OS Christmas Support thread & timetable

Luna69

Thought I'd stick this in this thread instead of starting a new one.. but.... I don't like those chocolate advent calendars so for quite a few years I've looked at other ideas. When I just had my eldest son to think about I started one year with an old small christmas tree, bought 24 small gifts or sweets, wrapped them up and numbered them, then hung them on the tree. Each day he had a little gift to open in the run up to the big day, he loved it. The following year the tree had bit the dust, so I put the gifts into a shoe box, he then had to hunt around for the number he needed. Last year we had to do it for my daughter too, so it gets a bit more expensive... but I did the shoe box again and had a playmobil calendar as I couldn't afford two of those, they alternated.. one had gift and one opened playmobil, next day they swapped over, it seemed to work well.

But... this year I'm not sure what to do..... don't know if I'll get another playmobil calendar or not, could bring out last years, but not sure they'll be too happy. Could get expensive buying two lots of small gifts to wrap up. (Luckily my 3rd is only 5 months old at the moment!! :rotfl: ).. anyway I was trying to think of other things I could do... I had thought that my son is into music more now and is often asking me to find him certain songs, either download or on my cd's.. so I thought that each day I might just let him open a sweet with a piece of paper with the name of a song on it, then on Christmas Eve I can give him a cd of all the songs? He also loves the Simpsons, so I could put a colouring page in with some too as an activity then maybe buy a small simpsons gift for Christmas Eve?? Any other thoughts??
As for my daughter, she loves arty stuff, colouring, drawing etc, so could do colouring pages for her.

Anyone think of any other cheap or free ideas along those lines? or any other advent ideas.

Thanks
Yvonne

Chipps

I made an advent calendar out of matchboxes - 24 of them, stacked up 6 wide & 4 high, glued together & with split pins for handles like a chest of drawers. Each one was numbered & in a random order. Things that went in were little toys and gifts, some sweets, and some little notes.
I actually made it for my mum, cos she used to make up very fancy candle-shaped box advent calendars for the children every year. The notes were written by the children, and we also did some special pictures to go in as well. She loved it!

Mind you, it took me a while to save up all those matchboxes!!!

JillD_2

aarrghh I can't decide what to do about Advent calendars. dd got a lovelty one from his godmother last year (he was 2 then). It is a sort of childrens illustration style nativity scene just with doors with numbers. No novelties or sweets. I think this year he will be happy with it again but not sure how long that will wash for! Plus he will have to alternate with his sister.
I dont want to have to buy 24 (or 48!) small gifts and I dont really want them to think they get a gift every day but then again maybe I should stop being such an old scrooge.

i cant abide the chocolate ones, wheres the fun in getting the same dull square of chocolate every morning ?

nicki_2

We have a chocolate advent calender for DD and last year we ended up with 2 (we bought her one and someone in the family got her one too) :rolleyes: In the end we let her choose which one she wanted, then OH and I alternated who got to open the other one :rotfl: This year she's asked for another chocolate one and has insisted that OH and I have one to share again :rotfl: Now the only question is...Poundland or Aldi or Asda? :drool:

emg

JillD - I've got a quite nice advent calender where each day you get a piece to build up a christmas village scene, more exciting than plain windows but no gifts/chocolate to fight over. I've also seen a similar idea with a lovely playmobil one, it's a bit expensive but would last for years.

QueenB.

My children each have one of the handmade material advent calenders, the pockets are quite big so it means i can fill them with all kinds of things.

It can be done quite cheaply for the younger kids, i fill the pockets with small treats ( can be H/M) also little cars (can get a box of several from pipound shops sometimes) Stickers, balloons (these always go down well) all types of colouring pencils/chalks etc as well as rubbers and rulers. For my daughter once i split up a pencil case and contents which i had picked up in a sale so that every few days she got a piece and the set was complete by chritmas eve. Bubbles are also a nice idea in fact pound shops and sales are a great way to fill advents cheaply.

QueenB.

Forgot to add we also have a family advent which is a small tree which sits on top of 24 boxes, everyday the children take it in turns to open the right draw and hang the little ornament on the tree, they then wind it up and listen to it play and turn round for a few minutes. each year when it comes to putting it away i make sure i move the ornaments around so that each year it is a surprise.

I have had it about 8 years now and it is a bit battered but the children still love it and it was cheap at the time so it has definitely been worth the cost as it is now part of our christmas tradition.

Queenie

The following list came from a US message board (that sadly longer exists ) and if you aren't of a religious bent then you can ignore those references; it does give some interesting ideas of what to put in fabric advent calendars and can be adapted for the UK/non religious with a bit of tweaking:-

Advent Countdown
LIST OF GIFTS:(LISTED IN THE ORDER THEY ARE USED)
1. Quarter
2. Grape gum (or candy)
3. smiley sticker
4. Gummy fish
5. birthday candle
6. Bell
7. fish crackers
8. Cotton balls
9. piece of a map
10. Soap
11. heart sticker
12. Cross
13. packet of salt
14. Sand
15. flowers(silk)
16. Raisins
17. Seeds
18. Christmas carol
19. small rock
20. Crumpled foil
21. mustard seed
22. Dove
23. small scrap of woolly material
24. Blue marble
25. picture of a baby.

