This year we are doing our Christmas Countdown again. So far we are having a great time and it’s fun being able to include both kids in more of the activities. I love this holiday tradition!

Day 1: Buy a Tree

For some reason Sam started crying when I told him this was the day’s activity! He is such a home-body lately, I think he was sad that he had to leave the house. But we ended up having  a great time picking out the tree. Plus they had hot popcorn, so that is always a hit!

Day 2: Decorate the Tree

This was all fun and games until the Christmas lights electrocuted me. Ben says I should really say that they “shocked” me, but I think electrocuted sounds much more exciting. Anyway, it really hurt, and I decided it was probably best to throw that strand away and order a new strand on Amazon. So for a few days we had a half decorated tree, but it is fully trimmed now!

Day 3: Drumming with Dishes

A mom in my neighborhood MOMS club organized a group to go see a very cute little children’s production through Arts on the Horizon called Drumming With Dishes. It was geared for kids ages 2-5 so it was perfect for my two. They LOVED it!

Day 4: Read a Christmas Book

Simple but always a hit!

Day 5: Pick out an Ornament

We have been doing this for the past three years and are amassing a nice little collection. We go to World Market and Sam and Campbell go through all the ornaments and pick out their favorite one. When we get home, I write their name, age, and the year on the bottom. This was Campbell’s first year to get one and she picked a pink rubber ducky ornament. She was so adamant that she get the duck! Sam picked out a robot, which is definitely something he has been interested in lately. I was really excited because Sam’s first ornament (a dinosaur) broke earlier that week but we were able to find the exact same one at the store!

Day 6: Salt Dough Ornaments

This was a fun one! We painted them a few days later once they were fully cooled and hardened.

Day 7: Santa Breakfast

The kids’ preschool holds a Santa Breakfast every year and it’s really fun. We got some breakfast, the kids took their pic with Santa, and then everyone ran around and played. I was so glad neither kid cried when they sat with Santa! I am still waiting on the pic, but will post it here once I get it.

Day 8: Felt Tree

I have been wanting to make one of these for a while, so I decided to add it as an activity for the countdown this year. That way I had to make it. Sam and Campbell love it!

Day 9: Late Night Christmas Movie

We let the kids stay up late to watch the Polar Express. I was looking around for a good Christmas movie, but this was not it. Sam found it way too scary–it was surprisingly action packed! Oh well, they had fun staying up late!

Day 10: Buy Toys for Needy Children

This was intended to be a Target activity but Tuesday was a snowy day so we shopped on Amazon Prime, which worked out perfectly. Our MOMS club is buying Christmas gifts for two families in need, so we used their lists to buy some fun toys. I was really proud of Sam for not complaining that the toys were not for him. He is definitely getting to be a generous boy and I think the fact that we shopped online probably helped too!

Day 11: Write a Letter to Santa

This activity was just for Sam but I will have Campbell do it to when she is older. Sam dictated the letter to me and then I sent it to my friend Ellen to get a cute printable version (less than $5) from her store Letter Learning. I want to keep all the letters in a book somewhere so we can go back and read them when the kids are older. Here is what Sam’s letter says:

Dear Santa,

I love Santa and I want to make sure you give me a Jake ship, Scully, Tic Toc Croc, and Jake. I love you. I am going to be a good boy because I help mommy do stuff. I hug her and kiss her. I tell Campbell nice things to do to mommy.

Merry Christmas! Ho ho ho! (I said that to make you laugh.)

Love,

Sam

Day 12: Make a Gingerbread House

Trader Joe’s sells great gingerbread houses. The kids had so much fun with this! I let them taste the icing before we started decorating and Campbell kept asking for “more yummy” the whole time. Ha!

I will post Part 2 (days 13-25) sometime after Christmas!