Christmas Countdown

Due to popular demand (okay, just two of you asked - but I'm hoping more of you will appreciate it too!), I am going to post the Christmas Countdown activities that I wrote about in this post. I printed each of these activities and slipped them into envelopes in this Christmas Countdown book.

Here's my hope: I'll post the activities below so you can have the master list to print out. Then each day of December I will post about how our family shared the activity. I might post just a few words about it or a photo, but I'll try to post something. Then will you do your part and leave me a comment about what you did that day too?

Here's the countdown list (edited to add links to the tasks as they were completed). Feel free to change the order to suit your family's needs. Start on December 1st and continue until Christmas Day. Merry Christmas!

1. Take a family photo to mark the beginning of the season. It can be as candid or as posed as you like.
2. Buy candy canes to pass out to people all month long. Pass them out to bus drivers, fast food workers, other shoppers, kids at school, teachers, Wal-Mart greeters, neighbors, relatives, doctors.
3. Hang mistletoe, a kissing ball or some other object that you designate for kissing. Go stand under it often, and wait for someone to kiss you.
4. Read the Christmas story in the Bible.
5. Take a walk, even if it’s cold outside. If there is snow on the ground already, have a snowball throwing contest.
6. Dance to your favorite Christmas song. Turn it up loud and sing to your heart’s content. Sing along to Handel’s Messiah. The words are easy!
7. Memorize this Scripture verse: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38)
8. Make Christmas ornaments. Some ideas: thread a jingle bell on a ribbon, twist pipe cleaners into candy cane shapes, cut out star shapes and let the kids color them.
9. Secretly do something nice for a friend or neighbor. Then surprise the mailman by leaving him a gift in your mailbox (even if it’s just a granola bar and a card drawn by your kids.) Then do something nice for a stranger by donating food to a local shelter.
10. Wear a Santa hat all day.
11. Wear as much red or green as possible today. Go even further by painting everyone’s toenails in Christmas colors.
12. Compliment three people.
13. Call a family member to say hello. Bonus points if it’s someone you haven’t talked to in a while!
14. Lay under your Christmas tree and look up through the branches at the light. Gain a new perspective. Remember that Jesus is the "light of the world." (John 8:12)
15. Pray for those away from loved ones: soldiers, workers on overnight shifts, those who are traveling away from family, or those who are spending their first holiday without their loved one this year.
16. Be a drive-through angel. Pay for the car behind you, and tell the cashier to have a Merry Christmas.
17. Make paper snowflakes. Use coffee filters for a round shape.
18. Make snowman pizzas. Get pizza crusts, add white sauce and mozzarella cheese. Use olives for the mouth, pepperoni for the nose and green peppers for the eyes (or whatever ingredients your kids will eat).
19. Feed the birds. Throw some of your stale bread in your yard, or take a walk to a nearby pond to feed the geese.
20. Take a drive to look at Christmas lights.
21. Make a “best light display” award and put it in someone’s mailbox.
22. Clean out the kids’ toys and donate the neglected or outgrown ones.
23. Write a recap of this year. Remember the struggles and triumphs, and set a goal for next year. Ask God to lead the way.
24. Sing Happy Birthday to Jesus before you open any Christmas presents.
25. Stop. Take a moment to look around at the blessings in your life. Take a deep breath and focus on the true celebration of Christmas. Even if you had nothing, would you still be happy?

Go here to read as we start the countdown with #1!