Countdown

n: a backward counting from an arbitrary starting number to mark the time remaining before an event

Today was Day 1 of a Christmas countdown project I created with my kiddos. It went better than expected—but it was only Day 1. Fingers crossed that I can keep them engaged for 24 more days!

I began thinking about this project just a few days ago, as I pondered how we can make the last month of this crappy year into something positive. My 7-year-old son Noah is becoming more and more like me every year. He appreciates the traditions we're keeping and the memories we're creating. As he begins this new phase of full-time distance learning, I knew I needed to find a way to make this Christmas extra special.

A Facebook friend of mine had posted an idea about doing a family activity together every day until Christmas. It seemed simple enough, so I turned to Google and began making a list of things our family could do together—some are simple, like watching a Christmas movie, and others need a little more research and preparation, like Christmas-themed games.

To be honest, I actually surprised myself with how many activities I was able to come up with—and how many I was truly willing to do!

Our Christmas countdown tree, made from red and green construction paper.

Yesterday, Noah and I (with limited help from 3-year-old Natalee) cut 24 red and green circles out of construction paper, as well as a yellow star. Noah wrote the numbers 1-24 on the front and I wrote the activities on the back. We taped them to a door in the shape of a Christmas tree and this project is now up and running!

Last night, after the kids were asleep, I headed over to Michaels for some basic crafting supplies. I got glitter, sequins, some felt, paint and jingle bells. Aside from that, I'm trying to keep it free or low cost, and using a lot of what we already have laying around the house.

This morning, Noah was super excited to flip over the first circle and see what our activity would be for the day. Amazingly, he was a rock star at "school" and got all of his work done without complaint. After lunch and a brief "recess" outside, we jumped right into our Day 1 activity: Snowman Sensory Bottles!

I was really nervous about opening containers of glitter and dealing with glue and water, but the kids did great! Even Natalee did more than I thought she could. They loved watching the glitter and sequins whirl around the inside of the bottle. They sat still, were nice to each other and seemed to enjoy this hands-on craft. I'm calling it a win!

Three-year-old Natalee was very proud of her Snowman Sensory Bottle.

Looking ahead, we have some more craft activities, like making Christmas cards and some snowflakes out of popsicle sticks, but we'll also be watching Christmas movies, making hot chocolate, writing letters to Santa, baking Christmas cookies and having a Christmas-themed family game night.

Strangely enough, though it's the beginning of December, we don't have any snow here in Minnesota (the October snow has since melted). Hopefully, we'll get some by Christmas so we can add a few extra activities like sledding and snowball fights.

On the 11th, we have tickets to a drive-through Christmas lights display. On the 14th, we'll celebrate my Grandpa Hank's birthday; even though he passed away in 1996, he was incredibly special to me and I want my kids to know about him. And on the 16th, as a bonus activity, we're doing a Google Meet with Santa since we can't visit him in person this year.

Oh, and aside from my trip to Michaels, I did spend $13 to order a spinning disco ball from Walmart. Noah specially requested a Christmas dance party and I can't say no to that!

As we continue to struggle to get through this pandemic, I still need my kids to feel the joy and excitement of Christmas! There are so many things that we haven't been able to do, so I want them to see that there are at least 24 things to look forward to this month.

We came up with a pretty good list of activities to do this month!

For me, not only is this project a countdown to Christmas, but it's a countdown to some sort of normalcy. Each day closer to Christmas is a day closer to the end of shutdowns, quarantines and distance learning.

This has been a tough year for everyone and I know that I have struggled with keeping myself somewhat sane. Interestingly, putting this project together over the last few days has done incredible things for me, too. It's given me a purpose, something to look forward to, and it's reignited my creativity in all sorts of ways!

I will continue to post our activities on Instagram each day, so follow along to see how we do. I have a feeling not every day will go as well as today.

As we look toward 2021, I hope that you, too, can find some moments of joy and inspiration that will carry us forward into the months ahead.