How to make your advent calendar
- Pick the activities. Start from one of the lists (family activities, acts of kindness, a reverse advent box or blank cards) and edit it in the box, one activity per line. Line 1 is December 1, line 2 is December 2, and so on (the line under the cursor shows its day). Leave a line empty for a day you'd rather fill in by hand: its card prints with lines to write on, and the later days stay where they are.
- Choose 24 or 25 doors. 24 counts down to Christmas Eve, like most shop-bought calendars; 25 adds Christmas Day.
- Set the look. Give it a title, pick a color, and decide whether the door numbers are mixed up or in order and whether each day shows its weekday and date.
- Check the preview. It shows the exact pages of the PDF: the door sheet, the inside sheet and the activity cards. Use the arrows to page through them.
- Download the PDF and print it one-sided at 100% (Actual size) on US Letter or A4. Many printers print on both sides by default, which would put the inside sheet on the back of the doors: switch double-sided printing off in the print dialog.
What you get
| Page | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Door sheet | Numbered doors with the cut lines dashed and the hinge dotted. Cut three sides, fold the door back, and it opens like a window. |
| Inside sheet | The activity for each day, printed in exactly the same place as its door. Glue it behind the door sheet and each door reveals its activity. |
| Activity cards | One card per day, eight to a page, with a big number, the activity and, if you like, the date. Days without an activity get lines to write on. |
You don't have to use all three. For a calendar on the fridge, the door and inside sheets are enough. For envelopes, pockets, matchboxes or a jar of folded slips, untick the door and inside sheets and print only the cards.
Putting the door calendar together
Print both sheets on ordinary paper, or the door sheet on thin card so the doors stand up to 24 openings. Cut the doors first, with a craft knife on a cutting mat or small scissors: three sides along the dashes, leaving the dotted side as the hinge. Open each door towards you along the dotted line and close it again, so the crease is ready on the day. Lay the inside sheet face up under the door sheet, line up the edges of the paper and glue along the strips between the doors and around the border. Keep glue away from the door openings, or the doors will stick shut. A sheet of colored card behind both makes a sturdier calendar to hang up.
Mixed-up door numbers are the default because looking for the day's number is half the fun for children. The inside sheet follows whatever order the doors are in, so the activities always line up. Press New order for a fresh arrangement, or untick Mix up the door numbers for 1 to 24 in rows.
Choosing activities that work
- Match the activity to the day. Tick Print the weekday and date and look at the preview: put quick things on school nights (hot chocolate, a story) and bigger projects on weekends (baking, a gingerbread house).
- Mix big and small. Not every day needs an outing. The family list has 25 ideas, most of which take less than an hour at home.
- Keep a few spare. Plans change. If a day goes wrong, swap cards with a later one: the cards are loose for exactly that reason.
- Shuffle for variety. Shuffle activities mixes the order of days 1 to 23 and leaves Christmas Eve and Christmas Day where they are.
The ready-made lists
Family activities are things to do together at home or nearby: crafts, baking, a movie night, looking at the lights. Acts of kindness turns the countdown into a good deed a day, from thank-you notes to a food bank donation; it works well for classes and scout groups too. The reverse advent list is a shopping list for a donation box: one item a day for 23 days and a reminder to take the box to a food bank on Christmas Eve. Food banks differ in what they accept, so check yours before you start. Blank prints every card with lines, for children who want to write their own.
Sharing and privacy
Share result gives you a link to your calendar. It holds the title, the settings and the activities after the # sign, so a grandparent or another class can open it and print the same calendar. Nothing is uploaded: the preview and the PDF are made in your browser, and your activities are only saved in this browser for your next visit.
More for the season: Christmas bingo cards make a good activity for one of the days, a Christmas word search fills another, and the Christmas countdown shows the days left on any screen. Planning the year after? Print a calendar for the new year.