Christmas Countdown For Kids Using Books
Create a memorable Christmas countdown for kids with a fun book-themed advent calendar! Discover tips for selecting festive stories, organizing the countdown, and making reading a holiday tradition.
Why Use Books For Celebrating Advent?
Using books to celebrate Advent offers a simple, meaningful way to enjoy the holiday season together as a family. Instead of store-bought advent calendars, a Christmas book advent calendar brings the joy of reading into your daily routine this time of year.Â
During the busy season, finding time to read with your kids can be tough, but this tradition allows for a few sweet moments of connection each day. It’s often the simple traditions, like snuggling up by the tree with a Christmas story, that children remember and cherish as they grow older.
Holiday traditions don’t have to be extravagant. I’ve found that it’s the more simple traditions that my children seem to love the most. I hope as they grow older they remember snuggling up together by the Christmas tree and sharing a good holiday story.
How to Choose Books for Your Advent
When choosing books for an Advent countdown, look for a mix of classic holiday tales and new festive favorites. Consider including a variety of short stories, picture books, and longer reads to keep things interesting for all ages. It’s also fun to incorporate books that reflect family traditions or focus on themes like kindness, giving, and togetherness to enhance the holiday spirit.
Read-Aloud Revival is a really great resource for wonderful holiday book suggestions. There you’ll find lists for all ages and reading levels.
I recommend choosing picture books that can easily be read in less than 15 minutes. I believe picture books are great for kids of all ages not just young kids!
How Many Books Do I Need?
Most advent calendars begin on December 1st and end on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning, so you’ll need 24 or 25 books in order to unwrap a book a day. If this is your first year collecting and wrapping Christmas books for Advent I would suggest beginning with the books you have on hand and adding a few more to your collection each year.
Most likely you don’t have 25 different holiday books and that’s perfectly fine. Work with what you have! Maybe you have 12 so you celebrate the 12 days of Christmas with a book each day.
Each year I pick up one or two new books to add to our collection. These make great gifts and build excitement for reading. We have well over 25 books now so I wrap up our favorites and display the others in a basket as well.
Saving Money on Books for Your Collection
I am most certainly not suggesting you rush out and purchase 25 new Christmas books. There are a few ways to save money and still give your children a fun new tradition.
My favorite places to shop for books are thrift stores! In fact, the majority of my children’s books are secondhand and well-loved. So take a little trip to your local thrift store and peruse the book section. You may be surprised at the treasures others give away.
Did you know there are lots of booksellers who use Instagram? Try searching hashtags such as #livingbooks or #ftlob_available for quality literature. This is likely to lead you down a rabbit hole of great virtual used book shops.
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Another suggestion would be to visit your local library and check out a few books to borrow and add to your own. This is a great way to save money. Just be sure you return them on time!
Why Should I Wrap My Holiday Books?
Reading is a GIFT! Every day for the entire month of December my children enjoy choosing one wrapped book from the basket to unwrap and read together. It’s something so simple that they really look forward to.
Sure, you could just gather and display all of your holiday books but how much more fun is the surprise even if you’ve read the book ten times?
Ideas For Wrapping Books
Wrapping 25 books is a lot of work. I get it. However, it’s a sweet and simple way to enjoy a few moments together each day amidst the busyness of the holiday season.
I like to use brown craft paper that you can get in most craft sections but feel free to use Christmas paper if you like. You could even go the extra mile and add Christmas ribbon and bows, but I prefer to keep it simple.
So make a cup of coffee, put on your favorite Christmas playlist or holiday movie, and wrap those books. I promise you won’t regret it and your children won’t forget it!
Helpful Tips & Suggestions
- Have coloring books, blocks, playdoh, or even a little treat like candy canes or hot cocoa available for your younger kids to enjoy while you’re reading so there’s less distraction.
- Add numbers to your wrapped books if you like the idea of reading them in a certain order. However, I’ve found that my kids love choosing their own for the day of Advent just based on the size and shape of the wrapped book.Â
- Choose a mix of reading levels and have your child read aloud to you. It’s a good way to sneak in a little extra reading during the holiday break.Â
- Have your last book unwrapped on Christmas Day and maybe hide a gift card to your local bookstore inside as a special surprise to enjoy in the new year!
Additional Christmas Countdown Activities
- Countdown Paper Chains:Â This is such a simple activity. Cut slips of red and green construction paper and chain link them together. Each day your kids can break a chain link symbolizing one less day until Christmas.
- Christmas Activity Jar – Fill a mason jar with 25 fun Christmas activities (like baking cookies, making a gingerbread house, or watching Christmas movies), and pick one each day to celebrate the Advent season.
What do you think? Will you give your kids the gift of reading together this holiday season? I’d love to hear your Christmas traditions in the comments section below!
Merry Christmas
