How to make your own advent calendar for kids

Well it's that time of the year again isn't it - only 4 weeks left till Christmas, which means Advent starts on Sunday. In many countries around the globe Advent signifies the start of the Christmas season (or "Advent" which begins four Sundays before Christmas). On Dec 1st some lucky children can start the count down to Christmas by opening a little "door" on their advent calendar each day to get a treat. Advent calendars are a fun way to help children realise how each day they are getting closer to a big event. It can also be used to help with understanding numbers, counting and to build patience.

Most commercial Advent calendars use two layers of cardboard (on on top of each other) with twenty-four small doors cut in the top layer. Each door conceals a picture or little piece of chocolate and has a number on it that corresponds to the days in December.

Over the years people have got creative with Advent Calendars and have started making their own calendars. So if you've got a couple of hours spare this weekend, making an Advent calendar for your kids could be a great project. Here's an idea for an Icicle Advent Calendar:

All you need is some fancy cardboard (e.g. golden / silver), 24 empty match boxes (or other small boxes) and a piece of string. Cut out 24 stars and glue the match boxes on one side, write numbers from 1 to 24 on the other side with a marker pen. Pierce a hole in one of the corners of each star and tie a piece of string to each star. You can then suspend the 24 stars from a string going across - make sure you mix up the order of the stars so your kids get a bit of suspense out of finding the right number for the day. Fill each box with a little sweet, cholocate or treat. You can obviously go wild with decorating each box as well ... but that's optional. That's it - done.

Give your kids a nice surprise by hanging up your Advent calendar at night (on the 30th Nov) ready for your kids to open the "1" star first thing in the morning.

Enjoy!

-Stef