We are all super familiar with Advent chains, calendars, and the like that call count down to Christmas starting December 1st. But I have some new ideas and instead of taking links off chains or eating chocolate out of paper calendars. Those paper chain count down toward Christmas were so exciting when we were in preschool or kindergarten. But lets be honest, counting from 1 to 25 is just not as thrilling as it once was;). These ideas use a jar (or bowl or basket) instead. Some start full and some start empty!

Activity a Day Jar: You put 25 pieces of paper folded in the jar and each one has a holiday activity on it. If you have activities on your calendar you write the number of the day on the outside of it. So if you are going to the Nutcracker or having an open house, put the date on that piece of paper. Anything not numbered is a random grab for days that don’t have plans! You can use activities like making a gingerbread house, cutting snowflakes, watching a holiday movie and the like.

Thankful Jar: On Thanksgiving as a family you fill 25 slips of paper with something you are thankful for. Then everyday leading up to Christmas take out one slip and discuss why you are thankful! Then you will be full of gratitude long before presents get opened!

Random Acts of Kindness Jar: Every day we should do a random act of kindness as just a general rule. This helps you put it into practice. When you do a random act of kindness over the month just write it down and put it in the jar. You can even tell your family that there will be no Christmas until there is at least 25 acts if you want to be hardcore;). Write the act and the date on the paper.

So there are just a few ideas to spice of the count down to Christmas! What are the traditions that you have in your family? Do you do the candy calendars? We do those too but this year we are going to do more!