Advent Activities for Kids: A Printable Advent Calendar and a Week-by-Week Christmas Countdown for Ages 3–8

December goes by fast. Between school plays, baking and shopping, it is easy to reach Christmas Eve and feel that the waiting itself – the best part for children – slipped past. A printable advent calendar turns every day into a small, calm moment: one card, one little task, one square to colour. Add a few Christmas puzzles and colouring pages, and you have screen-free Advent activities for the whole month. Here are ideas by age and a simple week-by-week plan.

What’s in the Advent to Christmas Bundle?

The Advent to Christmas Bundle is one download for the whole of December. In English it has 3 printable A4 books with more than 65 pages: My Advent Calendar (24 task cards – a craft, a riddle, a song, a kind deed or a family moment – a page to colour off each day, 4 Advent wreath pages and 6 colouring pages), My Christmas Activity Book (32 pages of mazes, dot-to-dots, counting, word searches and colouring) and My Christmas Book (15 colouring pages with words in hollow letters and a letter to Santa). The German, Polish, French and Bulgarian editions add a fourth book for St Nicholas Day. Want to try it first? Download the free Advent calendar sample – the first 6 days.

Advent activities for ages 3–5

• Colour off the days: after each card, your child colours one square. Little ones can see Christmas coming closer.
• Light a paper candle: the 4 Advent wreath pages have one candle a week – colour a new flame every Sunday.
• Colour the big words: every picture in My Christmas Book has its word in hollow letters, a gentle first look at letters.
• Count to 20: the counting pages in the activity book turn stars and presents into a little maths game.

Christmas countdown activities for ages 5–8

• Solve the riddle: some calendar cards have a riddle; the answers are on the colour-off page.
• Puzzle mornings: mazes, spot the difference, shadow matching and colour by number keep curious minds busy.
• Find the words: word tracing and two word searches are perfect for early readers.
• Write to Santa: children who can write fill in the letter; younger ones draw their wish instead.
• Invent your own day: use the blank cards for family traditions – a winter walk, a call to grandma, baking biscuits.

Download the free sample See the full bundle

A week-by-week plan through December

• End of November: print the Advent calendar, cut out the 24 cards together and put them in an envelope, a jar or a little box.
• Week 1 (1–6 December): start with card 1 on 1 December and colour the first square. Advent Sundays in 2026 fall on 29 November and on 6, 13 and 20 December – on each one, colour one more candle on the wreath page. In the German, Polish, French and Bulgarian editions, the 6 December card and the extra book celebrate St Nicholas.
• Week 2 (7–13 December): keep the daily card and add the 6 colouring pages from the calendar on quiet afternoons.
• Week 3 (14–20 December): take out My Christmas Activity Book – one maze or dot-to-dot a day is plenty. Start colouring My Christmas Book and hang the finished pictures on the fridge.
• Week 4 (21–24 December): the word searches, “My Christmas wish” and the letter to Santa. On 24 December your child opens card 24 – Christmas Eve has arrived.

Tips for a calm Advent

Keep it small. Each card is one short task, so ten minutes a day is enough. Print one book at a time. The bundle comes as separate PDF files, so you do not need to print 65 pages at once. Prepare the cutting. For the youngest, cut the cards in advance – small cut-out parts are not suitable for children under 3. Catch up without stress. Missed a day? Simply open two cards the next morning. Use it in class. Teachers can print the calendar for their own class and open one card each morning together.

Try the books for free

Every book in the bundle has a free sample, so you can see the pages before you buy.

My Advent Calendar – free sample My Christmas Activity Book – free sample My Christmas Book – free sample

What you need

A printer, A4 paper, crayons or pencils, children’s scissors and glue or tape.

Happy Advent – may every day bring a little magic!

The files are for your own family, or for your own class or group if you are a teacher.