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Advent Activity Calendar Printable (Free PDF)

A one-page Advent activity calendar with a small, free thing to do on each day from 1 to 24 December, and a blank one to fill in with your own ideas. Below it: how our online advent calendar for kids works, and how teachers use it in class.

Download the Advent activity calendar

Advent activity calendar: 24 squares, each with a small activity such as make a paper snowflake or help someone without being asked

Two pages: the calendar with 24 ideas, each with a tick box, and a blank calendar with lines for your own. Print at 100% on A4 or US Letter.

Activity calendar (A4 PDF) Activity calendar (US Letter PDF)

The 24 ideas

  1. Colour door 1 on your advent poster
  2. Make a paper snowflake for a window
  3. Draw your dream present, or write a wish list
  4. Have a Christmas song dance party
  5. Make a card for someone you love
  6. Count the Christmas lights on a walk
  7. Bake or decorate biscuits together
  8. Read a winter or Christmas story
  9. Help someone without being asked
  10. Make a paper chain for your room
  11. Play a board game with hot chocolate
  12. Pick a toy or book to give away
  13. Draw your family at Christmas
  14. Make a gift tag for a present
  15. Tell three Christmas jokes
  16. Build a blanket fort and read inside
  17. Write a thank-you note to a teacher or neighbour
  18. Make a snowman from snow, paper or playdough
  19. Have a family picture bingo night
  20. Make a decoration for the tree
  21. Solstice! Look at the sky at sunset
  22. Wrap a present for someone
  23. Watch a Christmas film with a snack
  24. Hang up your stocking and get cosy

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How the online advent calendar works

The advent calendar has 24 doors. From 1 December one more opens each day at midnight, by the date on your child’s device; past doors stay open. Behind each door is a new printable made for this calendar: 8 colouring pages, 13 puzzles and 3 paper crafts, all original Colouring Nest art. Children can colour the page on the screen (tap a colour, then a shape) or print it, and every puzzle has an answer key.

Before 1 December the calendar shows the closed doors and a countdown, and you can print the poster of all 24 doors for the fridge:

Poster (A4 PDF) Poster (US Letter PDF)

Want something to print for every day now? The free advent colouring book has 24 numbered Christmas colouring pages, one for each day, in one PDF (A4 or US Letter). Its pictures are separate from the doors, so it doesn’t spoil the calendar.

The calendar page is made for children, so it carries no prices, offers or sign-up boxes, and only non-personalised adverts at the very bottom, away from the doors. Nothing about which doors have been opened leaves the device.

Using it in the classroom

  • On the board. The classroom advent calendar has the same doors plus an idea for doing each one as a group.
  • Weekends. Tick “Open the weekend doors on Friday” and Friday opens three doors, so the class still gets all 24.
  • End of term. Pick your last day of term and every door opens from then, ready for the final afternoons or to send home.
  • Printing. Every sheet prints on A4 or US Letter at 100%, one per child. The poster enlarges well to A3 for the wall.

More ideas for the last weeks of term: Christmas classroom activities by age, the Christmas printables planner and the advent activities for kids guide.

Questions

When do the doors open?

Each door opens at midnight on its date, using the date on the device: door 1 on 1 December 2026, door 24 on Christmas Eve. Before 1 December the page shows a preview, a countdown and the poster to print. Doors that have opened stay open until the end of the season, so a child who misses a day can catch up.

Does my child need an account, or is anything tracked?

No account and no sign-up. The calendar is a children’s page: no prices, offers, sign-up boxes or personalised adverts. Which doors have been opened is stored only in that browser (localStorage), so we never see it.

What ages is it for?

Roughly 4 to 10. The colouring pages, I spy and dot to dot suit younger children; the word searches, crossword and the summer Christmas scramble suit readers from about 7. Every puzzle has an answer key.

Is it suitable for families who don’t celebrate a religious Christmas?

Yes. The calendar is secular: winter, Santa, presents, baking and kindness, with no nativity scenes, angels or church pictures. The activity calendar ideas need no food or money, except baking, which is optional.

Can I use it with my class?

Yes, free for classroom use. The classroom version adds a group idea to every door, opens weekend doors on Friday and opens every door from your last day of term.

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