DIY BOOK ADVENT CALENDAR makes a perfect recycled wrap Christmas gift for kids who love a mystery read during this Holiday season.
How about a DIY BOOK ADVENT CALENDAR! Your little one will LOVE old books turned new under a Christmas Tree daily surprise! And, you do not need to wrap all 24 books! A lot of people wrap just 12 and some even less! Do what works for your family! Also, I have been accumulating Christmas books for over ten years! However, you can use a library as a source or even borrow books from friends! Children care more about quality rather than quantity! They love the surprise, the mystery, the enchantment! Most importantly, you can achieve all that with just a few books wrapped in recycled paper! Besides, these ‘old’ books make a perfect Recycled Wrap Christmas Gift!
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You can go totally ♻️ recycled by using free brown shopping bags, or you can purchase inexpensive brown paper rolls or even use newspaper 🗞!
YOU’LL NEED for this DIY BOOK ADVENT CALENDAR
- recycled brown paper bags
- paints
- cookie cutters
- clothespins
- twine / yarn
- bio glitter (optional and you can totally skip it)
SEE the HOLIDAY BOOK list HERE and also below.
HOLIDAY | WINTER BOOKLIST
See HERE a summary post “Christmas Inspired Books” we have been enjoying reading as well as links to blog posts where we brought books to life through small world play.
ADVENT Book Christmas Countdown Tree 2018
The year (2018), we started the ADVENT Books Countdown Tree. These special books have either been purchased or gifted since Julia was born, and I do not keep them out the entire year. They only appear during the month of December and are kept away for the rest of the year, so they are as good as “new” to my children. This is a very special tradition, and I am glad we are starting it. The precious moments of reading together are something both my children and I are looking forward to. (We try to read every night, but unwrapping a special “gift” adds a little holiday magic to our everyday reading.) See details and links about books here. Some of the new additions that I am very excited for are:
- Jan Brett’s Christmas Treasury (Hardcover) is an absolute must Christmas book! It includes seven of Jan Brett’s most beloved Yuletide titles: The Night Before Christmas, Trouble with Trolls, Christmas Trolls, The Mitten, The Hat, The Twelve Days of Christmas, and The Wild Christmas Reindeer. And Jan Brett’s illustrations, borders, and style make children beg “one more page Mommy!”
- Wonderful Winter: All Kinds of Winter Facts and Fun (We have the Awesome Autumn book from this collection and we loved it!) I am sure this one will be much enjoyed as well.
DIY BOOK ADVENT CALENDAR
I have heard that some choose to wrap less than 24/25 books because of the “pressure” of reading every day, but hey! if you cannot find five minutes a day to cuddle up and read a holiday favorite, what is this season stands for? Granted, there will be days that you might not get to it, but just double up the next day! Some books are small and take less than five minutes to read and with big books, just pick one story a day! So, I have wrapped twenty-five books, numbering each since some books are meant to be read early ~ like The Legend of St. Nicholas ~ which we read on December 5th, about a boy Nick who, after inheriting large money, decides anonymously help his friends and those in need. (See details here.)
I then arranged the books by size rather than numerically to resemble the pine tree’s shape ~ largest books on the bottom ~ smaller on the top. This is also a great opportunity to discuss a calendar, history and time, as children will have to figure out what date it is and choose that number book: for example, they will start with the book #1 on December 1st, book #2 on December 2nd and so forth. Moreover, sneak in a numeracy lesson by playing a game: “Can you find a number _?” as numbers are in sporadic order and your child would have to find the number corresponding to today’s date.
Also, this year for our DIY BOOK ADVENT CALENDAR, we used Jumbo Circular Washable Pads to make our own DIY wrapping paper from a white recycled craft paper roll paper (40 lb, 48 Inches x 200 Feet for $18). To make a “print” I traced with a pen and then cut out a tree shape out of the dishwashing sponge. The craft paper is a little transparent, but decorating it with ink prints helps to obscure the contents. (We also used this paper to make hand-print DIY birthday wrapping paper.)
This was a very special process where children helped me wrap all the twenty-five books (25th being The Story of Christmas Board book, which we will read on Christmas Day). We also had fun making prints while listening and humming to holiday favorite music! What are your Advent traditions?
Some of the other great books that did not make this Advent Book Tree, but will be in the next year’s are:
- Jan Brett’s illustrations ~ The Night Before Christmas ~ comes with a DVD
- another absolute classic favorite book that we create a sensory bin with is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Lift-the-Tab which we pair with these figurines and children love watching the Christmas classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer DVD
- board book Twas The Night Before Christmas (we absolutely love the festive rhymes, many of which children know by heart!)
ADVENT I-SPY SANTA LETTER
With this 24 Days of December Christmas ADVENT I-SPY Kids Activity Pack that includes two SANTA LETTER templates, you no longer need to search or pin daily holiday tasks or scavenger hunts! Everything is planned and organized for you, including the 24 days of December tasks which are to keep the spirit of Christmas glowing while spreading kindness and encouraging giving and sharing. Also, included with this pack are 2 PAGEs vintage watercolor scavenger hunts to seek and find either indoors or outdoors!
SEE ALL THE DETAILS ON MY BLOG HERE.
FOR MORE CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES
SEE OUR CHRISTMAS UNIT STUDY ON MY BLOG
PENNE PASTA CHRISTMAS TREE
See HERE PASTA CHRISTMAS TREE CRAFT
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