It’s nearly December and I have a Cantonese advent calendar to share that has a different Christmas craft each day. AJ is too young for a traditional chocolate advent calendar so I wanted to make something to help get him (and me) into the Christmas spirit!
Before we start, I want to apologise that I am sharing this on the last day of November as I have left you with no time to prep this advent calendar for your own family. I started making this advent calendar a month ago but it’s been a struggle to find the time to put it all together and write it down for you. I hope you still join us for a few days or put a pin in this post to have a go next year!
Creating the Advent Calendar
Supplies List
I made this calendar based on common craft materials that you most likely will have in your home already. Specifically, you will need:
- Coloured and white card
- Cardboard
- Sticky back plastic
- Tissue paper
- Paper plates
- Pipe cleaners
- Popsicle sticks
- Pom poms
- Cotton wool balls (white poms poms also work)
- Beads
- Playdough (DIY recipe here)
- Googly eyes
- Green yarn (pipe cleaners would also work)
- Tape
- Glue
- Scissors (AJ uses these toddler scissors)
- Baking powder and shaving foam (for one slightly messy activity)
- DIY advent calendar kit (or 24 large envelopes/sandwich bags will work)
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The Activities
The activities are small 5-10 minute crafts with the bigger crafts planned on weekends days and the week before Christmas. All the activities are low-prep and low-mess (because you don’t need more on your to-do list on the run up to Christmas).
Grab the printable by clicking on the button below. I recommend printing on white cardstock.
Set Up
- Cut out each of instruction cards and place them in separate envelopes and bags.
- Add the craft supplies needed for each day. There may be day-specific prep (see Day by Day List below for clearer instructions)
- Label your bags with the date for each one and then display in your home, ready for your little one to dive in!
Day by Day List
Click on the link below to jump to a date:
- 1st – Christmas Tree Suncatcher
- 2nd – Paper Plate Reindeer
- 3rd – Candy Cane
- 4th – Playdough Gingerbread Cookies
- 5th – Santa’s Beard
- 6th – Popsicle Stick Stars
- 7th – Yarn Christmas Tree
- 8th – Build a Gingerbread House
- 9th – Handprint Santa
- 10th – Playdough Snowman
- 11th – Paper Plate Christmas Pudding
- 12th – Reindeer Headband
- 13th – Popsicle Stick Christmas Tree
- 14th – Gingerbread Sun Catcher
- 15th – Make a Snow Globe
- 16th – Paper Snowflakes
- 17th – Playdough Christmas Pudding
- 18th – Christmas Wreath
- 19th – Paper Plate Tree
- 20th – Popsicle Stick Reindeer
- 21st – Stocking Suncatcher
- 22nd – Star Baubles
- 23rd – Decorate a Gingerbread House
- 24th – Instant Snow
1st December
Activity: Create a Christmas tree suncatcher to display proudly in your window.
Supplies: black card, tissue paper, sticky back plastic
Prep: Cut out the outline of a tree on the black card then cover with sticky back plastic, ready for tissue paper to be added.
2nd December
Activity: Create a reindeer using a quarter of a paper plate.
Supplies: paper plate, brown pipe cleaners, red pom pom, googly eyes, brown marker
Prep: Cut the paper plate into a quarter.
3rd December
Activity: Create a candy canes by threading alternate red and white beads on pipe cleaners
Supplies: red/white pipe cleaners, red and white beads
4th December
Activity: Create a gingerbread cookie out of playdough.
Supplies: brown playdough, red and black beads, white pipe cleaners, mini cookie cutter
Prep: If you don’t have a mini person playdough/cookie cutter, you can make one from aluminium foil folded over a bunch of times.
5th December
Activity: Stick cotton wool balls to Santa’s face to grow his beard.
Supplies: Santa’s Beard Printable (below), cotton wool balls, glue
6th December
Activity: Stick together popsicle sticks to make stars.
Supplies: Popsicle sticks, pom poms, glue
7th December
Activity: Thread yarn through a paper plate to create a Christmas tree, which you can then decorate.
Supplies: Paper plate, green yarn, pom poms/beads, tape or yarn needle
Prep: Punch holes in the paper plate in an upside down V as a guide. If you don’t have a yarn needle, wrap some tape around the end of the yarn to use instead.
