We all have wonderful traditions that we look forward to each Christmas. One of our family favorites is the "How the Grinch Stole Christmas Storybook Advent Calendar" that I found on a blog about 10 years ago. There have been a few years that I wondered if my guys really still wanted it but they always ask to make sure that it will be up by December 1st!
One of my favorite things about this advent it was that I didn't have to do much to put it together! On the blog post at Chica and Jo you will find the storybook cards all prepared. They just have to be printed, cut, and then glue or write the dates on the back of each card. I started my cards with one and they end with 24 but by about the 3rd year I realized that an advent calendar is really like a countdown so you could also do the first card as 24 and then count down to 1. Whichever way you prefer works! The shoe organizer can be decorated as much or as little as you desire. Mine is old enough that I need to reattach/update the ribbon! I'd love to find some fluffy green "ribbon" or maybe some red glitter ribbon to make it a little more fancy.
To use this calendar is super easy! Each day you or your children pull out the card for the day and read whatever part of the story it shows. Some days (like day 1) it is just the title of the story or a small snippet and other days it is a paragraph or two (just like the pages in the book). I have never found a small Grinch doll to use so I printed one from on-line and attached him to a straw and he moves day to day! Then, I always put something in each pocket as the "gift" of the day. Now, every year it is different. When my guys were younger I did a lot of activities. There were a few years that I did all gifts and candy ($5.00 gifts which add up fast with two kids). One year funds were super tight so I did gift certificates for a morning or afternoon off school (we homeschool so this is doable). Little did I know that those would become the favorite - so much so that the next year they asked to ONLY have those HA! It's what ever works for you and your family.
This year I tried to be a little more creative but also not spend hardly any money. Day 1 is always a normal countdown calendar. You know the ones - with chocolate behind the doors or a few years they did the Lego calendars. This year though I got one of the countdown puzzles. Each day they open a box and do that part of the puzzle. It's been fun to do AND I won't throw way a half used chocolate calendar that no one eats. I still have done some of the afternoon or mornings off of school. Then I pick up favorite candy - m and m's, kisses, gum, push pops, etc and use those on some days. I still add activities - such as "It's time to get our Christmas Tree", or "Lets make cookies today!". This year some of my newer ideas are "Let's play a game - Mom's Choice" (or Josh's or Nate's) depending on the day, I printed a Christmas puzzle and we competed to see who could finish it first. I also have a printable Christmas game to play one day and a Christmas ornament for us all to make. So, again, as you can see, the ideas or limitless. I use Pinterest a lot to search for fun ideas. Oh! Some years I've done money. For example if I decide to incorporate $10.00 each over the course of the days I might do $1.00 one day, $5.00 a different day until I've put all $10.00 in the pockets.
Sometime over the course of December we also watch the movie together - well I try to get them to watch it with me but teens are funny like that LOL!
Can you guess what we played for "Let's play a game - Mom's choice!" ? Dutch Blitz is one of my favorite games but I don't get to play it often. Joshua actually ended up winning.
The guys working on the puzzle countdown. We live in a small house without lots of space to set up a puzzle table so I cleaned off my desk and they are putting it together in that space. It is harder than I expected but they are doing great!
