How to create a Christmas Book Advent calendar
Traditionally, advent calendars let you open a door and find a little chocolate treasure every day from December 1 through December 24. All nice, but not something that gives an opportunity for connection. Creating a book advent calendar can become a wonderful Christmas tradition for the entire family and create an opportunity for family bonding.
There are many ways to go about creating a book advent calendar, and you can find your own special way to do it to fit your family. Here are a few suggestions from our side.
Get the 24 books ready
Get the books well in advance and hide them away so that the unwrapping is a real surprise for everyone else. Include Christmas classics with beautiful illustrations, but also children's books with themes that interest your children at that time. Keep the most beautiful, special book for opening on Christmas Eve. If you are a multicultural family, add books in other languages and books that show how Christmas is celebrated in other countries.
Wrap the books - Get your Book Advent Calendar ready!
There are different ways of going about wrapping, it depends a lot on how much effort you want to put in. With wrapping, we know that it can go from newspaper wrap to exquisite bows and ribbons. It's all up to our own style. Here are a couple of suggestions:
Divide the books into a few categories and use different wrapping paper so you can identify them easily. Then create some kind of raffle mechanism to help the family pick out what style of book to open. It can be a simple pick from the hat or a more elaborate spinner.
Use one style of wrapping paper and add numbers to each wrapped book, opening each book on its corresponding day.
Display the books
Put the books in a basket, under the Christmas tree or on a shelf. There is nothing like the sight of a wrapped item to get kids excited about an activity.
Create a festive and cosy atmosphere
Make sure all devices are off, the room is nice and cosy, everyone has a cup of something to drink and that the light is soft. The Christmas tree in the background is a must for magical family time. If you want to learn more about the art of cosiness, read about the Danish concept of Hygge in The Little Book of Hygge. We are big fans in our home!
If you are a busy family like ours, you might not have the chance to create a magical atmosphere every December evening. Don't put too much pressure on ourselves and open 2 or 3 books every few days instead when the mood is right and the entire family is relaxed instead. As you get closer to Christmas Eve, the excitement is bound to overflow!
Merry Christmas!