December 1 - A quarter! That equals 25 cents. But 25 also stands for the number of days till Christmas, when God gave us His best present. Jesus told about one woman's gift and the way she gave it. Read: Mark 12:41-44
December 2 - Grape Gum! Grapes make jelly and juice, raisins and wine. But Jesus didn't need grapes to perform His first miracle. Read: John 2:1-10
December 3 - Here's a smile! A smile usually expresses happiness. Jesus gave us many instructions to keep us happy. Read: Matthew 5:1-12.
December 4 - Fish! Well, if you were surprised to find these fish, wait till you read the story today! Others were surprised to find fish, too. Read: Luke 5:4-7
December 5 - A birthday candle? As you know, we are getting ready to celebrate Jesus' birthday. However, Jesus talked about something else that is related to this candle. Light! Read: Matthew 5:14-16
December 6 - You could make some noise with this. But it would not have bothered a certain man--until he met Jesus. Read: Mark 7:31-37
December 7 - These would not go very far if you were really hungry! But Jesus could make much out of little. Surely He knew how to multiply! Read: Matthew 14:13-21
December 8 - These cotton balls would be helpful in a thunder storm, wouldn't they? We could use them for ear plugs to muffle the loud noises that thunder makes. But we know someone who doesn't need cotton. Jesus can control the weather. Read: Matthew 8:23-27
December 9 - People needing to use the other parts of this map are in trouble! Don't you get lost today! Read: John 14:1-6
December 10 - It's soap. Do you like to wash? Behind your ears? Washing turned out to be a happy time for a man who met Jesus. Read: John 9:1-7
December 11 - Hearts. Wordlessly, they speak of love, don't they? Jesus spoke some commands about love. Read: Matthew 25:17-41
December 12 - We use the cross as a symbol, representing Jesus. Do you know why? Read: Phillipians 2:1-11
December 13 - Ordinary salt. Yes, Jesus related salt to us and our behavior. He also gave us some advice. Read: Matthew 5:14 and Colossians 4:6. (Notice that He doesn't recommend pepper!).
December 14 - Don't try to eat this! It's sand. It reminds us that Jesus knows something about architecture, about buildings--and building lives. See His instructions: Matthew 7:24-29.
December 15 - Flowers are pretty, aren't they? Jesus used flowers to teach us a reassuring lesson. Read: Matthew 6:28-34.
December 16 - Raisins! Many children are given raisins instead of candy for a snack. That's because they are a health-promoting and delicious fruit. Jesus told us how we can produce good fruit. Read: John 15:1-5.
December 17 - Jesus told a story about seeds that man planted. Then He explained it, revealing its deep meaning. Read: Matthew 13:3-8 and Matthew 13:18-23.
December 18 -Christmas is just about a week away. And here is an appropriate song. Sing it loudly! Read: Psalms 100.
December 19 - A hard stone! Can you change this stone into a piece of bread? Do you think Jesus could? Jesus was asked to do just that. Do know how He handled it? Read: Matthew 4:1-4.
December 20 - Try to smooth out this piece of aluminum foil and use it as a mirror. It's hard to see your reflection plainly, isn't it? Many circumstances are hard to understand, but someday everything will be clear. Read: 1 Corinthians 13:12.
December 21 - The mustard seed is the smallest there is! When it sprouts, it grows into one of the largest plants! See what Jesus said. Read: Matthew 17:20.
December 22 - We've learned that the cross represents Christ, but do you know what the dove stands for? Read: Matthew 3:13-17.
December 23 - The threads that compose this fabric came from the wool of a sheep. Jesus called Himself the good shepherd. Do you know who His sheep are? Read: John 10:7-18.
December 24 - A marble! Do you know what is sometimes called the "Big Blue Marble"? The world. God made the world for us. What does God continue doing to the world? And who is the world? Read: John 3:16.
December 25 - Isn't this baby cute? When he was born, he made a whole family happy. Jesus was born a baby, too. He came to make the whole world happy. Read: Luke 2:1-20. Enjoy your celebration today. Continue to learn about Jesus--and love Him forever! Sent in by Nance in Reno

Case of take what you want from it, leave what you don't

nidje

I have the cloth advent calenders for my niece and nephews. In the past I've made them up using mainly the chocolate coins and chocolate santas and once a week popped in a small gift. Our local Tesco had stationary items from the back to school range really cheap last week, packs of rubbers, small highlighter pens etc., all for only a few pence. I managed to half fill a carrier bag all for only £2.96
They're getting older now so it is getting a lot harder to find small (cheap) gifts.
N x

Tibbie's_mum

QueenB. wrote:

Forgot to add we also have a family advent which is a small tree which sits on top of 24 boxes, everyday the children take it in turns to open the right draw and hang the little ornament on the tree, they then wind it up and listen to it play and turn round for a few minutes. each year when it comes to putting it away i make sure i move the ornaments around so that each year it is a surprise.

I love this idea.......I'm going to make some homemade decorations out of photos of all the members of the family, so even though they are not visiting us, it will make my three year old think of them. He's getting a bit too obsessed with presents, as Dad has brought him one home after each business trip (poor luv feels guilty being away so much), anyway the little one's getting a bit too use to expecting presents all the time, so this is an ideal way of having an advent calendar which also means something special.......many thanks for the idea!!!