We celebrate the birthday of our wild one at the end of November, so I am ALWAYS a little bit late with the Advent's activities!!! We never start before December 5 or so :) Though this year thanks to my Photo Gift Workshop (this one!) I even managed to order my photo advent calendar on time! However I only put it up on December 3! We always have great and fun time during December. It seems that this year there will be no crazy parties with friends aka freeze-to-death night barbecues – so I tried to come up with some more quite and family friendly activities and I am happy to share them with you. I hope you can get inspired! Or - in case you are really busy - feel free to use my ideas! 
First of all - a Photo Advent Calendar is a lovely thing!
It is great to feature December photos from different years. This year I went back up to 2013! If you have many kids, make sure you are featuring the same amount of portraits of each of them – otherwise they might get mad at you! You can absolutely make one with photo prints and lovely cards, but this year I ordered mine here: https://www.innocence-paris.com/en/calendars/advent-calendar Photo print quality is not so great, but illustrations are lovely. Plus - they ship fast! This type of photo calendars are great for birthday countdowns as well! You could order small 9x13 cm and pair them with some lovely cards. I really like these sets of cards if you need a quick advice: Animals, Flowers, Vintage, Art Deco. 
Our advent calendar works like this – every day we turn one card and get a new sweet task! Plus my kids do get a small lego surprise and our big ones get a chocolate treat… ...we probably overdo this advent thing after all! :D 
On some days during the week we all are crazy busy! So see what is realistic for you and your kids and choose the suitable activities for different days! And please do not forget – I have THREE BOYS :D And this fact influences my choice of the activities from time to time! Here is our Christmas and New Year COUNTDOWN!
(1) Start a Lego Christmas Town to accommodate all the things from lego calender. | This year my kids built a bank… do not ask! :)))
(2) Make a Christmas central piece for the table with candles etc. | This year we are on a minimalistic side (two cups + mini candles). Last year I used a saw to make one! 
(3) Write letters to Santa.
(4) Make your own Christmas board game. | Ours includes alien attack, natural disasters, too much homework and other catastrophic events. 
(5) Get a Christmas tree, make some handmade decorations. | Decorating a tree usually takes several days. The little one is working against us!
(6) Make cards for grandparents and other relatives. 
(7) Send the cards! Decorate the whole house with fairy-lights. | I am still looking for the box with them! (8) Christmas DJs contest: everyone gets to choose some Christmas music. Just dancing and goofing around!
(9) Take Away Dinner! Kids get to decide!
(10) Christmas doodles: all family members draw a picture together by taking turns or simultaneously. Put on the wall! (11) Cut the snowflakes! Make it hard! 
(12) Make small gifts for friends! For local friends: go and put them to post boxes (as we cannot meet!). For far away friends – get them ready to ship! | This year we are trying those snowmen on sticks!
(13) Festive Sunday Pancake Brunch in matching Pjs. 
(14) Ship parcels for friends! | Make inspirational notes! | I am thinking about something like: “Find out who you are and do it on perpose!”. Put it on in your town, in the darkness of course!
(15) Winter picnic – tea and pastry on the balcony or in the garden, wrapped up in blankets! With candles, lights and good mood! | We make a campfire in the garden and toast marshmellows! (16) Write a gratitude letter to someone, who was really nice to you in 2020. (I am doing this with my 10 y.o. and I am probably writing one myself to my husband… he has definitely seen a lot from me this year and still was super nice!) (17) Small lights evening. Candles and flashlights only! Go for an evening walk (if you can convince someone!). Make shadow theater before going to bed. (18) Watch a Christmas film. | Probably "The Polar Express"! 
From now on my kids will be on holidays!
(19) Go to collect some nature materials into the woods (all for the sake of Christmas decorations!) Be ready to meet wild animals (or zombies!). Do not forget snacks and hot chocolate! … and maybe a gun :D (20) Take a funny family photo all together (with a remote control!) (21) Secretly make a card for parents! Make sure they will not notice anything! (22) Make a ginger bread house. | I buy ready parts! (23) Christmas concert! Dress up, sing songs with strange voices, have fun! (24) Pack the gifts. (25) Board game party all evening long. | At least 1 hour! (26) Make a hit parade of the best events from 2020! (27) Make a new year decoration. | We will make a wreath or a star or maybe something else :) (28) Make a few small puppets (cardboard and sticks!) and have a puppet theatre show. It is fun to only use two puppets at a time. And you can take turns, so the story unfolds in an unexpected and usually quite silly way! (29) Make a plan for 2021. Write down everything you and kids really would like to do! Check your plans from 2020 if you made those. Ha-ha! (30) Family Albums and Stories day! Look at the photos all together! Great if you have photos from your childhood and grandparents childhood. Usually there are some photos from those Christmas and New Year parties. You can remember some nice stories for sure! Kids love to listen to them! (31) New Year Interview! I ask questions (more or less the same: “what is your favourite book, who are your best friends” etc.) every year and put them in our family albums. I am doing this with my 10 and 7 years old. A two-years-old munchkin is not taking part again!
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