Can you believe it?!? It seems like this holiday season is coming upon us with lightening speed. Much faster than previous years, no?
This year, unlike many previous ones, I will be ready with the advent calendar! Are you? I purchased our advent calendar a few years ago in Luxembourg. It is one of those wooden trees with 25 little drawers in it - similar to the picture above. I thought this was a great idea until I realized I had to fill the little drawers with something. (Between you and me, I've come to the realization that I prefer the old fashioned paper advent calendars. I love the simplicity. As a child I always found the little picture behind each door quite satisfying. I never missed the chocolate or little gift.)
In the past I've put little things in the drawers - barrettes, hair bands, stickers or tatoos. This year I'm swearing off little toys and bits. My house is crawling in little things. This year I've decided to put one little candy in each drawer and a joke. I'm stealing the joke idea from my friend Christina. My girls love jokes and they enjoyed the Easter eggs with jokes last spring.
Here are a few links to sites with Holiday jokes for kids in case you are getting your advent calendar ready tonight as I am.
Hello Kids
A Bit of This and A Bit of That - a sheet to print out! Yes!
Activity Village - this is a pdf. Just print, cut and put the jokes in the calendar!
SantaClaus.com
Christmas jokes for kids
Kid Activities - a long, long list!
8 comments:
Katy,
I'm up late preparing this. This year I purchased a Lego advent calendar as a special surprise & as a way to introduce Legos to my daughter.
We have a set of 24 advent mittens that I bought several years ago at a holiday market; I thought I'd skip them this year bc I've grown to hate the pressure and expense of this project...lo and behold...she is INSISTING that the "angel" must fill her mittens each night.
I am rolling up 24 one dollar bills and tying them with ribbons. Awful? Maybe. I don't think I'll be able to move away from this tradition! Aghh....
Maybe I'll add a joke each day. Thanks for the idea.
Dana
We had the paper ones too. Then my mother made one in which a new ornament appeared each day. The ornaments were recycled year to year. So that she didn't have to do something new each year. Loved it. Thanks for the happy memory.
We have little stockings, this year I got a pack of Where's Wally playing cards so he is getting a couple of cards each day plus a joke (printable sheet ready to cut out on my blog), a Christmas themed maths question (ha!) and a candy.
Today we get to put up the decorations - yippee
I like the idea of of jokes. I too am sick of all the little stuff. I feel like I spend 90% of my day moving stuff from one location to another. Happy Holidays! We do a chocolate calender that Oma sends from Germany.
I love the joke idea..hope they memorize some to
ask me. As to bits and pieces...they are still with me
and I am over 60.
Ha. The joke idea was actually my mum's idea but am happy to claim it as my own! However, after using the same recycled jokes for the past 2 years, I've abandoned them this year and am back to a mixture of little Lindt choc characters and gifts! Believe me, my 2 at 14 and 12 years old still get just as excited each morning to discover their 'treat' as they did when they were Eva and Audrey's ages! The novelty and resulting pressure is wearing a bit thin for their mother! Have fun!
I love that you mentioned paper advents! Good ones are hard to find. I have a lovely one - a winter house scene but it isnt as good as the one i had growing up which just have delightful pictures behind the flaps!
ah jokes is such a good idea! I like the activity idea - find simple things to do - I found some good suggestions over at Maya Made.
when you got four kids those little drawers are too small for four treats (and I doubt they would be well behaved enough to watch only one person a day get a treat :/ but that is a beautiful advent calendar!
I guess I'm the Lone Ranger here. I get as much joy out of our advent calendar as the kids do. In fact, I took our little door advent to the consignment shop last year and bought 3 adorable elves (Garnethill.com). Each of my kids can take theirs with them when they move out. I buy nice little treasures, or things that will only last through the season. And I put in a few pieces of candy throughout the month, too. I collect all year for little trinkets and can't wait to get started! If something is too big, we leave a treasure hunt type note and the kids go nuts! If it were up to me I would ONLY do the Advent Calendar and stockings each and every year.
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