Holiday Countdown: 30+ Festive Activities for Kids

November 5, 2025 - By Kristine

For me, the emphasis on excessive consumerism leeches a lot of the magic from the holiday season. And I must admit that for many years this over commodification of Christmas nearly completely turned me off to celebrating this time of year.

But, a few years ago, I realized I wanted to do something special to infuse my daughter’s childhood with wonder and magic during the holiday season. So, I decided to create meaningful rituals for our family that shifted the focus from buying all the things to handicrafts, special homemade foods, outdoor activities, and most importantly, quality time spent together.

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When I was a child, one of my favorite things about the holidays was our “Jesse tree” advent calendar. We had a little book of Bible stories and my mom handmade an ornament to coordinate with each day’s story, for the first 25 days of December. In the spirit of this beloved tradition from my own childhood, I created my own version for my kids, a holiday count down that includes crafts, activities, and stories. It’s become something my daughter and I look forward to each December and this year will be extra special because my middle son is old enough to participate as well.

I’ve decided to share it here, so that other families who are looking for a meaningful way to celebrate this festive time of year can join in the fun too!

Activities for your Holiday Countdown

Here is a list of 35 activities to bring a little magic to your holiday season. I’ve designed corresponding printable so that you can cut out the little paper slips and pick and choose which activities to fill in the slots of your own advent or solstice countdown calendar.

I designed this countdown to be flexible, making it easy to customize for your family. I purposely added a few extra days of activities in case you want to omit some that aren’t relevant for you, do a few of them on one day, or make it a month-long celebration, choosing a daily activity for every day of December.

I’m using this darling little advent calendar tree my mom made us. You can get one here in her Etsy shop.

Festive Crafts

Crafts are a great creative outlet for you and your little ones. Making things together is a fun way to spend time quality time. These types of projects also have developmental benefits for kids. Crafting promotes mental growth and problem solving. Painting, coloring, cutting, pasting helps kids hone their fine motor skills.

Make DIY gifts

There’s nothing like homemade gifts. They can be personalized to fit the tastes of their recipients, they’re often less expensive than store bought presents, and they’re fun to make too!

Herbal body care products make great gifts! Here are a few of my favorites:

And for kids, this Foraging Pouch is an easy DIY project they’ll love using on outdoor adventures.

For even more great DIY gift ideas, check out my ebook, Homemade Herbal Gifts. You’ll get 20 beginner-friendly tutorials for just $3, including:

Edible Gifts—

Dill Seed Honey Mustard
Pine Lime Bars
Lion’s Mane & Maca Chocolates
Seasoned Salt Blends
Cardamom Hot Cocoa Mix
Honeyed Vanilla Whiskey

Self Care Gifts—

Peppermint Cacao Lip Balm
Rosemary Mint Facial Toner
Green Tea & Rose Skin Serum
Chamomile Beard Balm
Woodland Lotion Bars
Soothing Facial Scrub
Spiced Brown Sugar Scrub Bars
Butterfly Pea Shampoo Bars
Lemon Poppyseed Soap
Chocolate Orange Bath Salts
Warming Muscle Salve
Calming Magnesium Spray

Gifts for Kids—

Woodland Playdough
Herbal Chalk

Make Ornaments

Handmade ornaments are so sweet and a lot more affordable than ones you’ll find at the store. Plus, making them together as a family is a fun way to create holiday memories.

When my sister & I were kids we made cinnamon ornaments with our mom. And she still has them to this day! Here’s the recipe she used:

There are lots more great options for homemade ornaments. These mosaic spice ornaments are cute and look so fun to make. And these salt dough mushroom ornaments are adorable too!

If you and your little ones like to sew, felt ornaments are a fairly simple option. Check out these super cute Advent Calendar ornament patterns from What a Curly Life. My daughter and I look forward to making these each year. Two years ago, she made the fox and I made the snow globe. And last year she made a gingerbread girl and I made these sweet little personalized beanie ornaments for each of my kids.

Make a wreath

In ancient times, wreaths were used to signify the cyclical nature of life. They were often made with evergreens, a symbol of rebirth & renewal. Wreaths were hung around the home as a part of Yule or Solstice rituals and given as gifts to symbolize the infinity of goodwill, friendship & joyfulness.

Making wreaths from foraged evergreens is a great way to pair craft time with an outdoor adventure. Pine, fir, and spruce are great options, and you probably have at least one of them growing near your home. Find a helpful tutorial with step-by-step instructions for making a foraged wreath with kids here.

Cut out paper snowflakes

This is a classic wintertime craft that requires minimal supplies and setup, and is easy for both kids & adults. After making your snowflakes, hang them on the windows or walls, use them to decorate Christmas cards or gift bags, or make them into a snowflake chain.

If you haven’t made paper snowflakes before or just need a little refresher, check out this paper snowflake tutorial. We’ve also used these free templates and they turned out really cute (pictured above).

Last year we had a lot of fun with these awesome animal paper snowflake templates from Anna Villanyi. They turn out so cool!

Make DIY gift wrap

Making your own gift wrap is fun and easy! I love using homemade stamps as it’s really simple and always turns out super cute. Find my full tutorial for DIY Stamped Wrapping Paper here.

For another fun DIY gift wrapping idea, check out this post + tutorial Furoshiki: The Art of Sustainable Wrapping.

Make holiday candles

Candles are a fun craft and would be lovely holiday gifts. Try making these hand rolled herbal beeswax candles from Harmonie or this aromatic Yule Forest candle from Anna.

