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How To Make A Clutter-Free Advent Calendar

Christmas is getting closer, and my social media feeds are filling up with ideas to make it Pinterest perfect. Elf on the shelf, Advent calendars and other Christmas countdowns are popping up everywhere, filled with little (junky) gifts or chocolates for the kids to have every day in the lead-up to the big day. The thing is, I don’t want more clutter in my house, and my kids don’t need any extra reasons to eat junk food (there is already more than enough opportunities throughout December). I do, however, love the Christmas season. I love the anticipation that comes in the lead-up to the big day, so here is an idea for a Christmas advent calendar that cuts out the clutter, but still adds a little excitement to the countdown to Christmas.

Clutter-free advent calendar

Grab a Christmas Advent calendar with either pockets or drawers, but instead of putting gifts or lollies in each pocket, pop a little note into each one. You could even just fold up some notes, and peg them to some string with a number on each note. Sometimes the note might list an activity to do on that day at home, or an event we are going to, and sometimes it might just have a little message or saying. In our home, we have just one Advent calendar for the whole family, and the kids take turns of  pulling out the note each day.

Clutter free Advent Calendar

If you like the idea but are stuck for ideas, here is a whole bunch that I have come up with:

Things you can make:

  • Bake some food.
  • Decorate biscuits (even shop bought biscuits with a little bit of icing are a lot of fun).
  • Make a craft (click here for some ideas – my fave is our Christmas windows).
  • Make a gift.
  • Make a decorative garland for your bedroom/front door.

Things you can do:

  • Deliver gifts to neighbours.
  • Design some Christmas cards.
  • Paint “snow” on the windows (if you don’t mind having to wash your windows in January).
  • Wrap gifts for siblings/teacher/friends.
  • Have a rest/ sleep under the Christmas lights (if you can convince your kids to have a rest – pop some lights in their room).
  • Put up the tree.
  • Decorate the house.
  • Look at Christmas flash mobs on YouTube (my kids LOVE doing this!!).
  • Play with the nativity and act it out. (Here is a link to a super cute printable one!)
  • Go for a drive to look at Christmas lights.
  • Go to see Santa.
  • Go to a Christmas carol service or carols by candle light.
  • Go to a preschool/playgroup Christmas party.
  • Shop for Christmas dinner (hey you have to do it anyway, make it sound like a treat).
  • Go to the end of year school concert/disco etc.
  • Watch a Christmas DVD (try Home Alone, Arthur Christmas, or Elf).
  • Read a Christmas story book.
  • Purchase some food or gifts for a local charity.
  • Read the Christmas story from the bible (Try Luke Chapters 1 and 2).
  • Listen to a Christmas CD.

Clutter free Advent Calendar-3

Other ideas:

Of course, no-one wants to have to do a set activity every day for a whole month, so mix up the activities with some little notes that just contain a little message to encourage and praise your child or an inspirational quote about Christmas. I’ve put together a Pinterest board with lots of little Christmas quotes if you’re needing inspiration! You could also put in a joke – here’s a link to a page where I found a whole lot of family-friendly jokes.

You really don’t need to get fancy with the notes, but if you want to make some a little more special, you could whip some up using Canva – mine took me less than 10 minutes. If you want to just use mine, here is a link to the design.

The whole idea is to enjoy the anticipation of Christmas coming, without the lollies and junk that often seem to accompany it.

Have you seen any other good ideas for Advent Calendars? Have any other suggestions for activities?

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jim McKenna says

    December 1, 2019 at 7:46 pm

    Hi Jo. Great article and so nice to hear from you. Thought you might have won lotto and retired. Happy Xmas. Jim.

    Reply
  2. Mandy says

    November 12, 2016 at 1:03 pm

    We have a lovely calendar a friend sewed us and last year we put a decoration in each pocket that could be removed and added to the tree. If you don’t put your tree up until later in the month just put decorations in the later pockets.

    Reply
  3. youhadusathello says

    November 23, 2015 at 2:20 am

    Hey Farmer’s Wife Jo, it’s the other Farmer’s Wife Jo! hahaha! Hey thank you so much for this! I have a gorgeous handmade Christmas bunting with pockets and I’m over buying crap each year to fill them. A little message is perfect! My boys will love this!! Thanks again xx

    Reply
  4. Sonia Life Love Hiccups says

    November 21, 2015 at 4:03 pm

    i LOVE your advent calendar Jo. We also do the activity thing.. but with a freddo or two lol xx

    Reply
  5. thedailymark says

    November 20, 2015 at 1:15 pm

    Love this idea! The kids would love spending the time getting ready for Christmas! x
    Madeleine, The Daily Mark

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Jo

I'm a city girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: toge The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: together, cooking damper around the remains of the bonfire.
It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got through shearing without a hitch (thankfully 🙏) but we’ve had a run of the flu followed by Covid run through the family since then. The kids and I have tested positive (this is my second time getting it 🦠) though so far C has managed to avoid it. There has been a lot of lying on the couch feeling pretty ordinary. Han had to reschedule her driving test for a 4th time due to Covid, which is disappointing for her because she wants her freedom and for us because it would be so much more convenient if she could drive herself places. Just to add in to the mix, our hot water system has chosen now as a good time to die so we’re on cold showers until we’re all out of iso. This is not meant to be a whinging post but sometimes life just sucks a bit and it’s good to be real. Fortunately, the sight of the fire going with a stack of wood next to it cheers us up. Things will improve soon. Onwards we go…
A picture perfect Autumn afternoon to end the scho A picture perfect Autumn afternoon to end the school holidays. We’ve been busy spending time with friends and family, harvesting the last of the summer produce, as well as a short escape to explore the big smoke. After the craziness of last term it was the break we all needed. It’s back to school for me tomorrow, and the kids are back on Wednesday. Shearing starts soon and so it’s all systems go over the next few weeks.
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Hi, I’m Jo

City girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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