Today I am sharing with you 25 Almost Free Christmas Countdown Activities you can enjoy with your families as you celebrate the season!

Once December rolls around, our children cannot wait until I put up our Christmas Countdown Santa. This is a huge felt Santa that I transformed into an Advent Calendar by adding felt pockets with cutesy embellishments on Santa’s beard.

Each little pocket is filled with a simple, almost free family friendly event that is guaranteed to make tons of memories for you and your children.

The goal of all the free christmas countdown activities is to have a wonderful, fun filled holiday with your family without stressing you out or breaking the bank! This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. Click here to see my complete disclosure policy.

25 Almost Free Christmas Countdown Activities

1. Letter to Santa

Writing letters to Santa is always the first Christmas countdown activity. Santa (and this Mama) always needs a little guidance in the gift giving department.

In our family each child must ask for four things: something to wear, something to read, something they need, and something they really, really want. After these four things are listed I often encourage them to think of a few other items for family to buy.

Free printables are awesome and I love these three choices:

• Letter to Santa Free Printable from Uncommon Designs
• Free Printable Christmas Wishlist from What Mommy Does
• Free Printable Santa Letter from Simplistically Living

2. Rudolph Pancake Night

None of us can deny that many of our Christmas memories involve certain tv shows and movies. Our Christmas countdown schedule always plans around when our favorite holiday shows will air.

“Rudolph” is usually one of the first and we celebrate the night be having Rudolph pancakes for dinner.

The reindeer’s head and antlers are pancakes (or bacon if you’ve like). After the pancakes have cooled a bit the children use chocolate chips for the mouth and eyes. Of course, Rudolph’s nose is a maraschino cherry.

Plus who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner?

3. Inside Snow Throw

Honey’s mother loved the look of fluffy snow on her Christmas trees. We continue the tradition by having an Inside Snow Throw Party with a couple of bags of plastic snowflakes. It only cost a few dollars a bag and really gives our Christmas tree the “snowy” look we love.

4. Hometown Christmas Tree Lighting

We are so lucky to have a fantastic downtown that hosts a community Christmas tree lighting each year. There’s carols to sing, cookies to eat, and hot chocolate to enjoy. It’s all free!

5. Gingerbread Houses

Building a gingerbread house is every kid’s dream. Our boys love gluing the house together with icing while Tootsie loves placing each candy exactly where she wants it.

Since we have three children our one house has turned into a small gingerbread village.

Here’s a few ideas to get you started:

• Mini Village Gingerbread House Kit ~ our favorite since we have 3 kiddos
• Gingerbread Train Kit
• Gingerbread Tree Kit

The bonus is they get to eat their creations!

6. Slumber Party Under the Christmas Tree

Grab the sleeping bags and set up camp under the glowing light of the Christmas tree. This is one Christmas countdown activity that will guarantee they go to bed early.

Notice I said go to “bed” not actually sleep.

7. Letter to Santa asking for Elf

Our family got our elf, Herbie, way before The Elf on the Shelf made his debut. Santa sends our mischievous elf to our home after we write a letter asking for him. We make a big production of writing the letter and placing it in the mailbox.

Our mail lady knows Santa’s address by heart, don’t you know?

Here’s a picture of Herbie with our Snow Throw Party material!

8. Visit Santa

Take a holiday field trip to the closest mall to let your little ones visit with Santa. You can choose to pay for pictures but hugs are free!

9. Gingerbread Man

The preschool teacher in me loves to read aloud to my children. “The Gingerbread Man” is one of our favorites and after we finish the book we head to the kitchen to bake up our own gingerbread man using this Giant Gingerbread Boy Cookie Pan.

This gingerbread boy pan is much loved in our house. They can’t wait until the day when we work together to bake and decorate him!

10. “Santa Clause” Movie and Snack Necklaces

I have to admit each of the “Santa Clause” movies hold a sweet place in my heart. These movies were on a 24 hour repeat during our first mountain trip when the littles were really little.

Every time I watch them I remember snuggling with my babies.

To make the movie extra fun we create snack necklaces with Fruit Loops and a few other candies suitable for stringing on yarn.

11. Local Christmas Lights Display

In addition to the downtown tree lighting ceremony, there are nearby gardens that have lighted holiday displays. There is over a mile of pathways illuminated to create a holiday fantasy land. Of course, it is free to the community.

Do a little research in your hometown to see what free christmas countdown activities are available.

13. Hallmark’s NorthPole Communicator*

This is something we started using last year, and it is SO fun! It’s a product that is part of Hallmark’s Northpole line, and it’s something we’ve really enjoyed doing each morning before the children go to school.

Basically, every day from December 1st to December 25th, you can call the North Pole and talk with Santa, Mrs. Claus, or one of the elves. The person you are talking to is obviously a recording, but it was created very cleverly so when you answer a question, their response is pretty spot on to whatever you said. You can get a different cartridge each year, so there’s definitely responses every year.

You can read more about Hallmark’s Northpole Communicator {here}.

14. Bake Treats  for Neighbors

Baking with children is definitely a great way to make memories and spend the day.

Just remember: don’t try to recreate a Pinterest masterpiece with the children flinging flour all over the kitchen.

