So this year I had to adapt my Christmas Countdown chart just a little bit because I knew we would be moving in the middle of the month. Previous years I had allowed Jeffrey to decorate envelopes and inside we had placed an activity card for each day and then decorated our house with the envelopes. I knew trying to keep up with that would drive me nuts during a move so I found an idea for scrapbooking pockets made on 8X8 scrapbooking sheets. This worked great for us as it ended up being 6 8X8 sheets and they were easier to manage.
I have also been struggling with the consumerism of Christmas and really wanted to help my kids learn that "it is more blessed to give than receive". I decided that instead of just simply placing an activity card in each pocket I would accompany it with a Random Act of Kindness card. This was a bit hard to come up with as Bubba is only 3 and so our activities are limited to things he can participate in. The normal, "push shopping carts to the store, take suckers to a hospital" and things like that were not possible for him so I researched a ton of sites and found things that I thought fit our family age best. Obviously as we age our RAC's will age with us.
Another thing I did for pure sanity purposes was to print out everything I would need off the internet, buy and sort all the supplies for each activity and then pack a bag for each kid with everything they would need for the month. This was a little stressful for a day in November but provided a much less stressful December.
This is the list of what we did this year:
Day 1
RAC- Make candy bags to pass out to people throughout the month. I bought candy canes at the dollar store along with some zipper bags. I found a template online that I liked for little inserts and then cut them out. The saying on the insert was this, "Our family is blessed to have contact with you during this special time of year. We like to celebrate Christmas by giving instead of receiving. May you be blessed by our Random Act of Kindness". After I had all the supplies together I laid them out in an assembly line and let the kids pack the bags.
Activity- Color our Santa Countdown page. I found a fun countdown page online that is a picture of Santa where you glue a cotton ball on top of numbers for each day. I love number countdowns because it really helps with number recognition and identity. I love that the counting backwards is a skill that is not taught in a lot of kid activities so this covers all of it!!! Yay!!!! (this is not mentioned any further down but we did it daily)
Day 2
RAC-Pass out some candy bags while shopping Let's face it, we shop most every day for cookie supplies and what not during December. While out on our shopping trips we pass out our bags to the cashiers, anyone who helps us find something or a person at the drive thru while mommy gets Starbucks.:-)
Activity- Open a book!!! I purchased about 10 books for each kid at the Dollar Store. I wrapped them and put them in bags with each kid's name on them. Label each book before putting them in the bags because let's face it, spills happen and then you are left not knowing who belongs to what book.
Day 3
RAC-Buy a bag of dog food and take it to the local shelter. I happened to have some great coupons for dog food so I took the kids and they each got to pick out food around my coupons. We took the food to the shelter and also passed out candy bags to the employees. This was fun since we got our dog from a shelter!!!
Activity- A nativity coloring sheet I found online. Pinterest is GREAT for finding coloring sheets. We were able to talk about the Christmas story as they colored and it was an easy activity for me to have them do while I packed the house!!!:-)
Day 4
RAC- Tape quarter bags to washers in clubhouse. We happened to be living in an apartment at that point in the year and so we put $1.25 in quarters in little zipper bags and taped them to the washers. Inside we had a note, "You have been RACed. We placed this Random Act of Kindness here for you. We hope it brings you a smile and some joy. Take this money with no strings attached and know that you have been prayed for!! Merry Christmas!!"
Activity-Christmas tree made of paper scraps. I found this on Pinterest. I cut strips of paper that when arranged correctly looked like a Christmas tree. This was awesome because not only did it make a pretty decoration, it was also a puzzle that required them use logic to put together. LOVE it when they learn while doing something fun.
Day 5
RAC- pass out candy bags (at this point things got pretty simple because the move was starting to happen
Activity- coloring sheet
Day 6
RAC- pass out candy bags
Activity- Open a book
Day 7
RAC Tape quarter bags to vending machine (pretty much same as laundry coins but for drinks instead)
Activity- Watch a Christmas movie
Day 8
RAC buy coloring books and crayons at Dollar store and some gallon zipper bags (you will find out why later) Have the kids pick these out because this is part of a RAC for later. Let them "own" the shopping
Activity-Make Christmas cookies
Day 9
RAC Pack coloring bags. Let the kids put a book and a box of crayons in the zipper bags. Put a note inside that says, "We hope this activity brings a smile to your face. Consider yourself prayed for!" We lived across the street from a major children's Hospital. We delivered them to the nurse's station. I was not comfortable with us going into floors because we had been sick so we just delivered them to the station.
