Try this fun Family Literacy idea to countdown the days to Christmas!
With a Christmas book countdown to Christmas calendar, instead of a piece of candy or chocolate, your child opens a Christmas picture book every day. What a great way to count the days to the holidays!!
What you need:
So how many books will you need? If you want to start your calendar December 1st you will need to decide if you countdown to Christmas Eve or Christmas day. That’s 24 or 25 books total. You can borrow storybooks from the library, gather favourite stories from around the house or from friends and family, and maybe add a few new titles.
Wrap Your Books
Wrap enough Christmas and winter-themed books for every day of your calendar and add a numbered tag to each one. Next, unwrap books daily as a family event and have fun reading! The “togetherness” is part of the joy of this engaging holiday activity. *Tip: Rewrap after the holidays for your next countdown to Christmas!
Use Your Imagination
Here’s a chance to be creative and start your family tradition!
- Stack your books from largest to smallest to create the shape of a Christmas tree.
- Stack your books to resemble a snowman
- Put all of the books in a basket or pail
- Display the books on the mantle place
- Hide your books each day for a fun twist
Other Holiday Book Traditions You Can Start
- Start a “12 Days of Christmas” tradition with a different theme for each day. Have books to read, crafts to create, and movies or special foods to enjoy.
- Keep a basket of Christmas and winter-themed books under the tree to read aloud during the holiday season.
- Use a mixture of books and movies to create your countdown calendar!
- Go outdoors to read your books about snow.
- Wrap a new book for each child to put on their beds after they fall asleep on Christmas Eve.
- Keep a collection of Christmas books that stay in a special basket during Advent.
