Last year, I started a tradition of filling little advent boxes for my son. Before, we had used Advent Calendars, the kind that are flat, you open a little door, and there is a saying or picture. The calendars were great when I saw my son everyday.
But now that he lives with his Dad, sometimes I do not see my son at all in December, or if I do, only very briefly. He misses me and I miss him, too. So, I started making these boxes to remind my son that I am thinking of him and to bring some joy into his life at Christmas.
I bought this set of Advent boxes on Amazon for just over $8. The price quickly shot up to over $12 but there are many to choose from. I liked the size of these, they are 3 x 3, which just perfectly fits a tennis ball, to give you an idea of the capacity. They were easy to assemble and quite sturdy for being made out of cardstock.
In each box, I put a little gift, some Christmas games, some candy. Here are some ideas for fillers.
- December 1: Christmas Lights Day – a mini set of electric Christmas lights.
- December 8: Christmas Tree Day – a tiny tinsel tree
- December 9: Christmas Card Day – some stamps and a short list of addresses
- December 11: Reindeer Day – Pocket hand sanitizer with a reindeer on it
- December 12: Gingerbread House Decorating Day – a paintable Gingerbread House ornament, complete with paints and brush (1/2 price at Michael’s)
- December 13: Cocoa Day – an envelope of cocoa mix
- December 16: Ugly Christmas Sweater Day – an ornament that looks like a sweater
- December 21: Winter Solstice – a lighted Christmas ornament, snowflake and snowman ink stamps
The other boxes got little games, paintable crafts, Reeses Trees, kisses, Ghiradelli squares, nuts, Kinder egg, etc. I also cut up a Christmas game book (Walmart, 94 cents) and put folded up the word searches and mazes. I also copied a poem out of a book and found some free printable materials on Teachers Pay Teachers, such as a Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt and a Mad Libs-type game.
On the inside of each box, I wrote a little note.
It was a lot of effort but it was worth it because after all I only have the one child. I enjoyed doing it.
Consider this for this year or next: as a Secret Santa gift, a gift for a shut-in or for a special child.
Tagged: Advent Calendar
Cool Yule 
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