15. Neighborhood Caroling

After we bake treats for our neighbors, we sing our way down the street as we deliver the goodies. Truth be told, last year all our caroling consisted of one song: Jingle Bells!

Maybe this year I can talk them into adding “Here Comes Santa Claus” to our songlist.

16. “Frosty” Night with Ice Cream Floats

Celebrate watching Frosty the Snowman with yummy ice cream floats for dessert. The children will love you for it! One of our kids favorite free christmas countdown activities.

17. Christmas Drive Scavenger Hunt

Oh my goodness! Our children loved this free christmas countdown activities!

With hot chocolate and wearing our pajamas, we go searching for all the signs of Christmas we can find. Just like with the kids’ Christmas list I wrote and drew simple pictures for specific items for us to find.

A few things we looked for were:

• Baby Jesus
• Rudolph
• Snowmen
• A Christmas Tree
• Colored lights

This year I am going to take a drive around the neighborhood so I know exactly what we need to look for. This will prevent our family riding around for a hour looking for a Santa Snoopy that can’t be found.

Here’s a few FREE printables you might enjoy:

• Christmas Scavenger Hunt from Stuffed Suitcase
• Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt from All for the Boys
• Christmas Light Scavenger Hunt Printable from Create Craft Love

18. “Elf” Movie and Coke Guzzling Contest

Before we sit down to watch Elf, we have a Coke Guzzling Contest just like Buddy. Whoever can drink the most wins!

Yep. They loved this one too!

19. Handmade Cards for Neighbors and Teachers

Using colored papers, paint, and stickers the children will make handmade cards for their favorite people. Again this is not the time to create a Pinterest masterpiece.

Just let them go with the art materials!

20. Decorate an Outside Tree

The sweet birds and other wildlife get hungry during the winter months. Make their Christmas by decorating an outside tree with rice cakes smeared with peanut butter and covered with bird seed.

21. Snowflake Party

Just a handful of coffee filters and safety scissors are all they will need to make a snowflake party! Snow is pretty rare in South Carolina so they loved decorating with their one of a kind creations.

We also love using coffee filters to make Easy Christmas Ornaments. It’s a simple holiday craft for kids!

22. Hometown Christmas Parade

Who doesn’t love a parade? Check around your community to see when one will be held.

23. Super Spy Christmas Shopping

This is SO much fun! The entire family goes shopping but split into teams once we arrive at the store. One boy goes with Honey while the other two come with me. Their mission is to buy a Christmas gifts for each other and the other parent without getting caught!

We always give them a small budget and a list of suggested items to purchase. This will hopefully make the shopping trip as efficient as possible.

The boys really got into Super Spy Shopping last year! I wish I had a picture of them slinking around corners trying not to be seen by their brother.

24. Christmas Tree Desserts

Sugar ice cream cones. Green icing. Candy. Serious fun!

25. Surprise Snowballs

All you need for this fun Christmas countdown activity is a package of white streamers, small toys, and candy.  The goal is to make a snowball as you wrap goodies inside the streamer.

To find each goodie, the children unwrap the snowball. So much fun! {Click here} to find out exactly how to make these DIY Christmas Gifts for Kids!

26. Birthday Cake for Baby Jesus!

The real reason for the season is Christ’s birth. We celebrate by baking a birthday cake for Baby Jesus!

I hope all of these Almost Free Christmas Countdown Activities will keep your little ones excited about the holiday.

If you have more ideas to add to this Almost Free Christmas Countdown, I would love to hear about them. I’ve got my list started for this year’s fun but am always looking for more suggestions.

Now… Go make memories with your children and Merry Christmas!

Holiday decorating on a budget is one of my favorite things!

Love money saving holiday decor? Check out these DIY projects!

Holiday Decorating on a Budget

• Snowflake Plate Charger ~ It’s a Dollar Store Project!
• How to make a Holiday Bow {easiest bow tutorial ever!}
• Barnwood Christmas Tree Box ~ perfect farmhouse style!
• No-sew Pet Stockings – awesome gift for Pet Lovers!
• Semi-homemade Christmas Tree Skirt

DIY Christmas Ornaments

• Inexpensive Snowflake Ornaments from Coffee Filters
• Do-It-Yourself Pet Silhouettes ~ awesome gift for Pet Lovers!
• Paint Brush Santas ~ Homemade Christmas Ornaments

DIY Christmas Gifts to Make

• Disney Inspired Ribbon Tassel Keychain ~ personalize it!
• Simple Deer Silhouette String Art
• Horse String Art Project
• Upcycled Painted Clutch with Fabric Flower ~ fancy enough for a night out on the town!

More Christmas Decorating Ideas to Enjoy!

Visit Ashley @ 3 Little Greenwoods’s profile on Pinterest.

 

Full Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and/or is a sponsored post. I may receive compensation in the form of monetary compensation or product compensation in exchange for my review. I take pride in reviewing only products that fit my brand and will be beneficial to my readers. And while this post is sponsored or contains affiliate links, all the opinions are my own. Why do I do this? It will help me keep this DIY’ing Mama crafting for another day! For more on my disclosure policy click here.