Advent Activity Printables | Making Elf on the Shelf Ridiculously Easy

Make these 40 free Advent activity printables cards for a season of fun family traditions. Combined with Elf on the Shelf you’ll master two traditions once!

The struggle is real my friends.

Every year I start Advent with the best intentions. I tell myself that we’ll keep up with the Advent calendar every day, our elf is finally going to do some really creative and silly things, and we’ll do alltheChristmasthings.

And every year, I fail. Not just at one, but at all three of those goals.

I try. Really I do! But it’s not uncommon for our Advent calendar to still be set to the 10th when it’s already the 18th. And our kids are often amazed at how their elf likes to move after they wake up instead of overnight. (Apparently I’m better at being sneaky than I am at remembering things. Hmmmm)

Well, this year I’m starting off with the same intentions…but unlike previous years I actually have a plan. Hooray!

Advent Activity Printables

First up, I’m going to make the Advent calendar countdown the kids’ responsibility. Since our older two are now 6 and 9, they can handle that responsibility. (Most likely they’ll fight over the privilege for the first week and then start forgetting about it too. Ha!)

And as for doing alltheChristmasthings…well, I’ve got a plan for that too! I made these cute advent activity printables that can be cut out and used each day in December.

There are 30 activities total. And they’re full of fun things that families can do together. Things like watching a Christmas movie, going to see Christmas lights, making cookies, and going to see Santa.

But here’s the kicker: Some of these advent activity cards include ideas that are incredibly simple. I intentionally included easy questions that can be answered around the dinner (or breakfast) table. So when I know a day is going to be too busy to fit in yet another thing, that’s what we’ll do.

Of course, I can’t make something this cute without sharing. These advent activity printables are available for free in the resources directory. There’s even a page of blank cards so you can write in your own activities.

Related >>> 80 Christmas Activities for Families to Do Together

(That’s my ‘nice’ handwriting. Now you see why I stick to digital designs!)

Making Elf on the Shelf Ridiculously Easy

As far as our elf getting crazy…well, who knows if that will happen. At this point, my plan is to have her deliver these advent activity printables to the kids each day. Maybe she changes position, maybe she doesn’t.

Perhaps she even gets a little crazy some days.

Or maybe she doesn’t. But as long as she delivers a new activity each day, I’ll consider my job done.

And since it’s so easy to print and cut these out in advance, most of the work is already done. They don’t even take up that much space, so they’re easy to hide. Total score.

Here are a Few Other Ways to Use These Advent Activity Printables

• Paint a mason or jelly jar with your kids and then put the cards inside. Pull one out to do each day.
• Add a countdown to the back of the cards and hang them up to create a simple interactive Advent calendar
• Wrap each activity card in a small box (this size would work well) or slip them into mini stockings. Then open one Advent ‘present’ each day.
• Grab a mini tree, a hole punch, and some pretty twine and create an Advent tree. Add the cards all at once, or add each card to the tree as you complete an activity.

Tips for Printing Your Advent Activity Cards

Now, I hate spending a ton of money on printer ink and paper, but the reality is that printing these things on regular printer paper will not give you the best results. I strongly recommend printing on matte photo paper (best quality), or bright white card stock. Card stock won’t look as good as photo paper, but at least they’ll last.

And if you want to make cutting out 30-40 cards easy as pie, definitely invest a few dollars in a straight edge paper cutter. They’re not super expensive, and you’ll use it more often than you expect.

Now It’s Your Turn

Okay, so maybe I’m not yet able to keep up with the antics of a crazy elf. But with these Advent activity cards, you and I both can do at least someoftheChristmasthings. At the end of the season you’ll have bonded as a family, and created some incredible memories. And it doesn’t have to take any longer than printing and cutting a few sheets of paper.

These Advent activity cards are available in the resources directory, which is a newsletter subscriber exclusive. Just fill in the form above to get access, and you’ll be on your way! 

Don’t forget to take a picture of your cards and the activities you do with them and tag @PlayDatesParties on Facebook and Instagram. We love to see our freebies in action!

Now I want to know…

What activities do you look forward to most this advent?
Does your elf forget to move some mornings, too?

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