Make bird seed ornaments

Decorate an outdoor tree with ornaments that local birds can eat. Julia shares a lovely tutorial here.

Activities for Kids

Make holiday cards

This is a fun and simple holiday activity. You’ll just need card stock and markers, paints, crayons, colored pencils, and whatever other art supplies you desire.

Fold the card stock in halves (or fourths so you can cut it into 2 cards). Then let your child decorate as they wish.

Last year we used the stamp technique from my wrapping paper tutorial to make stamped cards. My daughter and her friend loved this activity and their cards turned out so cute!

Color in a festive Holiday coloring book

I designed a fun little holiday coloring book that I’m offering for free when you sign up for my newsletter.

Cut out & color gift tags

Let your little one personalize your gift tags this year. At the back of my holiday coloring book there are a few pages of gift tags kids can cut out and color.

Snowman Cut & Paste Coloring Pages

My daughter loves cut & paste activities! So, I designed a festive one for her and am sharing it with all of you too! Get it for free when you sign up for my newsletter.

Christmas Yoga for Kids

Festive yoga is a fun way to get kids moving their bodies a bit in the winter months when they tend to be spending more time indoors. Try these Christmas yoga poses or this winter themed yoga video.

Seasonal Reading

Winter is the perfect time to cozy up with a good book! I’ve planned our December reading time to include seasonal folk tales, educational tidbits, stories, and poetry.

Read about the Winter Solstice

The Shortest Day by Wendy Pfeffer

Read a Winter Poem

The Illustrated Robert Frost: 15 Winter Poems for Children. Illustrated by Kerrianne Jelinek

Read about Animals in the Wintertime

What do animals do in the wintertime? Read a book (or two) about it with your little ones. Here’s two we enjoy.

Winter Sleep: A Hibernation Story by Alex Morss and Sean Taylor or
Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messier

Family Rituals

*Christmas cookies I baked with my daughter*

Truly, the best thing about the holiday season is creating memories with my kids and infusing some magic into their childhoods. Here’s a few festive family traditions we enjoy.

Put up Christmas/Yule tree

Go cut down a tree yourself or plant one in a pot and grow your own Christmas tree!

Put on upbeat Christmas music & dance!

Get moving together and sing along to your favorite Christmas songs.

Watch a Christmas movie as a family

I must confess that I love Christmas movies. I’m a feel-good, cheesy movie kind of person which is definitely the vibe of most holiday films.

Make a Gingerbread House

We love making our own gingerbread cookie house pieces and then building a customized gingerbread masterpiece. We use this Gingerbread House Cookie Cutter Set to make the cookie pieces to assemble our house.

Enjoy a holiday feast!

We don’t do a “classic” holiday meal, but I love to make a big, festive feast a part of our holiday celebrations. Our family’s traditional Christmas dinner is pork ribs (my daughter’s favorite food) with my homemade pine BBQ sauce.

Bake Christmas cookies

This may just be my favorite holiday ritual. As a kid, I loved baking cookies with my mom and now I’m carrying on the tradition with my own daughter.

Here are some of our favorites:

Burn a Yule Log

The Yule Log was originally an old Norse solstice ritual. Today, yule logs are used as decorative centerpieces and many folks still burn them in accordance with this ancient tradition. You can burn it in a fireplace, if you have one, or outside in a fire pit.

Make burning your Yule log a special family ritual. Gather around the fire while it burns. Share mugs of hot cocoa or eggnog and discuss what you are grateful for this holiday season and what hopes and dreams you have for the upcoming year.

Tell a Family Holiday Story

Recount a holiday story from when you were young. Describe a favorite family tradition you had, or a cherished memory from a holiday gathering.

Go to a local holiday play, parade, or concert

Attending some sort of local holiday event as a family can be a lot of fun!

Outdoor Activities

Build a snowman or make a some holiday mud pies

Building a snowman is one of those timeless winter activities that is a great way to spend a winter afternoon. If you don’t have snow, make a faux holiday feast out of mud instead!

Forage evergreens

Winter is a wonderful time to forage evergreens, which are one of the few things that are still lush and green in the colder months (if you live in a temperate climate). Use your foraged evergreens to make holiday decor or incorporate in your Christmas baking, like these Pine Snickerdoodle cookies.

Go for a hike

Winter can be a great time to hike! Exercise, time in nature, and fresh air are all great reasons to get outside and go for wintertime hikes.

Look for animal tracks

Winter is a great time to hunt for animal tracks because they’re easily visible in both snow and mud. And since there’s less vegetation, they’re easier to spot.

Have a picnic

Winter picnics are a fun way to get outdoors. Get bundled up in warm clothes and pack up a blanket, thermos of hot cocoa, and something tasty to eat. You may even want to build a fire and cook a meal over it.

Go camping

Winter camping isn’t for everyone, but it could be a unique bonding experience for your family, if you’re feeling adventurous. Check out this article from my Tales of a Mountain Mama team member, Mary, where she discusses Winter Camping with Kids (and why you might want to do it!)

Hoping this countdown inspires you to have a magical, connected holiday season with your little ones! Quality time spent with the people we love is truly the best gift of all.

Find the supplemental materials I mentioned in the post in our online shop, including:

activity slips to accompany the holiday countdown— perfect for filling an advent or putting into a jar & drawing one out everyday during the holiday season
holiday coloring book, complete with gift tags your child can cut out & color
snowman cut & paste coloring pages