Activity- Head out! Stop and get a Krispy Kream as you head to your new home! Happy Trails!!!
Day 10
RAC pass out candy bags while on the road
Activity- coloring page (easy for them to do in the car)
Day 11
RAC pass out candy bags to hotel staff
Activity- Open a book
Day 12
RAC- Pass out candy bags while on the road
Activity- Coloring sheet
Day 13
RAC- Pass out candy bags
Activity- Welcome to your new home! Let's watch a Christmas movie tonight after we unload the truck!!!
Day 14
RAC-Tape quarter bags to vending machines while shopping for groceries
Activity- Bake some cookies!!! Let's get our new home smelling like Christmas!!! (this is a great unpacking break)
Day 15
RAC- take cookies to new neighbors
Activity- Grinch Day I found a ton of great and easy recipes on Pinterest for Grinch food. Be sure to stock up on green food coloring!!! Read the book, watch the movie and have a great evening. Again, another great excuse to stop unpacking.
Day 16
RAC- pass out candy bags while shopping (I needed to shop almost daily because of needing supplies for the house)
Activity- coloring sheet
Day 17
RAC- Food to food bank. We went to the Dollar Tree and I gave each kid $10 to buy any food that was in a can. They shopped and used their money wisely and then we delivered to the local food bank
Activity- Deck the halls!!! At this point we were ready to decorate the house!
Day 18
RAC- call distant relatives and tell them we love them!
Activity- Polar Express Day! Do we really need an excuse to read the book, watch the movie and drink hot chocolate???
Day 19
RAC Send a card to a family member with a couple of our coloring sheets in them as gifts.
Activity- Make Jello Jigglers in Christmas shapes
Day 20
RAC-Pass out 15 hugs to family throughout the day. Mark your hug off on a chart as you pass it out. (again, counting!!!!! Yay!!!)
Activity- Open a book!!
Day 21
RAC- Put a toy in the Toys for Tots bin (we normally do an Angle Tree kid per child in the house, each kid gets an Angle tree kid and shops for them however, this year that was not possible. The church we were attending did their own program and it was at a time we were not in the state. We did this in place of that this year)
Activity-Pictures with the spirit of giving! We love calling Santa that, he WAS a real man. Telling your kids he never existed is a lie. It is important to teach them about ALL the ways you can celebrate Christ and honestly I feel the giving spirit that the real Santa possessed is a great example of how a human can demonstrate Christ's love. We don't celebrate Santa but we embrace his example and his kindness. (BTW, we give Santa a candy bag too:))
Day 22
RAC- Take extra blankets to a homeless shelter. Look through your closets. I promise over the year you have collected blankets and more than you need. Let each kid take one or two or five :) to the shelter
Activity- Decorate your table for Christmas. Let the kids decorate place cards or decorations for the table
Day 23
RAC - Go give candy bags to the volunteers ringing the bells for Salvation Army
Activity- open a book!
Day 24
RAC - Call family and wish them Merry Christmas!
Activity- Jesus' Birthday Party- I have an entire celebration we do based around a special cake I bake. I will find that previous post and attach it to this one. It is fun to translate the awesomeness of the Christmas Story into a cake!!!! Always fun to eat your object lesson:-)
I hope these ideas help you create your own family countdown. I know the message is lengthy but maybe you can weed out some good ideas that fit your situation. Please know that some of these days did not happen as planned because we ended up getting really sick for a few days. We did the best we could to transfer the activities to days where I had just planned to pass out candy bags so that the special giving for our RACs would happen. The boys really seemed to enjoy this and were excited to see what was next. I hope next year we can add more RAC's to our list since we will (hopefully) not be moving.:-)
Also, my best advice is BE FLEXIBLE. When you make these cards in November there are things that you don't know which will prevent you from doing that activity for the day. Look at the cards first thing in the morning and if you don't think it is something that can happen go ahead and find a card in another day and change it out before the kids see it. There is NOTHING wrong with being flexible and changing things up to fit your schedule.:-) If this proves to be stressful then you won't stick with it:-) Merry Christmas!
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