Christmas Countdown! Having fun as we count down to Christmas!

On Monday I wrote about our advent activities as we learn about the true meaning of the season - Jesus. 

Today, I'll show you our fun countdown activities.

 First up is our Grinch Calendar.  You can find the original idea over at Chica and Jo.  It's such a fun little calendar that allows you to read through "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".  It was really easy to put together and this is our third or fourth year using it so it holds up well.  I will admit that some of my ribbons are falling off - I'm going to add a "tickler" to my holiday folder for next year to get some nice fluffy ribbon and update this.  One of the great things this year is the boys can read the cards themselves and they love that!  They pull the card, read it, and then open their gift.  The gifts are always a struggle for me - I don't like to buy clutter to add to the house but I don't want to spend a fortune on stuff either!  Day one they opened a Christmas long sleeve t-shirt which I just loved!  I'm trying to stick with both fun things they like (such as little Minecraft figures) and their favorite treats. 

Our other fun countdown is a Christmas Countdown Calendar.  The last few years they've done Lego countdowns but my mom found these fabulous Crayola Countdowns and the boys are really enjoying them.  Each day offers another craft supply and I believe at they end they will get to make something. 

There are so many great ideas out there! 

Confessions of a Homeschooler has a great little countdown with all kinds of fun activities to do throughout the season.  I really like this one and might try to incorporate it next year.

Several years ago I tried doing the "Book a day" by wrapping up 24 books and the boys opened one each day.  Neither the boys nor I were really that interested in it.  Instead, I plan on using The Christmas Carol next year as a read aloud and using the information from Confessions of a Homeschooler  (Can you tell I like her blog??)