Advent calendars have become such a HUGE part of Christmas these days – have you noticed? We’ve tried several variations over the years from our DIY Freezer Paper Stencil Advent Calendar and our Family Activities Advent Calendar to LEGO Advent and our Reading Advent Calendar.
This year, though, with three kids including a feisty 1 1/2-year-old, I’m once again opting to go the super simple route.
Our free printable Christmas Joke countdown (created last year by our contributor MJ) takes zero effort from me once it’s up and S and C absolutely adored it last year. This year, at ages 7 and 5, they still can’t get enough puns and knock-knock jokes.
Print your free calendar using the link below and you’ll be all set for December. Here’s our contributor Kristin with the details…
I don’t know about you, but my kids get enough sugar as it is this time of year. So when it comes to a Christmas countdown, I prefer for them to have some kind of activity advent.
But, alas, sometimes our schedules just don’t allow for us to have an activity every day in the month of December. What to do? Keep it simple… keep it punny. A quick little joke is a fun way to celebrate the holidays.
This handy free printable has 24 jokes for kids and an ornament for each day of December leading up to Christmas.
Think of it as an advent calendar that requires zero work and zero chocolate.
Simply print the ornaments and jokes in the free printable PDF. (I printed mine on card stock so it was a little sturdier.) Let the kids help you cut out the ornaments. Paste a joke on the back of each ornament and punch a hole in the top.
We used bakers twine in red and white and a little green washi tape to make this Christmas tree shape. You could also do the string the ornaments on one long piece above a mantle.
Washi tape isn’t harmful to most surfaces, so you could put this on a blank wall in the living area or in the kids rooms.
Don’t forget to save this for the next year. Kids won’t remember the jokes a whole year later. Once you do the work of setting it up, just place the ornaments and string in a plastic bag or envelope with your other Christmas decorations and you’ll be good to go.
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Kristin