A tradition that we started last year has been much anticipated this year. It's been on Pie's mind since before Halloween, as she has reminded us quite frequently since the summer ended. Last year we started the 25 days of Christmas countdown in the form of crafts, treats, and events. It was a blast for all of us and Pie even saved her favorite days all year long to remind me to include them. Often. "Mom, look!!! It's the hot chocolate tree! Remember when you made us hot chocolate?! When are you making hot chocolate again!?" (recipe link below)
Last year we used this tree template and created a countdown forest. I used an old tray and covered it with wrapping paper. Then, I used the tree template to cut out various shades of green construction paper trees. We decorated the outsides, then before we taped them together we wrote down the item for that day inside each tree. We used stickers (like the large yellow ones below) to number each tree with the day. The stickers were not very sticky, which turned out the be helpful when days were moved around. To decorate, we used stickers, white out, markers, glitter, and anything else we could find.
Last year we used this tree template and created a countdown forest. I used an old tray and covered it with wrapping paper. Then, I used the tree template to cut out various shades of green construction paper trees. We decorated the outsides, then before we taped them together we wrote down the item for that day inside each tree. We used stickers (like the large yellow ones below) to number each tree with the day. The stickers were not very sticky, which turned out the be helpful when days were moved around. To decorate, we used stickers, white out, markers, glitter, and anything else we could find.
To create the list, we start with a blank list of the dates. Then we highlight the weekends and events that are scheduled already and make a list of everything we want to include. We like to include a few fun events each year; ice skating, decorate the tree, a special local christmas village to visit Santa, and a scavenger hunt (my amazingly clever husband creates and I have yet to be able to follow how he does it... Maybe he will guest post his secrets some day), and the movies or drive-in.
This year we decided to go with three movie nights, each one is assigned to someone, (Pie, Mom and Dad, and Grammy) to choose for that night. There is a new holiday movie coming out this year that is age appropriate so maybe we'll use one of those nights for that, but here's a great starting list for some of our movie picks this year:
- Polar Express
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas (live or cartoon)
- Jack Frost (Michael Keaton, not chew your face off)
- Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
- Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
- Prep and Landing
- A Chipmunk Christmas
- A Garfield Christmas (of course.)
We'll make cookies, fudge, carrot cake (this recipe is secret and cannot be recreated, so I've been told), and hot chocolate.* All treats, with the exception of the hot chocolate, didn't make it to the list due to last year's lack of participation. Ahem... Perhaps I shouldn't have tried to incorporate my own to do list into her activities, but it was worth a shot.
Check back soon for this year's countdown calendar, it's bigger and better than last year's forest. And we'll be sharing our favorite crafts. Share your holiday crafts too! We'd love to see them, your countdown calendars, and favorite holiday movies. For the crafts you'll be seeing and more great holiday ideas, check out our Holiday board on Pinterest.
*(links to the recipes are not healthy or good for you in any way, shape, or form, but they are delicious.)
This year we decided to go with three movie nights, each one is assigned to someone, (Pie, Mom and Dad, and Grammy) to choose for that night. There is a new holiday movie coming out this year that is age appropriate so maybe we'll use one of those nights for that, but here's a great starting list for some of our movie picks this year:
- Polar Express
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas (live or cartoon)
- Jack Frost (Michael Keaton, not chew your face off)
- Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
- Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
- Prep and Landing
- A Chipmunk Christmas
- A Garfield Christmas (of course.)
We'll make cookies, fudge, carrot cake (this recipe is secret and cannot be recreated, so I've been told), and hot chocolate.* All treats, with the exception of the hot chocolate, didn't make it to the list due to last year's lack of participation. Ahem... Perhaps I shouldn't have tried to incorporate my own to do list into her activities, but it was worth a shot.
Check back soon for this year's countdown calendar, it's bigger and better than last year's forest. And we'll be sharing our favorite crafts. Share your holiday crafts too! We'd love to see them, your countdown calendars, and favorite holiday movies. For the crafts you'll be seeing and more great holiday ideas, check out our Holiday board on Pinterest.
*(links to the recipes are not healthy or good for you in any way, shape, or form, but they are delicious.)
