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Advent Calendar Activities for Kids: 24 Screen-Free Days
24 advent calendar activities for kids aged 3 to 8, one a day from 1 to 24 December, tagged by effort so a busy night can swap for a five-minute one.
These 24 advent calendar activities for kids give children aged 3 to 8 one small thing to do each day from 1 to 24 December. Each is tagged by effort, Quick, Evening or Weekend, so on a tired school night you can swap a long one for five minutes without breaking the countdown. None needs a screen, and most need nothing you have to buy.
Quick, Evening and Weekend: the three kinds of day
Every day carries one of three tags:
- Quick: 5 to 10 minutes, nothing to buy.
- Evening: 20 to 30 minutes, a few things from the cupboard.
- Weekend: longer, or a bit of preparation.
Any Quick day can replace a longer one. These are everyday activities rather than a nativity calendar. Several get children moving, because December is dark by tea time: the NHS says 3 and 4 year-olds should be active for at least 180 minutes a day, and 5 to 18 year-olds should average at least 60 minutes of moderate or vigorous activity a day, figures from the UK Chief Medical Officers' guidelines.
How do you set up an activity advent calendar?
An activity slip is a folded note that says what today's thing is. Write one for each day, then put the slips in envelopes, paper bags or pegged to a string.
The weekdays move each year, so check a calendar first. Put the six Weekend slips on dates that fall on a Saturday or Sunday, and fill the rest in order. Most Christmas activity calendar ideas assume a free afternoon; these don't. Keep three spare Quick slips for nights that fall apart. These activity advent calendar ideas work for one child or three, and as family activity advent calendar ideas, most let the grown-ups join in.
The 24 days
Day 1: Write to Father Christmas (Evening)
Write or draw a letter to Father Christmas. Younger children draw what they'd like and you write the words; older ones can add a question for the elves. Post it, or put it somewhere safe.
Day 2: Paper snowflakes (Evening)
Fold a square of paper into a triangle, fold again, snip shapes from the edges and open it up. Three-year-olds can tear instead of cut. Stick the snowflakes on a window.
Day 3: Floor poses, the frosty pond (Quick)
On a mat or a rug, row across the pond in boat, swim under the ice in fish, then grow by the bank in flower. Three slow breaths each. On a mat with a calmer floor sequence marked in, all three are there to find.
Day 4: Sock snowball fight (Quick)
Roll pairs of socks into balls and have an indoor snowball fight, with a sofa-cushion wall to hide behind. Nobody gets cold, nothing breaks, and the socks go back in the drawer.
Day 5: Bake and ice biscuits (Weekend)
Make a simple dough, cut out stars and trees, and ice them once cool. Younger children press the cutters; older ones weigh and mix. Save one for Christmas Eve.
Day 6: Pine cone walk (Weekend)
Walk somewhere with trees and collect pine cones, then paint the tips white like snow at home. Keep the best one for the bird feeder. Wet weather counts, with wellies.
Day 7: Freeze dance (Quick)
Put on a Christmas song and dance. When the music stops, everyone freezes, and anyone who wobbles does a silly walk to the next song. Two or three songs warms everyone up.
Day 8: Paper chain countdown (Evening)
Make a paper chain with one link for each day left until Christmas Eve. From tomorrow, your child takes one link off each evening. The last one comes off on Christmas Eve.
Day 9: Floor poses, the winter garden (Quick)
On a mat or a rug, be a sleepy butterfly with folded wings, a rabbit curled in its burrow, then a flower waiting for spring. Three slow breaths each, in whatever order your child chooses.
Day 10: Torch-lit story (Quick)
Build a blanket tent over two chairs, switch the big light off and read a Christmas story by torchlight. Your child holds the torch and turns the pages. It doubles as the bedtime story.
Day 11: Festive fashion show (Quick)
Whatever's in the dressing-up box becomes a Christmas outfit. Make a catwalk down the hall and take turns, with grown-ups as the audience. Tinsel hats are encouraged.
Day 12: Cards for grandparents and neighbours (Weekend)
Fold card, decorate the front and write or draw a message inside, one for each grandparent and one for a neighbour. Post them, or deliver them on a walk.
Day 13: A bird feeder (Weekend)
Take a pine cone from your walk, press lard or suet into the gaps, roll it in bird seed and hang it outside a window. Watch over the next few days to see who visits.
Day 14: Ten red things (Quick)
Give your child a basket and two minutes to find ten red things round the house, then ten green things. Three-year-olds might need clues; older children can race a timer.
