AN EXPERIENCE ADVENT CALENDAR IS ABOUT MAKING TIME FOR WHAT REALLY MATTERS
The Christmas season can so easily pass by in a blur of shopping, decorating, wrapping, socializing, and time preparing for the Big Day. For me, the Experience Advent is my insurance policy for making sure I make time for the things that really matter.
How many Christmases do we get with our children while they are young? Not nearly enough, if you ask me. And you can almost guarantee that when they are grown, our kids won’t recall most of the gifts they received in Christmases past. But quality time spent together as a family, traditions built over the years, now those are gifts to last a lifetime.
AN EXPERIENCE ADVENT EXTENDS THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS DAY
I don’t know about you, but the anticipation of something I’m looking forward to is almost as great as the event itself. Think of the joy you experience booking a vacation, then day dreaming about the beautiful sights you’ll see, delicious food you’ll eat, and what clothes you’ll pack. This kind of mindset extends the pleasure of the event well beyond its timeframe. And I’m all for maximizing joy!
I think this is why I love the idea of an advent calendar so much. To take the magic of Christmas Day and spread that festive cheer throughout the month is blissful.
This post may contain affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn on qualifying purchases. You can read my full disclosure here.
PRESENCE OVER PRESENTS
Truthfully though, I struggle with the amount of “stuff” that Christmas Day brings. I have such fond memories of my childhood Christmases, opening mountains of gifts, and the joy of the sheer excess of it all. I know a lot of people like to celebrate Christmas like this, and if that’s you – you do you, no judgement. What works for me is a more simplified approach. I’ve found our household can survive on less stuff, and I thrive on having fewer things, toys, and clutter around. Having a more minimal Christmas is easier on the wallet and on my mind.
Matching Holiday Mugs
So how does this relate to advent calendars? Well I wanted to bring the fun of advent calendars to my kids without, well, all the stuff. Enter the Experience Advent. No matter your Christmas present giving style, I think the Experience Advent can be a special addition to your family’s holiday traditions.
Favourite Holiday Books
CALENDAR GIFTS HAVE PURPOSE AND CONNECTION IN MIND
It’s not to say that there are no physical items in the calendar, but what is there has a purpose, centered on an activity either for the kids or for the whole family. Think books, matching mugs, special ornaments, or craft supplies.
However, typically our Experience Advent is heavily focused on community events – musical performances, Santa parades, light displays, or the nativity pageant put on by a local church.
I like to balance more time intensive activities with low-key activities (more on that below), because the whole point of the experience advent is to slow down and savour the season, not add more stress to your plate.
Truthfully a lot of the items in the advent are things we’d do anyway – baking, Christmas movies, going to see Christmas lights. But somehow, these activities become more magical when they are part of the advent. I think it’s due to the intentionality of the time together. By adding something to the advent it is declared extra special, and so that it becomes. Try it, you’ll see.
(Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC)
NO ADVENT ‘CALENDAR,’ NO PROBLEM
I don’t have an advent calendar of the sort that hangs on the wall. I had initially wanted to source or make a beautiful minimalist/Scandinavian inspired advent, but I’ve found it’s not really necessary.
In November I start saving boxes (thank you, Amazon Prime) to use as the base of the advent calendar, then mix in smaller boxes (think pantry item boxes) and some envelopes for smaller items. Wrap the gift boxes & envelopes in playful wrapping paper or brown kraft paper and add number stickers or simply write the numbers. Keep the decor setup simple or go all out, whatever makes you happy – it’s not really about how it looks after all.
In each box the kids will find a note explaining what the day’s advent activity is, plus any physical items that go along with it.
My children are young (6 & 4), so I try to wrap a tangible item related to each day in addition to writing a card with the day’s activity – for example, for baking sugar cookies I would wrap up our cookie cutters and some festive sprinkles. If your children are older, you could definitely take this to another level with riddles or more abstract clues, if that’s your jam.
Favourite Holiday Pyjamas
HOW TO PLAN AN EXPERIENCE ADVENT CALENDAR
Typically, I start with the biggest commitment events, and work around those. For me, this means searching out community Holiday events and picking which days we will attend. From there, I add in bigger time or energy activities which we will do at home – think baking, tree decorating, etc. And then I fill in with independent activities or games for the kids (momma can’t be Christmas Activity Leader for 24 days straight, ok?)
30 IDEAS FOR FILLING YOUR EXPERIENCE ADVENT CALENDAR
Community Events
- Christmas concerts
- Light festivals
- Nativity pageant
- Theater – The Nutcracker, etc.
- Santa Parade
Family Activities
- Christmas Tree shopping/cutting
- Decorate the Christmas Tree
- Popcorn and Christmas movies at home
- Visit and Photos with Santa
- Hot chocolate & neighbourhood Christmas light tour
- Make salt dough ornaments for the Christmas Tree
- Bake & decorate cookies (for my young kids I usually prebake the cookies the night before, and decorate with them. Doing both is a bit long for them)
- Make a care package for a neighbour (I like them to experience how good it feels to give, not just to receive)
- Hit a local hill for some tobogganing
- Decorate a gingerbread house (Give yourself permission to NOT make one from scratch. Does anyone actually eat the house part anyway, or do you just pick off the candy like us?)
- See a Holiday movie at the theater
- Make gifts for Grandparents/Family (a painting, crafts, etc.)
- Evening ice skating – Outdoors under Christmas lights is even more magical
- Purchase or donate a present for other children, or sponsor a family for Christmas
- Make paper snowflakes for the window
- Read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (our December 24th activity)
Independent Activities for the Kids
- Write a letter to Santa (Include a letter template or special paper for that day’s gift)
- Christmas books (shop our favourites at the bottom of this post)
- Make popcorn or bead garland
- Simple Holiday-themed crafts
- Christmas stamps or stickers
- Christmas themed puzzle
- Christmas themed games for the family
Miscellaneous
- Fuzzy Christmas socks
- Matching mugs – for the kids or the whole family
- Matching Christmas pyjamas (this is always our December 1st item – so the kids get to enjoy them all month long)
- Ornament (to create a collection for each child over the years)
ONE IMPORTANT TIP
When you are wrapping the advent calendar, be sure to jot down a master list of what activity is on each day of the advent calendar! You do not want to be guessing what is to come each day, or opening and rewrapping the advent to check what is in store tomorrow (ask me how I know).
Unique Christmas Ornaments
IT NEEDS TO BE JOYFUL FOR YOU TOO, MOMMA
This calendar is about extending the joy, not stretching momma to the limit. So be honest with yourself about how many big activities you can commit to and enjoy, and stick to that.
The true purpose of the Experience Advent is time spent being present, rather than more presents. Keep this in mind and plan it so that you truly enjoy the experience too.
Every year without fail however, there is a day where the planned activity feels inconvenient. Ugh December is such a busy month, I don’t have time to bake with the kids today. But you know what? In the end I have never once regretted putting my busy-ness aside for that special holiday one-on-one time with my kids.
Will you be giving the experience advent a try this year? Is there anything else you’d add to the list? Let me know below!
Merry Christmas!
xo,
Follow me on Instagram for more DIY & home decor.
Shop The Post
