Advent Calendar for this Year

Elfie (the name of our Elf on the Shelf) came to visit us for the Christmas season yesterday, and the girls are already eagerly anticipating the Christmas season! For the past few years, we have done an activity-based Advent calendar (here's a link to our countdown calendar with a list from the past few years), and Elle has loved it. I'm excited about Lauren getting involved this year too! We are trying something a little different this year; instead of just doing fun activities/crafts for ourselves, we are making an effort to focus on others this year, by doing an act of kindness each day until Christmas. I was inspired by this post, and I love the idea of spending the time leading up to Christmas giving to others, rather than focusing on presents and what we will get. Here's our list so far if you want to make one for yourself (I usually organize these in the envelopes before advent begins, but since our life has been so crazy lately, I'm just putting a piece of candy in each envelope, and then I will tell them the day's activity from the list):

Kind Deed Activities

Write a letter to someone you haven’t seen or talked to in a while to brighten their day.

Make and bring someone cookies.

Clean up litter in the park.

Do a chore for someone else in the family.

Look around the house for change and put it in the salvation army bucket.

Write a special thank you note to your teachers.

Make a card and treat or present to leave in the mailbox for the mail carrier.

Go through clothes/shoes and pick some to give away.

Go through toys and pick some to give away.

Gather canned goods to give away.

Make cards/craft kits to send to kids in the hospital.

Make a meal for another family and deliver it.

Write and mail thank you letters to soldiers overseas.

Buy a present for someone on the angel tree.

Put change in a soda machine for the next person to use or tape a card and change to a vending machine for the next person to use.

Buy and candy bar/gum for the grocery store clerk and bring one to the salvation army volunteer too!

Have a smiley face play-date and encourage everyone to distribute their smiley faces and give to others.

Make a new friend or reach out to a friend you haven't talked to in a while.

Offer to babysit for a friend to give her a break and give the kids a chance to play

Play secret Santa to a neighbor.

Makes snowflakes or cards to send to a nursing home.

Write thank you cards to the pediatrician and mail or deliver.

Go to the mall or a store or the post office and hand out candy canes with notes attached and wish strangers a Merry Christmas!

Go Christmas caroling and hand out holiday treats to the houses you visit.

Read the Christmas story in the Bible, and act out the nativity.