Day 15: Floor poses, the sledge ride (Quick)
On a mat or a rug, sit in the sledge in boat, tumble into the snow in star with your legs wide, then roll about in happy baby. Three slow breaths each, and plenty of giggling.
Day 16: Jingle shaker (Evening)
Pour dried rice into a small plastic bottle, tape the lid on firmly and decorate the outside. Shake along to a Christmas song. Keep a close eye on under-fours while the rice is out.
Day 17: A kind thing (Quick)
One kind thing for someone else: a drawing for a neighbour, a tin for the food-bank box at the supermarket, or laying the table without being asked. Talk about who it's for.
Day 18: Pyjamas and breakfast for tea (Evening)
Everyone in pyjamas, with cereal, toast or pancakes for tea. It costs nothing extra and feels like a treat in the busiest week of term.
Day 19: Biscuit gingerbread house (Weekend)
Build a small house from plain biscuits stuck together with thick icing, then decorate it. It will probably lean. Leave it overnight to set before anyone eats the roof.
Day 20: Kitchen disco (Weekend)
Take turns choosing a Christmas song, dim the lights and turn the kitchen into a disco. Whoever chose the song teaches everyone a move. Good when cousins are visiting.
Day 21: Floor poses, the slowest three (Quick)
Lights low, then flower, butterfly and rabbit on a mat or a rug, as slowly as you can, with three slow breaths in each. For more, see how to start yoga with your child.
Day 22: Father Christmas says (Quick)
Simon says with a festive twist: "Father Christmas says hop like a reindeer." Anyone who moves without "Father Christmas says" is out. Older children love being Father Christmas.
Day 23: Place cards for Christmas dinner (Evening)
Fold small cards, write each guest's name and decorate them with holly or a snowman. Younger children decorate; older ones write. Your child has a job on the day.
Day 24: The last link (Quick)
Take the last link off the paper chain, then hang one thing made this month on the tree: a snowflake, a pine cone or the biscuit you saved. For the rest of tonight, pick from our Christmas Eve to Boxing Day activities or see what to put in a Christmas Eve box.
What goes in each pocket?
The best advent calendar ideas for kids fit on a slip of paper. If your child expects something to open, add one small non-food thing, like a sticker or a pencil. Some families keep a chocolate calendar too, and the two run happily side by side.
Running the advent calendar at ages 3, 5 and 7 to 8
Three illustrative weeks, by age:
- Age 3: keep the Quick days and the biscuits (day 5), and swap the place cards (day 23) for more freeze dance. Floor poses with you alongside.
- Age 5: run the list as it is, swapping a Weekend day for a Quick one whenever the week gets busy.
- Age 7 to 8: let them read the slip and lead, especially the floor-pose evenings and Father Christmas says.
Put the floor-pose evenings in the calendar. A mat given on 1 December rather than Christmas morning gets four turns in this calendar before the big day. Our kids' yoga mats have 15 numbered poses laser-engraved into the surface, so your child can start at the first and lead the evening. They're designed for ages 3 to 8; under three, we'd wait. Sending a calendar to the grandchildren? A slip saying "ring Grandma and show her the butterfly" works from any distance, and the mat is full length, 183 x 61 cm, so a visiting grandparent can join in. Each is £34.99 with free UK delivery and 30-day returns, and two or more are 10 per cent off. For other presents, see our gift ideas that aren't another screen.
When a day gets missed or the chocolate wins
Some days won't happen, and a missed day isn't a failure: it's what the spare Quick slips are for. Some children want the chocolate and nothing else for the first week, and that's fine too. If an activity isn't landing, stop and try it another day. For more winter ideas, see our screen-free activities for 3 to 8 year-olds.
Frequently asked questions
When does advent start?
Advent starts on Advent Sunday, the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, so it falls between 27 November and 3 December depending on the year. Most children's advent calendars, including this one, simply run from 1 December to Christmas Eve, which gives 24 days to fill.
What do you put in an advent calendar for kids?
Put a slip with the day's activity in each pocket, plus one small non-food thing if your child likes something to open, such as a sticker, a pencil or a seed packet. An activity calendar works instead of chocolate, or alongside it if that's your family's tradition.
What advent activities suit toddlers and preschoolers?
The Quick days suit them best: freeze dance, ten red things, the sock snowball fight and the floor-pose evenings with a grown-up alongside. For under-threes, keep each activity shorter still and do it with them, and skip anything with small items, like the rice shaker.
How do you keep an activity advent calendar going on busy nights?
Use the swap rule: any Quick day can replace any longer one, so a busy night never breaks the countdown. Keep three spare Quick slips in a separate envelope for the nights that fall apart. Put the Weekend activities on whichever dates fall on a weekend that year.
