Family Christmas story Advent calendar experience
As December 1st approaches, the excitement of the holiday season sparks the perfect opportunity to create magical moments with kids of all ages. This year, consider a heartwarming Christmas story Advent activity: wrapping 24 beloved children’s Christmas stories (new or favorites you already own) for your child to unwrap each day leading up to Christmas Eve. This festive tradition builds anticipation and nurtures a love for reading, inviting your child into enchanting worlds filled with joy and wonder.
Seeing the excitement in the eyes of your little ones around the holidays makes memories you’ll treasure as a parent. Remember how hard it was to wait to open gifts way back then? Or with the littlest children, how they don’t even understand what to expect on Christmas day? So gather a story book set and cuddle around the Christmas tree to read heartwarming stories as a family for a unique Advent calendar.
As our family grew, we amassed a box full of Christmas stories, and as the favorites emerged, we would set them aside each year, wrap them in gift paper, and put them in a special spot under the tree. Then each night at bedtime, our sons selected one wrapped book, tore the paper off and we read our favorite stories together. Some of the stories would be brand new, and others old favorites. I found extra joy in finding copies of the stories I most enjoyed as a child, and purchasing them in the hopes they will become a treasured keepsake for my own sons.
My two favorite stories growing up were The Sweet Smell of Christmas, a scratch-and-sniff book that has long since lost the aromas it once held,
and Terrible Teddy Bear, a story in a Richard Scarry collection called The Animals’ Merry Christmas about a naughty boy and the naughty teddy bear that found each other. My childhood copy is the one in red, but there is a reprint (yay!) that is easy to find these days.
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24 stories to include in your Christmas story Advent calendar
- Frosty the Snowman
- The Poky Little Puppy’s First Christmas
- Richard Scarry’s Christmas Mice
- The Nutcracker
- The Sweet Smell of Christmas
- A Christmas Wish for Corduroy
- Miracle on 34th Street (Recordable – record yourself reading the story to your child, or ask their grandparents to record it – it’s a great gift for long-distance grandparents to give)
- Richard Scarry’s The Animals Merry Christmas
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
- Little Red Sleigh
- Bear Stays Up for Christmas
- The Giving Snowman
- Dasher: How a Brave Little Doe Changed Christmas Forever
- The Berenstain Bears and the Christmas Angel
- A Charlie Brown Christmas
- Sneezy the Snowman
- Jingle Bells
- Santa’s Toy Shop
- The Berenstain Bears Merry Christmas
- The Polar Express
- Baby’s Christmas
- The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- The Night Before Christmas
Collections of Christmas Stories
If the thought of wrapping 24 books is overwhelming, an alternative is to select an anthology of Christmas stories and read one story per night or every couple of nights. A Christmas Eve reading of The Night Before Christmas is also a great tradition. Several great Christmas story collections would make the perfect addition to your home library. The Richard Scarry book with the Terrible Teddy Bear (The Animals’ Merry Christmas) has quite a few stories for example. Here are a few other anthology options:
A Vintage Christmas: A Collection of Classic Stories and Poems
A Vintage Christmas contains 23 stories, so is perfect to pair with The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve for a story or poem each evening of this story Advent.
Christmas Stories: 32 Classic Stories and Poems for the Young and Old
This Christmas Stories anthology contains 32 stories and poems, so you have many options to choose from.
Disney Christmas Storybook Collection
A Disney story collection is a big hit with the little ones, with beautiful illustrations and favorite characters.
This Christmas season, build memories and a holiday spirit that will bring you joy for years to come!
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We used to do this too; a few times I even used books from the library just to give us something different to read and look forward to. Yes, we still wrapped them but I made sure to put them towards the front of the pile so we could have them back by the due date.
I love that you used library books – we are big fans of the library!