8th December
Activity: Colour in this gingerbread house net before folding and gluing it into its 3D shape. Decorate with pom poms afterwards.
Supplies: Gingerbread house template, colour markers, pom poms, glue, scissors
9th December
Activity: Draw around your hand on the template and then cut it out to make a handprint Santa.
Supplies: Handprint Santa template, scissors
10th December
Activity: Make a snowman out of playdough
Supplies: White playdough, black beads, orange and brown pipe cleaners
11th December
Activity: Make a Christmas pudding from two paper plates by colouring one in brown and adding half of the other as icing.
Supplies: Two paper plates, brown marker, red pom poms, green pipe cleaner
12th December
Activity: Make a cute reindeer headband by cutting out all the pieces of this template and stapling them together. Your child may not need the full length of each piece.
Supplies: Reindeer Headband Printable, stapler
13th December
Activity: Glue together three green popsicle sticks into a triangle and then add a brown stick as the trunk. Decorate the tree by threading beads onto pipe cleaners and wrapping them around the tree.
Supplies: Popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, beads, glue
14th December
Activity: Create a gingerbread man sun catcher to display in your window.
Supplies: black card, tissue paper, sticky back plastic
Prep: Cut out the outline of a gingerbread person on the black card then cover with sticky back plastic, ready for tissue paper to be added.
15th December
Activity: Make a snow globe by placing a photo of your little one in a paper plate. Add some white pom poms (and dare I say, glitter) for a snow effect then seal with a plastic sheet (I used a laminating pouch and sticky back plastic). Use a second paper plate as a base.
Supplies: Two paper plates, photo/picture, white pom poms, plastic sheet e.g. laminating pouch, glue/tape.
Prep: Print out a snowy photo of your little one.
16th December
Activity: Make the classic paper snowflakes. I have created templates to help your little ones create them.
Supplies: Snowflake templates, scissors
17th December
Activity: Create a Christmas pudding out of playdough.
Supplies: brown and white playdough, red pompoms.
18th December
Activity: Make a Christmas wreath y wrapping green yarn around a cardboard hoop (with a slit cut through it like a pom pom maker)
Supplies: Cardboard, green yarn, beads to decorate
Prep: Cut out a cardboard hoop with a slit in it so you can fully open it
19th December
Activity: Make a Christmas tree from a quarter of a paper plate. Add a popsicle stick as a trunk then decorate.
Supplies: Paper plate, popsicle stick, pom poms, green marker, glue
20th December
Activity: Glue together popsicle sticks to make a reindeer. Decorate with googly eyes, pipe cleaner antlers and a red pom pom nose.
Supplies: Popsicle sticks, glue, googly eyes, red pom pom, pipe cleaner.
Supplies: Popsicle sticks, glue, googly eyes, red pom pom, pipe cleaner.
21st December
Activity: Create a stocking sun catcher to display in your window.
Supplies: black card, tissue paper, sticky back plastic
Prep: Cut out the outline of a stocking on the black card then cover with sticky back plastic, ready for tissue paper to be added.
22nd December
Activity: Create these cute star decorations by cutting out two stars from my template with opposite slits. Slide the stars over each other via the slit to create a 3D star hanging. Finish with some string so they are ready to hang.
Supplies: Star template, coloured markers, scissors, string
23rd December
Activity: Cute out a pentagon from a large piece of cardboard. Use paper, pom poms, popsicle sticks and pens to decorate your gingerbread house!
Supplies: Carboard, scissors, popsicle sticks, coloured paper, pom poms
24th December
Activity: Make instant snow by mixing together equal measures of shaving cream and baking powder. Mix the ingredients in a sandwich bag (decorated with sharpie pens) for a mess-free activity.
Supplies: Shaving cream, baking powder, sandwich bag, orange and black permanent markers.
I hope you can join AJ and I in these Christmas crafts. If you wanted to share your creations with me, tag/message me on instagram or email mamabearcantonese@gmail.com. It really brightens my day when I see what your little ones create! Finally, all that is left to say is Merry Christmas! Wishing you all a restful and joyful winter break.
P.S. You can support Mama Bear Cantonese on Patreon. From £1 a month, you can access editable versions of all my resources as well as bonus content. Your generosity will help cover this site’s running costs. 多謝 do1 ze6!
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