Christmas Countdown Activities and Ideas For Kids

Christmas Countdown Ideas and Activities for Kids

Over the last few years, I started getting a little more creative with my countdown activities. And today, I’ve decided to share some of my top Christmas countdown activities and ideas for kids with you!

Go through the list and pick out an idea (or two!) to enjoy with your own kids this holiday season. It could become one of your favorite holiday traditions!

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Some of these activities are even educational enough to include in your Christmas homeschool activities.

Note – This page used to have information on Gingerbread Nativities but I have moved those to this article about using Gingerbread Nativities as a STEM Activity. If you came here from Pinterest for the Nativities, go on to that page now.

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Christmas Countdown Idea #1 – Countdown Chains

One of my kids’ favorite Christmas countdown activities is the traditional Christmas countdown chain, or paper garland. I love making these paper garlands with my kids because they are inexpensive and oh-so simple! Even my younger kids can play a big part in making paper chains.

The idea of the Christmas countdown chain is that you make a paper garland with a chain link for every day between now and the day you are counting down to; in this case, Christmas. So if you are starting your chain on December 1st, you would include 25 chain links. Then every day leading up to Christmas, your kids get to rip off one chain link. As the chain gets smaller, the days to Christmas get fewer.

Many families like to make a simple paper chain with their young kids that are made from blank pieces of paper, but I like to kick things up a notch and do something extra fancy with my chains. One year we included a fun Christmas activity on every chain link and when we ripped off the link, we got to enjoy that fun Christmas activity. That was a lot of fun.

This year we want to do a Names of Jesus chain with each chain link featuring one of the many names of Jesus, as learned in the Bible. I have heard of families doing a Christmas chain countdown with a scripture on each chain link telling the Christmas story, one day at a time. We’ll probably try that one next year, unless we decide to do two chains this year.

There are so many ideas of Christmas countdown chain ideas for you to enjoy with your family. I’ve made a list of a few ideas, but feel free to come up with absolutely anything, or just leave your chain links blank because that’s fun too!

Christmas Countdown Chain Ideas

• Daily Christmas activities
• Names of Jesus
• Christmas story scriptures
• Acts of service
• Christmas books
• Daily Christmas crafts

If you love the idea of a themed Christmas countdown chain but don’t want to do the work yourself, I’ve got a few templates available for you to print out if you want. You can find a Names of Jesus chain and a daily Christmas activities chain for sale in my shop, along with a blank printable template.

Or for simplicity, you can purchase the entire Christmas chain bundle and get every chain template I’ve made so far, along with any future chains I may make.

Christmas Countdown Idea #2 – A Printable Christmas Bucket List

If a fancy paper chain is not your thing, perhaps your family would resonate better with a simple printable Christmas bucket list. Just print out, or draw up, a grid featuring a number of squares equal to the number of days between now and Christmas, and then write a fun activity in each square.

Every day leading up to Christmas, you get to enjoy that fun activity with your family, and as you cross each box out, your days to Christmas get smaller and smaller.

I have a few free printable Christmas bucket lists you are welcome to download and print out, or you can make one of your own featuring your own Christmas activity ideas.

Christmas Countdown Idea #3 – A Wrapped Christmas Books Advent

Another Christmas countdown activity that is very popular on social media right now is the wrapped Christmas books advent. The idea is that you get a family-friendly Christmas book for each day between now and Christmas and you wrap each individual book in Christmas wrapping paper.

Place your pile of books under the Christmas tree and every night leading up to Christmas, your family gets to choose a book to unwrap and read together.

I go a little more in-depth about this fun countdown activity, and I also link to some of my favorite Christ-themed Christmas books for kids if you want to go check that article out.

More Countdown to Christmas Activities and Ideas for Kids

There are so many great ideas for ways you can countdown to Christmas with your kids. Here are a few more ideas that we may or may not have tried over the year. Pick one or two out and make some new memories with your kids and other family members this Christmas season!

• Wrap or hide individual pieces of a Nativity set and unwrap a new piece every day until your Nativity is complete
• Enjoy an Elf on the Shelf (or a Christian Elf on the Shelf alternative)
• Little Lamb of Bethlehem
• Enjoy a Lego-themed countdown to Christmas
• Elf on the Shelf (or a Christian alternative to the Elf on the Shelf)
• Christmas Advent Wreath
• Go simple and just read a passage from the Christmas Story every night!
• Go with a STEM theme and enjoy a Christmas STEM activity every day until Christmas.

Remember, this is not a complete list and the sky is the limit when it comes to fun ways to count down the days to Christmas with your family this holiday season.

I hope you found this list of countdown to Christmas ideas and activities for kids helpful! Remember to grab your free bucket list downloads.

More Holiday Homeschooling Resources

Year-Round Holiday Homeschooling Ideas
Homeschooling Through The Holidays
Christmas Homeschool Activities