Advent Calendar Craft for Kids: 4 Easy Holders to Make Together

Looking for a family project for the last weekend of November? An Advent calendar craft is one of the nicest ways to start the season: you make the calendar together, and then your children get to open the doors they decorated themselves. Below are four easy holders to make with kids aged 3–8, with materials, steps and roughly how long each takes – plus an idea for what to put inside that isn’t chocolate.

What you need for an Advent calendar craft

• 24 small containers: envelopes, paper bags, socks or mittens, or simply folded paper
• Something to hang or hold them: string, twine, ribbon, wooden pegs, a branch or a shoebox
• Numbers 1–24: stickers, a marker, stamps or numbers cut from old calendars
• Decorations: crayons, washi tape, stickers, scraps of wrapping paper, glue stick
• Children’s scissors and an adult for anything sharp

Tip: decide what will go inside first, then check that one piece fits before you make all 24 holders.

Craft 1: an envelope garland

Time: about 1 hour. Best for ages 4+.

1. Lay 24 small envelopes on the table. Children write or stick a number on each one.
2. Decorate the fronts: snowflakes, stars, stripes or a tiny drawing for each day.
3. Stretch a string along a wall, shelf or window and fix both ends securely.
4. Peg the envelopes on in order, or mix them up for a daily search.

This is the neatest option, and it looks lovely along a staircase or above a desk.

Craft 2: 24 paper bags on a string

Time: about 1 hour. Best for ages 3+.

1. Use small brown paper bags. Little ones can stamp the numbers with a cork or a potato stamp dipped in paint.
2. Fold the top of each bag over twice.
3. Punch a hole through the fold (adult job) and thread the bags onto twine, or close them with a peg.
4. Hang the line across a window or tie it to a branch in a vase.

Paper bags are roomy, so they suit a folded card plus a small extra, such as a sticker.

Craft 3: a line of socks or mittens

Time: 30–45 minutes. Best for ages 3+.

1. Gather 24 small socks or mittens – odd baby socks are perfect.
2. Cut numbers from felt or card and clip them on, or write them on fabric tape.
3. Peg the socks onto a string or a ribbon across the fireplace or a shelf (keep them well away from open flames and heaters).

The sock line is soft, reusable and perfect for families who want to bring it out again next year.

Craft 4: a box of folded cards

Time: 20–30 minutes. Best for ages 3+ and last-minute calendars.

1. Cover a shoebox or a tissue box with wrapping paper and let your child decorate the lid.
2. Fold each card in half or in quarters and write the number on the outside.
3. Stand the cards up in order inside the box, like a little filing cabinet.
4. Each morning, your child pulls out the front card.

No string, no wall space, no pegs – the box fits on a kitchen shelf and is ready in one evening.

Filling it: one screen-free task card a day

Instead of sweets, fill each holder with a small task. My Advent Calendar has 24 printable task cards for 1–24 December – for example “Make a paper snowflake with a grown-up”, “Sing a winter song together”, “Count the windows in your home” and two riddles – plus 6 blank cards for your own family traditions. A tracker page to colour off each day and four Advent wreath pages complete the set. Print the cards, cut them out with your child and slip one into each envelope, bag or sock.

• Thin card lasts longer than paper if little hands open the cards every morning.
• Tasks with scissors, glue or the oven always need a grown-up.
• Small cut-out cards are not suitable for children under 3.

Start with the free first 6 days

Try the craft this weekend with the free sample: the cover, the how-to page, task cards for days 1–6 and the first Advent wreath page. The full calendar has all 24 days in A4 and US Letter. For more ideas for all 24 days and a quick home set-up, read our guide to the printable Advent calendar for kids.

Free first 6 days See the full calendar Printable Advent calendar ideas