little advent envelopes

On November 30th, after the kids are asleep, I put up a ribbon and hang 25 little envelopes on it. Inside are little things to get the kids thinking about family, neighbors, friends and those in need. The next morning, the kids take turns opening and reading the cards inside and we follow the instructions. These are some of the things the cards say:


- Make and hang edible gifts for the birds

- Make potato stamp cards for family and friends

- Collect some toys and clothes of your own and give to someone in need

- Bake cranberry oatmeal cookies and share with neighbors

- Sing Christmas songs together as a family and drink some eggnog!

In today’s culture there is so much emphasis and focus on one’s self and I think it has gone a bit overboard. To counteract this tidal wave of materialism and consumerism I try to get the kids to focus on giving, getting them excited about ways serve others and enjoy simple family activities together!

This simple advent calendar activity is a way to implement all of those ideas in easy ways that work for our family. I customize each day’s activity according to who will be around and available that day. If it is an especially busy day, I slip in an easy peasy activity that doesn’t take up a lot of time and energy.

Here are a couple other things we did here, here and here!

This is where I got the inspiration to do this! There is an envelope template included!

Enjoy!