The DIY advent calendar.
24 small gestures to wait for Christmas together.
A little note, a cup of hot chocolate, a walk to see the lights. A homemade advent calendar doesn't need presents: just something to open every morning and something to do together every evening. Here are 24 ideas and how to make it.
A DIY advent calendar is made of 24 small surprises, one a day from December 1 to 24: little notes, things to do together, kind gestures for someone else. A study from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Chicago shows that people who receive a small act of kindness feel better than the giver imagines.
Small gestures, bigger than you think
Amit Kumar of the University of Texas at Austin and Nicholas Epley of the University of Chicago asked people to do a small act of kindness and to imagine how the recipient would feel. Then they asked the recipients too. The study appeared in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
out of 84 people in a Chicago park chose to give their cup of hot chocolate to a stranger. They expected the recipient's mood to average 2.7 on a scale from −5 to 5. The recipients reported 3.5.
People who do something kind tend to underestimate its effect on the person who receives it. An advent calendar made of notes and small gestures is exactly that: twenty-four chances to do it, as a family.
There's also the joy of waiting. Thomas Gilovich and Amit Kumar of Cornell University, with Matthew Killingsworth, found in Psychological Science that looking forward to an experience makes people happier than looking forward to a thing. That's why, in the pockets, something to do together is often worth more than a sweet.
What's inside the pocket matters less than who opens it with you.
24 advent calendar ideas to fill the pockets
Mix notes, activities and gestures for others. Save the longer activities for the weekend.
- A memory from this year. “Remember when…” and the moment you'd love to live again.
- Something I admire about you. A different note for everyone in the family.
- The family joke. The one that still makes everyone laugh the tenth time.
- A treasure hunt. A riddle that leads to a small surprise hidden at home.
- The dinner question. “What's the best present you've ever given someone?”
- A promise. “Tomorrow, breakfast is on me.”
- Hot chocolate and a movie. Everyone on the sofa, under the same blanket.
- The Christmas lights walk. After dinner, out to see the shop windows and the balconies nearby.
- Cookies to decorate. Icing, sprinkles and no rules.
- Cards for the grandparents. Written and drawn by many hands.
- A bird feeder. To hang outside the window and watch together.
- Board game night. Whoever loses picks the game next time.
- A story by torchlight. Lights off, a Christmas tale read in a whisper.
- The ornament of the year. Everyone makes one and writes the year on the back.
- A living room picnic. A tablecloth on the rug and dinner with your hands.
- The kids choose the menu. Tonight they decide what's for dinner.
- The songs from when you were little. Mum and Dad share what they listened to at Christmas.
- Hot chocolate for someone else. For a neighbour, or someone working out in the cold.
- A note for the neighbours. Slipped through the letterbox, even unsigned.
- A toy to give away. Chosen together from the ones nobody plays with anymore.
- A call to the grandparents. With one question: “What was Christmas like when you were little?”
- A drawing for someone who lives alone. Left on their door, with season's greetings.
- A thank-you. For the teacher, the coach, the postman: the people who help us all year.
- Christmas Eve. A letter for each person, read together on the evening of the 24th.
For more ideas to repeat every year, read our family Christmas traditions.
How to make a homemade advent calendar
All it takes is one evening in November and a few things you already have at home.
- Choose the container. 24 envelopes pegged to a string, numbered paper bags, little boxes lined up on a shelf.
- Write first, open later. Get every pocket ready by November 30: December flies by.
- Check the calendar. A note on busy days, a longer activity at the weekend.
- Keep a wildcard envelope. If one day's idea can't happen, swap it for this one.
- Get everyone involved. Older children can prepare a few pockets for Mum and Dad.
- Keep the notes. A box for this year's: in a few Christmases they'll be lovely to read again.
What to write in your advent calendar notes
A few lines, written by hand. You can start here.
For children who can't read yet, swap the words for a drawing or a photo, and tell them about the activity out loud.
An advent calendar that reaches far away
Grandparents in another city, a grown-up child studying away from home, your partner travelling for work. With an Erabox Memories capsule you can prepare your messages now and have one arrive on each Sunday of Advent.
Write
A message, a photo, a recording of the voices at home. One for each Sunday: this year November 29 and December 6, 13 and 20.
Choose who will receive it
Your parents, your partner, your grown-up children, or yourself. Nobody needs to download anything: they get a personal, secure link.
Choose the day and time
Sunday morning, at breakfast time. And the little ones' notes? Gather them in a capsule to be delivered when they're grown up, for example at 18.
Erabox keeps your messages on servers in Switzerland and delivers them on the day and at the time you chose.
DIY advent calendar: common questions
Can't find your answer? Write to us from the Support page.
Guides to go further
Twenty-four pockets to open.
Words that can travel far.
Write a message for someone you love and choose the day it arrives.