| ISSUE 95 • 18 NOVEMBER 2010 | |
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Editorial Welcome to another issue of Kids Craft Weekly! I'm very excited to bring you a whole newsletter about crafty advent calendars because they are one of my favourite things about the festive season. Advent calendars are a great way to help kids understand how long they have to wait until Christmas. Instead of purchasing a calendar that contains the usual sweets or trinkets, I want to urge you all to make your own advent calendar this year that includes a fun family activity for each day from December 1 – 24. Kids of all ages will love this! We started making our own advent activity calender five years ago now and I have to say the whole experience has completely transformed the lead-up to Christmas for our family. The kids love doing something a little special or different each day and I've found that tailoring the actvities can really make this increasingly commercial time of year a lot more meaningful. Others agree. Just today I received this lovely email from Denise: "I wanted
to let you know that last year I tried your paper chain activity advent
calendar with my son, who was 4 at the time.This year he is already
talking about it again and that is the one memory he remembers about
Christmas. I wanted to thank you for a great tradition that I can
do with my son."
So what do you say? Are you up for the challenge? To get started simply have a look through the ideas in this newsletter and choose a calendar that best suits your family. Alternatively, come up with an idea of your own! Advent calendars don't have to be difficult or elaborate and if you start now you've still got two weeks to get organised. If you'd like to see some additional advent ideas then you should grab a copy of the Christmas Craft printable mini-book because it has heaps of great advent crafts and a whole page of cut-out activity suggestions. It also has a stack of other great crafty Christmas ideas that make it well worth the $6 cover price. Plus, it's a fabulous way to support Kids Craft Weekly which is completely free all year round. In other news, the 2010 Kids Craft Weekly handmade card swap is gearing up to be one of the best ever – already there are more than 300 sign-ups from crafty families from all over the world! For all the info and to sign-up before the cut-off date visit the card swap FAQ. Happy crafting and I'll see you next time!  Amber Carvan editor@kidscraftweekly.com |
This is a really simple and cute advent calendar. We've used potato prints to decorate the envelopes but you could make it even more simple by buying some Christmas stamps or stickers and letting your little ones go crazy with the embellishments! You will need • small envelopes • stickers or paint to decorate • string • miniature pegs • advent activities, sweets or trinkets to put inside Directions 1. Decorate some miniature envelopes using potato prints or stickers. Whatever you choose to do, keep it simple as you will have to repeat it 24 times!  2. Number the envelopes from 1 to 24 and enclose an advent activity and a sweet or trinket in each envelope.  3. String some colourful string along a wall or mantle and use mini pegs to hang the envelopes from the line. 
This is the advent idea that we are going to use this year. It's a great way to recycle old artwork and provides a visual guide to how many days are left until Christmas. The downside is that it's not very easy to switch activities around at the last minute which is something that I have tended to do in previous years. I'll let you know how we get on! You will need • colourful paper or old artwork • scissors • markers • stapler • white stickers Directions 1. Cut some colourful pieces of paper into long rectangles.  2. Write your advent activities on the back of each of the rectangles, then fold the rectangles in half, longways, so that only the coloured side is visible.  3. Using a stapler, make a paper chain from each of the lengths of paper.  Remove one of the paper chains and read the advent activity inside on each day in December. The kids will love to watch the chain get shorter and shorter as Christmas approaches.
We made this lovely origami cup calendar for our 2006 activity advent calendar and it was a big hit. The folding did take a while though so make sure you have plenty of helpers! You will need • origami paper • ribbon • stapler • advent activities, sweets or trinkets to put inside Directions 1. Fold some origami paper into simple cups. Look here for instructions on how to fold an origami cup. Staple on some ribbon to make a handle then number the cups from 1 to 24 and enclose your advent activities plus some sweets or trinkets.  2. Pin the cups to a notice board or to some wood or hang from a curtain rod.  This was definitely the most attractive advent calendar that we've ever made. The little origami cups looked gorgeous hanging on our old broom handle – a real visual delight!
Following are a few ideas to get you thinking about what activities you might like to include in your calendar. A smart way to plan your advent calendar is to pull out your diary and include pre-scheduled events and activities (such as 'go to the school Christmas concert') in your advent calendar so that you don't wind up with too much to do on any given day.
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