December is one of the favorite months for the most of us. It is the time of candles, waiting and precious moments with our loved ones. For children advent means a lot of excitement and possibilities, for example the first snow or Santa Clause, and this can be made more interesting with games and discoveries. Our colleagues in the Forest Tale Daycare also prepare for the holidays with the collection of games to ensure a really special December for the whole family.

Games at home

The do-it-yourself advent calendar is the best place for nice activities and surprises. It requires some creativity and time but it also means fun for the whole family. Here are some ideas for you:

• Let’s dance! Children can choose songs and the family will dance. Moms, dads and siblings can also choose, of course. You can mark this task with a musical note in the advent calendar.
• Let’s create a sock puppet! If you have some unmatched or leaky socks in your drawer you can make sock puppets easily together. The socks emerge from the calendar and you can decorate them with buttons or with textile pieces. When you are ready, play puppet theater!
• Cheers for sachets! Put orange into the calendar and make a natural sachet. Stud the oranges with whole cloves as eyes, mouth and hair – this will be great fun for everyone in the family.
• Let’s create a magical lantern! Battery operated led lights make lanterns safe for even the youngest family members. You can mark this activity with a led light in the calendar. Old jam jars can be decorated with different techniques like glass paint, flitters or colorful papers. You can create lanterns from rice-paper rolls by painting or coloring them or from old milk packages by cutting shapes on their sides.

Outside games

Snow offers several possibilities for playing; with a simple snowball you can develop a lot of skills. But there are other ways to feel the joy of movements and discovery.

• Catch me! Frosty tag is a well-known and easy game that can be played by the family. If you are tagged you freeze as an ice statue and you need to stay in the position until another player touches you. The cold outside makes it easy for children to identify themselves with the ice statues and movement is always good when they start having cold.
• Let’s build from ice! Put water colored with food paint into empty milk or juice packages – let it freeze during the night outside – and your colorful icy blocks are ready to use. By using different colors for each block the result will be even more colorful. Let your imagination soar and create a coffee table, a robot or even an igloo.
• Let’s play darts! Throwing snowballs is fun, particularly if it has a stake. Find a tree-trunk and if you make a hit, you can try it from one step further. Let’s see who the best is!

Do-it-yourself activities or afternoon walks offer perfect opportunity for telling short rhymes, and drinking a cocoa or tea at home with telling and listening to poems pleases everyone in the family.

For little ones:

I’m a little snowman,
short and fat.
Here is my scarf,
and here is my hat.
When it’s cold and snowy,
I will stay.
But when it gets hot,
I melt away.

For kindergarten-aged children:

Snow, Let’s go!
Look outside!
Look at the snow!
Wow! It’s a snowstorm!
Let’s go!

Put on your snowsuit.
Mittens, too!
Hat and scarf
I’m ready, are you?

Making snow angels
Fun, fun, fun!
Throwing snowballs
Run, run, run!

Making a snowman
What a great day!
Ready for cocoa
Not yet, Let’s play!

This article is translated by Emese Murin.
Click here for the Hungarian version.