Make a simple advent calendar for your family

I made this for my grandchildren last year and they had so much fun.  Its easy, inexpensive and a novelty.

You will need:

24 envelopes, red. green, white or a mix of each

24 sweets x number of children in the family, maybe chocolate Santas for day 24

4 metres of strong red string, or tinsel

Push pins

Christmas stickers (optional)

To make the calendar:

Take a black marker and write 1,2, 3, … 24 on the envelopes

Decorate the envelopes with Christmas stickers if you wish

Put one sweet per child in each envelope (so 3 children = 3 sweets in each envelope)

Seal the envelopes leaving a gap at the top

Thread the string through the envelopes, they don’t need to be in date order. It’s more fun if the children have to look for the envelope each day.

Attach the string of envelopes to a wall or fireplace with push pins.  Make sure the pins are securely attached. You may need two or more strings, depending on the space you have.

Sit back and watch the fun each day as the children open up their advent calendar and enjoy

If you don’t want to give sweets, put small gifts in the envelopes, or make a note about some fun activities you can do with the children each day or a promise after Christmas.  You could also do a mix of these.