Adorable DIY Santa Advent Calendar for Kids

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INSIDE: This DIY Santa Advent Calendar is a cute advent calendar for kids that you can create using common household materials. Make Christmas memorable this year with this adorable Santa advent calendar!

DIY Christmas Advent Calendars

I was able to put this Christmas tree advent calendar together using items from my recycling bin, bathroom and craft drawer! This DIY Christmas advent calendar is also one that you can reuse every year. Simply replace the tissue paper by placing one large piece over the cups in subsequent years.

Looking for more Fun Christmas Crafts & Activities? Check out these fun ideas:

DIY Santa Advent Calendar For Kids

Grab a large piece of cardboard and draw a big outline of Santa using a pencil. Outline it with a black sharpie. The cardboard needs to be large enough to hold 24 paper or Dixie cups. Add googley eyes.

Paint Santa’s hat red and white and the sides of his beard white using paint and a brush. Set it aside to dry.

Grab 24 paper cup or dixie paper cups. I used Dixie cups. They are smaller and easier to work with on the cardboard. But they are also big enough to hold candies or small toys!

Grab your little toys and candies (see below for ideas of what to put inside your advent calendar), white tissue paper and small elastic bands.

Place your candies into the cups and cover with the white tissue paper using the elastic bands.

Use a hot glue gun to glue to the cups on Santa’s beard.

Take a circle lever punch and make 24 small circles or use white dot stickers. Write out the numbers from 1 to 24 on the circles or stickers. Glue or stick the number circles on each cup in random order.

Advent Calendar Filler Ideas

Pull out your advent calendar starting December and let your little one enjoy it everyday. The great thing about this calendar is that you can customize it to your little ones tastes!

Here is a list of ideas to add into your advent calendar:

Temporary tattoos
Nail polish
Eraser
Crayons or mini markers
Fun socks
Stickers
Glow sticks
Money
Mini candy canes
Mini bath bombs
Cars
Mini balls
Mittens
Mini Cookies
Lego pieces (place a few pieces from a kit into each cup)
Mini flashlight
Finger puppers
slime
Writing pad
Necklace
Mini play doh
Balloons to blow up
Window clings
Post it notes (my kids love these for some reason)
Puzzle pieces (give them a few pieces in each cup everyday)

Age Suitability

This activity is more of a parent activity to make for your kids. Advent calendars are great for all ages! My kids are 3.5, 3.5, and 7 year old.

Supplies

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Paper cups or dice cups
Cardboard
White tissue paper
Red and white acrylic paint and brush
Small elastic bands
Hot glue gun
Box cutters or scissors
Circle level punch or white dot stickers
Small toys or candy (see above for list of more than 25 ideas)

Make quiet time their favourite time!

Play is at the core of learning during the early years and it can take many forms. One of the most important of these is sensory play because it engages all of a child’s senses (taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing) and has a enoumous positive impact on brain development.

My Sensory Play Kits are a fun and easy way to keep your child engaged while at the same time capitalizing on the benefits of sensory play to nurture their mind!

Shop my ready made sensory play kits here.

Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids

Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.

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Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.