Christmas Countdown Activity

 Every year I put together a countdown to Christmas activity for my kids.  I've done this for as long as I can remember, and my kids look forward to it every year!  I remember years where I tried to make it elaborate and detailed, which was a lot of fun, and years where I bought Christmas gift tags and looked up things to add to our list because I just could not come up with any more original ideas!  I think, honestly, that's where I've kind of settled with this the last few years.  My kids are getting older and we've pretty much done it all as far as the lists go, so now we have made some of the things on our list a tradition in themselves.  For example, every year we get hot chocolate and drive around looking at Christmas lights, or drop off candy to our community workers.  I also include dates that I know we will be visiting with family for the holidays and any special church activities.  We like to watch special Christmas movies, and read or listen to holiday themed stories, so I add those to our list as well.  I have typically written them down on whatever tags, or slips that I have and strung them up on twine in our kitchen.  Every morning one of the kids comes down and flips one over to read the activity for the day and then we plan when we will do that activity!  We have a lot of fun with this and have made it part of putting up our Christmas decorations.  I hope that this will be a memory that my kids will carry with them and maybe even do with their families!  Thats what its all about, right?!