). We also always have 1 major experience weekend which is our “big ticket” experience that they know will be in the list, but they don’t know when. This has included a weekend in New York, a trip to New Hope for the railroad express and this year a trip to Longwood Gardens + dinner.
The Gift List + How We Approach Advent Gifts vs Regular Gifts
In the sea of school parties, sugar-loaded treats, and constant flow of useless plastic, I added these gift box days as a way to incorporate something either a little educational, something active + hands on that’s not going to break into two seconds, or something useful for the early winter. Using that delineation is how I separate a regular gift from an advent gift — if its entertaining or functional earlier in December, and generally less than $20, I’ll include it in the advent calendar. If it’s a bigger gift or a little more frivolous, it’ll go in the Christmas stocking (which comes from Santa) or be a regular valuable present (which comes from us parents). The books and pajamas are always something our kids look forward to year after year, since knowing its coming and our seasonal book collection is now huge for all ages! Winter wear items like socks, scarves, hats, etc are great as stocking stuffers or proper presents to cover the ‘something to wear’ category - but we also like to pop them in the advent calendar for when winter strikes a bit earlier. (We’re in Philadelphia so this tends to be starting around mid-November these days.)
My all-time favourite activity gifts we’ve added are these Christmas Kiwi Co Kits, the Kiwi Co Christmas Ornaments and Christmas sewing kits. The ornaments or sewing kits are great because it’s a box of 12, so will last us for 4 years between 3 children - we just give them each one every year to complete. Additionally, check out the links below, or use this ShopMy link for a consolidated collection you can quickly shop knowing they’re all tried and tested!
The Calendar Itself + Surprise Box
For the physical calendar, I knew from the moment we moved into our beautiful historic home that I would do two things: 1) cover the stairs in candles for shear fun and 2) use the stairs as a form of advent calendar for the kids because the pictures would be moments in themselves and it would be so fun to hunt for the number in a physical space versus just on a wall hanging or little doors. This little reel shows a quick version of what I do which entails….
Hanging this faux-cedar garland wrapped in lights in swoops all the way up the stair bannister. I’ve bought this over many years, buying a few 80” segments each year, and now this year will finally have the full bannister done! I’ve used velvet ribbon to attach it to the bannister in a different colour each year, and also tie up our snowy pine cone wreaths on the other side. I’ve also attached little bells all the way along the garland in random places so that when you accidentally brush up against it, it jingles and adds a magical sound of Christmas to the whole experience. The kids LOVE that part!
Buy nice big envelopes in a color matching decor from a local stationary store if possible to support a small business, or order a bulk stack like these - I’ve done plain white, dark red and kraft-paper so far.
Use a Posca pen, metallic Pilot pens, or a calligraphy-tipped drawing marker (I’ve used all of them!) to write fancy numbers on each postcard depending on the color envelope you use
Use paperclips or mini alligator clips to attach the envelopes in random order all the way up the stairs - this part makes it super fun for them to find the number first before opening
Use the ticket templates to create our own custom calendar, and print the tickets for each envelope. Adding a piece of chocolate for each child to the envelope the night before (if you don’t have pets, you could add the chocolate whenever!)
For the surprise box that only appears on certain random days (if there’s a gift, or crafting/baking activity that requires specific non-perishable supplies), we place this at the bottom of the stairs … Wrap a medium-sized box in Kraft or wrapping paper and decorate it if needed - try to get a box with a lift-off lid or create a lid if possible, and wrap a ribbon bow around each part using hot-glue. I’ve also used a lovely Little Greene paint box that arrived a few days before as well, that I colored in and decorated with a velvet ribbon!
Then watch the magic happen each morning! We have a rule that everyone has to be awake and parents around before they get to find the number and eat the chocolate, plus they have to establish who is going to open the envelope, distribute chocolate, read the ticket, and open the surprise box - we’ve found that it avoids any inevitable arguments between the 3 kids this way. We also hang up the tickets somewhere as the days pass as another sort of calendar… in the past we have used the small sections between our parlour (living room) windows.
I know not everyone has a grand staircase or a wide enough staircase to do a full advent calendar like us, so I did pull together this varied list of other wall-hanging or box type options which look nice and I would buy if we didn’t do this (many of which go on sale before Thanksgiving).
As they get older I think the calendar might turn into more of a scavenger hunt each day because I’ll have more free time (I think?! Here’s hoping, ha!) and it’ll be more fun for them as the magic of the “little things” wears off and we want to keep it fresh. But until we have to worry about combatting and enthusing those pre-teen attitudes, they love the stairs for now!
Our 2025 Advent Calendar List
Mon Dec 1 - GIFT: Christmas Pajamas + Books
Tues Dec 2 - ACTIVITY: Decorate Christmas Tree
Wed Dec 3 - EXPERIENCE: Local Longwood Gardens Lights
Thurs Dec 4 - CRAFT: Make paper chains
Fri Dec 5 - GIFT: Kiwico Activity Ornaments
Sat Dec 6 - EXPERIENCE: Weekend at Grandparents
Sun Dec 7 - EXPERIENCE: Go to Christmas Market (either Tyler arboretum or Dilworth Park in Philly)
Mon Dec 8 - ACTIVITY: Purchase gifts and donating to a family in need
Tues Dec 9 - BAKE: Make mince pies
Wed Dec 10 - CRAFT: Make paper snowflakes
Thurs Dec 11 - ACTIVITY: Write letters to Santa
Fri Dec 12 - GIFT: Surprise Box (either Lego ornaments, sewing kit or winter wear)
Sat Dec 13 - ACTIVITY: Watch the Grinch + Green matcha hot chocolate
Sun Dec 14 - BAKE: Make and decorate gingerbread men (Mum to make big Gingerbread house!)
Mon Dec 15 - ACTIVITY: Shopping for Family Presents (1 Parent to 1 Child)
Tues Dec 16 - EXPERIENCE: Drive around to see neighborhood Christmas lights
Wed Dec 17 - BAKE: Make + Decorate Cornflake Wreaths
Thurs Dec 18 - ACTIVITY: Draw cards and make presents for friends
Fri Dec 19 - EXPERIENCE: Christmas Afternoon Tea
Sat Dec 20 - ACTIVITY: Watch Christmas Movie (kids choice) + Mulled Cider
Sun Dec 21 - ACTIVITY: Deliver Gifts & Cards to neighbours
Mon Dec 22 - ACTIVITY: Wrap Family Presents
Tues Dec 23 - BAKE: Yule Log with Mummy and Sausage Roll Wreath with Daddy
Wed Dec 24 - ACTIVITY: Candles + Carols / Reading Night Before Christmas
We hope you’ve enjoyed this dive into our family tradition and hope you will join us on our #intentionaladvent journey to make memories and truly embrace the spirit of Christmas rather than focus on gifts and stuff. If you do purchase the calendar template and use it, or just participate in your own way, we’d love to be tagged on social @brooksandstone to share the love!
Love & Cuddles,
The Brooks Family
