My fondest memories as a child are of family Christmas traditions, especially our kids advent calendar!
Advent is a bit of a dusty word that has regained popularity in recent years. The tradition has been a part of the Christian church since as early as 480 AD and is focused on the expectant waiting and preparation for the birth of Christ.

In its most traditional form, families share daily Bible readings and light a candle each Sunday. Of course, traditions surrounding this vary widely from family to family.
When I was little, we had a kids advent calendar every single year. It was a tall piece of felt with 24 little pockets, one for each day in December leading up to Christmas. My sister and I couldn’t wait to count down the days by peeking in the pocket each day. My mom always filled the day’s pocket with a little piece of candy and fun notes.
Of course, I continued the same tradition with my kids. One of the first gifts I asked for as a pregnant mom was an advent calendar. I found this cute nativity kids advent calendar I fell in love with. Inside the box each day was a figure to help tell the story of Jesus’ birth. It was beautiful!
When the kids were old enough, I started adding little pieces of candy in the boxes. I loved watching the kids squeal with delight as they opened the boxes each day. (There’s something so incredibly special about continuing a family tradition like this!)
One year as I was dusting off the Christmas boxes stacked high from the attic, I realized one thing that was missing. I’ve always been so intentional to make Christ the center of this season. I’ve gone out of my way to make sure that all activities point to the real reason for the season, so we don’t get tangled up in the materialism of it all. But this one little tradition was missing that deeper Christ-centered approach.
While it’s true that it is a nativity scene we are building, it’s also true that the focus was pretty shallow. So I purposed to combine the parts I cherished with a deeper focus and created a kids advent calendar reading plan.

The idea is simple. Each day there is a small slip of paper with a Bible reading. The first year, I placed the slips inside the box along with the candy and the figures.
The second year, I glued wrapping paper on the back and then cut out the strips. I created a paper chain and hung it from the tree to serve as our countdown. (The box was getting a bit crowded. Plus this was a fun visual.)

Of course, I wouldn’t dare show you such cute printables without sharing them with you! You can find these kids advent calendar reading plan printables in our Christian Holidays Printable Pack at the bottom of this post. Or click here if you are feeling impatient. Haha.
Favorite Kids Advent Calendar Ideas
In recent years, I’ve taken to using a bag as a supplement. I have four big kids now, so it’s challenging to get candy in those little boxes. Plus, I’ve tried to mix it up and include non-candy items such as small gifts, activities, and even movie nights.
I try to plan the whole thing in advance the best I can, but I number all of the bags on the back and keep a master list of what’s inside. That way if a movie night won’t work on a particular day, I can switch it out with another one.
To create your own banister kids advent calendar, you’ll need these items:
- Small favor bags (red stripes or multicolor)
- Festive clothespins (snowflakes or hearts/trees)
- Tulle ribbon (multi-color set)
- Goodies to fill the bags
If you don’t have a banister, you can string this up on a fireplace or anywhere else you can hang things. You could also have a box under the tree or you could just have one new one show up on the kitchen table each morning.

My kids love this tradition as much as I do. In fact, they count down the days until it begins each year. Oh, and that wooden nativity kids advent calendar we started with all those years ago? We still use it every single year. The older kids say it just wouldn’t be Christmas without it. The first thing they want to do is open the box to see which figure goes up.
I must admit that the gift giver in me absolutely loves to plan this out, too. I frequent the dollar section and dollar stores for special finds. I also use this as an opportunity to spend cherished family time together and have things we ordinarily try to keep at a minimum (like candy and hot chocolate).
Some of our favorite kids advent calendar bag items are:
- Money in various amounts like $1, $5, or even $10
- Tickets for fun places like the ballet, sporting event, or museum
- Hot chocolate packs
- Small iTunes gift cards
- A movie night together (We love ELF!)
- Christmas socks
- Homeschool free day
- Christmas chapstick
- New family board game (this year the kids are getting Ticket to Ride – Shhh)
- Chick-fil-A gift cards
- Bath salts or bathtub paint
- Craft to create as a family (I usually search Pinterest or make these up, but there are also great kits like these.)
- Nutella (Crazy how much they want this stuff!)
Also, if the items don’t fit in the bag, I put a little clue to where they are hiding. These are usually the ones that generate the most excitement.
Christmas Books
Another way to count down until Christmas is to wrap a Christmas book for each night and read them together as a family. We’ve done this together for years and still enjoy the time cuddled up together with our favorite books!

Merry Christmas, my friends. I pray that this free printable and the advent calendar for kids ideas help you get into God’s Word this year, as I know it will bless you!
Download your Advent calendar for kids printables today:
Get your free Advent calendar for kids reading plan! Simply click the image below, enter your name and email, and the printable will be sent straight to your inbox! Easy-peasy. I pray this is your most memorable Christmas yet!
Beth says
I absolutely love this idea! I was just thinking about making an Advent Calendar and what to put into it. Thanks for all your hard work.
Anna says
Thank you for this lovely idea. What a wonderful way to begin each day.
Kathryn says
Thank you for this and your other printables. I am excited to use the advent and RACK ideas!
Kay J says
THANK YOU
Kaylene says
Hi! I absolutely love this post! I am a bible newbie, and I have been looking for ways for my family and I to focus on Christ this Christmas. I’m doing a roundup on my blog of the Top Ten Advent Activities, and I plan to link to this post. I’d love to include your photo if that is alright with you. Thank you, again, for such a helpful post!!
Kim Sorgius says
Sure. You may include the photo. Thank you!!
Robin says
Thanks much for sharing, Kim. BTW – darling font for the date. What is the name of that font?
Kathryn says
Thank you so much for the printable Advent scriptures. I made my own Advent pocket calendar to use with my kiddos and wanted to insert slips of scriptures to encourage them to delve into the bible every day. This is perfect!
Christy says
So appreciating this – thank you for sharing!
Jen Wagner (Love Vibrant Mom) says
What a great idea! I found this on Pinterest and am currently doing this with my daughters. They are loving it and so am I!
http://lovevibrantmom.blogspot.com
Michelle says
This is extremely generous! What a wonderful free resource! Thank you so much!
Cristina says
I had an idea to make a count down clendar with my catecism class, but couldn’t find wat to put on the paper chain. This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for this great resource.
Suzanne says
Yes, just click the image in the post and you can easily request them there!
Suzanne@NotConsumed
Suzanne says
Hi Jessica,
I’m sorry you are having trouble. The link to the printables should be working properly. If you are still having trouble please email us at Kim@Notconsumed.com and we will try to help resolve the problem! 🙂
Suzanne@Not Consumed
Nyla says
Thank you! I didn’t not totally realize what all this bundle included but it blessed me greatly! I LOVE how you are pointing people to Jesus!!
Jodie Shirley says
wow amazing! Loving the download thank you for all your hard work
Treva says
God has given you a wonderful talent. Thank you for the ideas!
Kimberly says
Thank you sooooooo much!!
Amanda says
Thank you, Kim! You are a wonderful inspiration! Thank you for all that you do for us homeschooling mamas!