12 days of Christmas

This is such a fun subject to talk about! 12 days of Christmas is something my daughter looks forward to every year; in fact, she likes it so much that we've turned it into the 24 days of Christmas. Today I'm going to break down how we do the 12 days of Christmas and give you 12 ideas that you can use with your family. We're also going to discuss how to do this as your kids get older and transition into teenagers because this can be fun for all ages, but the older they get the more creative YOU have to get to keep the spirit alive. 

Stay tuned to the end because I'm also going to give you a "12 days of Christmas" pack that you can download FOR FREE if you'd like a no prep way to do this with your family this year. I'm also going to give you a few ways to turn this into an educational activity if you want to use it as part of your homeschool or as a way to help your child practice a skill they're struggling with. 

Ok, so we started doing this when Glori was 2. It started as the 12 days of Christmas and what happens is on the night of Dec 11th, I wrap up 12 gifts and place them underneath the mini Christmas tree in Glori's bedroom (when she was really little, we just used the big tree in the living room, we moved them into her room when she was 5 and old enough to not open them before she was allowed to). Regardless if we're doing the 12 days or the 24 days of Christmas, Christmas Eve is our last day. One year we planned our last day to be Christmas morning and it was just too much, so Christmas Eve is the last day in our family, but you can choose for yours. 

First thing you want to do is just decide if you want to do 12 days or 24. Whether or not your family is traveling, how many kids you have and how old they are, and how much time/money you want to put into this are all things you want to factor in. When Glori was little we always did 12 days, as she got older (starting at 1st grade) we transitioned to 24 days. 

A theme is definitely optional. A few that we have done are board books, diamond painting stickers, craft kits, makeup, and hair accessories. This year we're doing a small book and a stocking stuffer. It's actually a funny story; check out the attached video at the top to hear how we came to that theme literally THE DAY we started the 24 days of Christmas this year. 

Theme Ideas

Board books

Craft Kits

Lego Kits

Hair Accessories 

Jewelry Making Accessories

Coloring/Art Supplies

Stickers

Christmas Books

Diamond Painting Stickers

Earrings

Games

Chapter books/self help books

Makeup

Nail Polish

Socks

Slime

Pop-its and fidget   toys

Journaling Supplies

Recipes

Some of the ideas above are pricier than others. 2 ways that you can do this for free (or very cheap depending on what you have on hand) are the freebie I have for you today and library books. 

LIBRARY BOOKS: Grab 12-24 Christmas themed library books and wrap them. Pick and educational theme if you wish and make it a big deal every night at bedtime to pick a book, read it together as a family while enjoying  your favorite treat and beverage. 

FREEBIE- At the bottom I have a free download for you with 12 fun Christmas themed worksheets. Print them and place each one in a manila envelope, decorate with Christmas stickers, and place under the tree. Attach an educational element if you wish and let your kids open one each day. You can do this together at the table and work on the sheet while again, enjoying a favorite treat/beverage and listening to Christmas music or you can read them a book while they work on the less intensive activities. 

Again, making it educational is completely optional! We've done shapes, colors, numbers, animals, etc. The easiest way to do this would be similar to playing bingo. If you're using shapes for the 12 days of Christmas for example, get a blank set of index cards and draw 12 different shapes, one on each card, then make duplicates. You'll have 2 stars, 2 squares, 2 circles, etc. Keep one stack of cards for your child to "draw" from and the other set you'll tape to the top of each gift (one per gift). On each of the 12 days of Christmas your child will draw a card, say the shape, and find the matching shape then open the corresponding gift. You can do this with whatever educational theme you choose. 

Educational Ideas

Topic

Draw Pile

Tape to Presents

Shapes

Numbers 1-12 (or 24)

Number 13-25 (or 37)

Addition Facts

Subtraction Facts

Nouns

Compound words

12 Shapes

Numbers 1-12

Number 13-25

Addition Problem

Subtraction Problem

Each card would either have the word person, place, or thing on it; ideally the same amount of each option

The first half of the compound word

corresponding shapes

Numbers 1-12

Number 13-25

Answer to the addition problem

Answer to the subtraction problem

12 nouns 

The  second half of the compound word

Once you have decided how many days you want this to last, you've picked a theme, and decided whether or not you want to put an educational spin on it, you get to put it all together and let your child/children know what to expect. Each year has looked different for us, so I'm going to give you examples of what we did the first year when Glori was 2 and what we're doing this year now that she's 8. 

We started this tradition when Glori was 2; pretty sure I saw it on Pinterest or Instagram or somewhere much like you're reading this now; I definitely didn't make it up on my own. In 10 years you won't remember where this tradition started for your family, but you'll love the memories you get to make with it each year. 

Due to her age and the fact that we had very little money (I was in the beginning stages of learning how to make money from social media and Brett was just starting out in his career), I chose to start us out doing 12 days. I went to the dollar store and bought 12 non-holiday board books (focused on building our library that year), I drew 12 squares on index cards rotating 6 different colors, and glued corresponding squares on the wrapped books. Each night after bath time and pajamas, she got to match a color, open a book, and we read it together before bedtime. I fell in LOVE with this tradition that year. It was such a great relationship building time.

Glori is 8 this year and in 2nd/3rd grade (iykyk). God has blessed us beyond measure the last 6 years and there's not really anything Glori needs. Having said that, the 12 days of Christmas is a tradition we still cherish. This year I actually thought Glori may be getting too old for all of the daily surprises until she started asking about it around Thanksgiving. Talk about not being prepared! I'm typing this out on December 1st and none of the 24 gifts are wrapped because I didn't know we were doing this until this morning (watch the video, you'll laugh). 

This year we're focusing on reading and double digit subtraction with an emphasis on borrowing. This year looks much different than when she was 2, and when she's 16 it'll look different than this Christmas. The point is not to compare, it's to do what feels right for your family and your child(ren). 

This year, each morning Glori gets to pick a book from her princess advent calendar. Some time throughout the day she'll read that book and complete a book report on it. The finished book report earns her an envelope with a special card inside. Each card has a 2 digit subtraction problem on it for her to solve and then match the answer to the answer on one of the 24 gifts which she then gets to open. She loves the daily surprises and I love that she's learning!

Click below to download the 12 days of Christmas fun sheets to use with your family.