Christmas Activity Advent Calendar

December has always felt magical in our home, especially with our Christmas Activity Family Advent Calendar. Each day, we share sweet treats, simple activities, and cozy moments together—waiting for Père Noël. This tradition isn’t about fancy decorations or expensive gifts; it’s about love, laughter, and a little bit of joie de vivre.

For years now, I have crafted a DIY calendar with care, and it’s become something we all look forward to. As the kids grew, I adapted the activities. Nothing too elaborate—just little ideas I’ve gathered (mostly from Pinterest), sometimes personalized with a French twist.

This advent calendar for the whole family to enjoy and is budget-friendly and I hope an inspiration to make your own with what you have at home.

Jump to:

• ⭐ Why You'll love making this calendar
• 📋 How Do You Make An Activity Advent Calendar

⭐ Why You'll love making this calendar

Making this calendar is more than a fun project; it’s a beautiful way to bring your family together.

• It is family-friendly, from toddlers to teens! Every one gets to have fun.
• You can personalize your calendar according to your budget!
• This holiday tradition is the best to create memories that will last forever!

📋 How Do You Make An Activity Advent Calendar

1. Choose your style

There are a few way you can do it:

• a simple wood frame with strings going through it (see first picture of the post)
• Just one long twine with wooden clips to hang your little bag, it gives a French rustic style.
• A long piece of wood with strings hanging.
• In a cute wicker basket for a Provencal market look and make sure each bag is numbered.
• Little paper houses from the dollar store (they look like this).

Other idea: Find somewhere where you will want to pin your mini bags or maybe a shelf to display them. You can also hide them in the tree!

2. ✂️ Materials You’ll Need:

Gather some basics: scissors, glue, and printed patterns. If you prefer, wrap white paper and add your own festive touches.

For this DIY advent calendar, I printed 3 different patterns. I typed 'free Christmas printable' on Pinterest and I chose these 3. You will need to print 12 papers.

• Black and red plaid
• FaLaLaLa
• Black and white trees.

Once printed, I cut the paper in half (hold it in portrait and cut it horizontally). Then, I follow this tutorial to fold it into small pockets.

Alternatively, use wrapping paper, some white paper and colour it.

3. 🍬 Filling the Pockets:

Now for the fun part! Each pocket holds a little treat and an activity. Here’s where you can really personalize it:

Treats ideas (with and without candies)

• Food: Chocolates, candies, small cookies, French baby Calisson, etc.
• Special attention: Coupon for an extra time to watch television, coupon to choose dinner, coupon to choose a movie for the family, etc.
• Mini gifts Christmas themed: ornaments, socks, pen or pencil, book, notebook, etc

4. Activities ideas

Here is a list of ideas for advent calendar activities, most of them are really budget-friendly or free.

👶 For the Little Ones (3-7 years old):

Keep it crafty, simple and magical:

• Decorate the tree together.
• Make paper snowflakes.
• DIY ornament: You can get a kit at the Dollar store. We have made these wooly hat ornaments.
• Color holiday drawings. Don’t forget to sing “Petit Papa Noël” while you work!
• Write letters to Père Noël or make handmade cards.

🧩 For Tweens (8-12 years old):

A bit more playful:

• Try minute-to-win-it games
  • Put a cookie on your forehead and slide it to your mouth by making faces. Don't use your hands.
  • Put a candy cane in your mouth and a bunch of them on a table. Do 2 teams, and you need to fish as many candy canes as possible: see the picture here to understand better.
  • Take 2 bowls, dry beans or chickpeas, and tweezers. Make 2 teams. You have a minute to transfer as many beans as possible to the other bowl using the tweezers
• Craft night: Dollar-store kits work wonders!
• Christmas bingo night: I printed this game on Pinterest one year and saved it in an envelope.

🎮 For Teens (13+):

Bring on the fun:

• Host a Christmas Bingo or board game night.
• Build a gingerbread house or have a holiday bake-off.
• French Film Night: Watch a classic like Le Père Noël est une ordure, a classic —subtitles, of course!

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family Favorites:

These are the moments everyone loves most:

• Christmas photo booth: Fun, silly, or sweet family shots by the tree.
• Hot cocoa bar: Load up with mini marshmallows, cookies, and candy canes and enjoy a Christmas movie.
• Kids in charge dinner night: Perfect for Fridays—they decide, we all enjoy!
• Everything red dinner: red pepper, tomatoes, spaghetti with bolognaise sauce, you name it! Change the colour every year!
• Appetizers for dinner: always a crowd pleaser!

🌟 Outdoor Adventures & Special Moments:

Make the most of winter magic:

• Go on a scavenger hunt drive, or drive through your favorite neighborhoods to see the lights. I use this one I found on Pinterest as a guideline as I often do my own in French.
• If there’s snow, build a snowman, snow angels or go tobogganing.
• Plan a kindness day—brighten someone else’s December. I include this one twice!
• Christmas pyjama or ugly sweater day.
• Make your own/write Christmas cards (to teachers, school staff, neighbours, family members)

🍪 Keep the Christmas Spirit in the Kitchen:

I could have started with that one! You can almost make a food-themed activity advent calendar if you want... Maybe an idea for next year? Food is at the heart of our holidays. Why not bake together?

• Try my Bûche de Noël recipe—it’s easier than you think!
• Make simple French mendiants with the kids; they also make great gifts.
• Bake to gift: Chocolate truffles for example.
• Or bake my sweet Christmas bread with an orange blossom flavour that fills the house with warmth.
• Baking cookies for snack or dessert

📸 Share the Joy!

Finally, it is ready! Enjoy your advent activity calendar while waiting for Santa.

I’d love to see your advent creations! Tag me on Instagram @petitporcini or leave a comment below with your own ideas. Let’s make this season magnifique together!

Do yo have more ideas? Add them below in the comments, I can add them to my list!