One thing I love about my children is they have no concept of time yet. My 3 year old struggles with the concept of more than one day in the past or the future. My 5 year old has a better understanding, thanks to monthly calendars which we have around the house. My children are really excited about Christmas, and keep asking how many sleeps, so I thought it was about time we made our own Christmas Countdown. Visual is perfect for their age so we made a simple and colourful countdown.

Supplies to make a Homemade Christmas Countdown for kids:
Christmas paper to make our own envelopes
Numbered pegs
Sticky tape
24 activities, one for each envelope
Wire notice board

How to make a Homemade Christmas Countdown for kids

We had a look through our craft supplies to find lots of types of Christmassy papers. We designed a small envelope, just large enough to hold a slip of paper. I made a template from cardboard which my 5 year old used to draw around on the different papers.

I helped him cut out 24 little envelopes which we folded over, holding in place with sticky tape.

We talked about the different activities we like to do in the run up to Christmas and I printed them out, cutting out each one and placing it in an envelope.

Then we took a wire noticeboard and hung each envelope with a cute numbered wooden peg. You could also use a peg board or hang from some Bakers twine.

From the 1st December the children are going to take it in turns to take down that days envelope and look at the activity. Hopefully this will give us a fun activity to do together, from baking gingerbread cookies to going out to see the Christmas lights. Our Christmas Countdown will also serve as a visual reminder of the day and help mark each day leading up to Christmas Day.

What do you think? I love the mix of papers and it makes a great homemade decoration. It should also help my 3 year old learn her numbers and be great for both their motor skills with the little pegs!

Here are some of my favourite kid-friendly Countdown Calendars:

DIY Snowmen Advent Calendar from Rainy Day Mum

Countdown to Christmas with Number & Math from 3 Dinosaurs

DIY Christmas Tree Advent Calendar from Crafty Kids at Home

Christ Centered Advent for Preschoolers from Tales of Beauty for Ashes

Free Printable Advent Calendar from The Creative Pair

Winter Snowflakes Advent Calendar from My Bright Firefly

Advent Acts of Kindness Free Printables from Mum in the Madhouse

Printable Family Activities Advent Calender from creative family fun

Christmas Countdown Card from Peakle Pie

Advent Elf Houses from Sun Hats & Welly Boots

Christmas Cookie Advent Calendar from Kitchen Counter Chronicles

Christmas Carol Advent Calendar printable from Mama Smiles

How to organise an easy and fun Advent Calendar from books and giggles

Printable Advent Calendar for Preschoolers from fun-a-day

Christmas jokes kids love from little bins for little hands

A very merry Occupational Therapy Christmas from Sugar Aunts

Farmhouse style Advent Calendar and card holder from teach me mommy