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by Hannah Boyd
Topics: Preschool, Math, Arts and Crafts

Odds are your child’s been counting down the days until Christmas since December 26. This homemade advent calendar, stocked with sweet treats and little gifts, may make the time go a little faster – or at least the afternoon you spend making it. Plus, it will help your preschooler practice counting, an important foundation for kindergarten math.

What You Need:

  • A large posterboard
  • Scissors
  • 3 empty cardboard egg cartons
  • Paint and brushes
  • A stapler
  • A black permanent marker
  • 25 small treats (stickers, candies, slips of paper with jokes and messages, etc.)

What You Do:

  1. Cut a pine tree shape out of the posterboard and discard scraps.
  2. Help your child paint the posterboard dark green and let dry overnight.
  3. Meanwhile, cut 25 egg cups out of the cartons and discard extras. Help your child to paint the outside (and inside, if desired) of each cup with bright, festive colors and let dry overnight.
  4. Staple each egg cup to the tree in an upright position (so that the bottom of each cup faces down.) They should look like Christmas ornaments.
  5. Use the marker to write a number for each cup, from 1 to 25, below or beside the cup itself. You can mix up the numbers so that your child will need to search to find the day's cup.
  6. Place small treats and surprises in each cup. Since the cups are open, it would add to the surprise if each treat were wrapped in holiday paper.
  7. Every day, starting on December 1, your child can “open” one egg cup. On day 25, he’ll find a piece of paper saying, “Merry Christmas!”