Family Christmas Advent Challenge: 24 Activities for Calm, Connection and Festive Fun
Whilst I adore the festive season, there’s no denying it can be overwhelming and exhausting. It’s a season that we put pressure on ourselves to create magic, but often looks more like blur of late-night wrapping, glitter explosions, school events and “what day is the Christmas jumper again?” chaos. If you feel like the festive season is a haze of busy schedules and overwhelm, this Family Christmas Advent Challenge is the antidote.
For the past few years we’ve used this family Christmas ‘advent’ challenge as a way to bring a bit of much needed calm and connection to our family amongst the chaos. These simple Advent activities – mix of outdoor adventure, a few simple festive crafts and acts of kindness – gently shift the focus from gifts and treats to presence, calm and shared experiences. The goal is simple: enjoy the cosiness of candles and fairy lights, enjoy winter in nature, and make memories – without spending a lot of money.
Scroll to the end of the post to download your own copy of the advent challenge.
If you’re in or around the Cotswolds this Christmas, we have a full list of all the best things to do in the Cotswolds at Christmas, as well as guides to things to do in Castle Combe, a family guide to Broadway and how to visit Lacock, all of which are magical at this time of year.
How the Family Advent Challenge Works
Each day in December, choose one activity to complete as a family. There’s no pressure to stick to strict dates — some weekends we blitz a few at once.
Instead of a traditional advent calendar, we buy a large tin of chocolates. The children know they must complete an activity before choosing a chocolate — which completely stops the “can we have advent chocolate before breakfast?” conversations!
🧰 What You’ll Need
- Printed advent challenge list. Use our Family Advent Challenge Calendar
- Torches
- A flask for hot drinks
- Litter pickers or gloves + bags
- Gingerbread ingredients
- Family games (we love Uno, Dobble, Blokus)
- A few Christmas cards
- 5 sticks + string (or masking tape)
- Bird seed, lard and a recycled container or pinecone
- A donation for the food bank
24 Family Advent Activities Guide
To make this challenge easy to follow, we’ve grouped ideas by theme. Most need little explanation — just a willingness to try something together.
🎄 Outdoor Winter Adventures
1. Torch Tag
Our children’s favourite.
This is the ultimate game for dark winter evenings. All you need is a torch. Define a safe playing area, decide who is “it” and give them the torch. The seeker counts to 50 while everyone hides. Shine the torch on someone and say their name to tag them.
Swap to twilight hide-and-seek for younger children.
Please avoid unsafe areas, uneven ground or roadside spaces. Adapt play for the age and comfort of your children.
2. Winter Scavenger Hunt
Before heading out for a walk, we often print a scavenger hunt from the Woodland Trust or simply take a pen and jot down ideas as we go. A robin, a holly leaf, a pine cone, a frozen puddle — this is a winner for stopping the moaning whilst on a walk.
3. Bird Feeder Craft
Make a nature-friendly bird feeder using ideas from the Woodland Trust. Brilliant for wildlife spotting and fine motor skills.
4 and 5. Christmas Lights Trail
Tour your neighbourhood and vote for your favourite decorated house, or find a charity lights trail near you.
If you want something spectacular, read our guide to Christmas in and around the Cotswolds, where you’ll find the best winter light trails.
We love this one so much we always do it twice! One free local trail and one paid for Christmas trail.
6. Christmas Nature Trail
Across the UK you’ll find trails at gardens, estates and parks.
We’re visiting National Trust Tyntesfield for its reindeer trail and fairytale decorations. The manor house transforms into a sparkling wonderland — I’m not sure who’s more excited, me or the kids!
You can find a full list of National Trust Christmas events or search for one near you.
7. Winter Soup Walk
Choose a favourite local route and bring a flask of soup. We usually head to our local woods at this time of year. For some reason kids find eating out of a flask very exciting!
8. 15-Minute Litter Pick
Choose a local park, street or woodland and spend 15 minutes collecting litter.
Use a timer to make the challenge feel like a game. Bring gloves or litter pickers, and a bag.
Safety note: Avoid sharp objects and busy roads, and sanitise hands afterwards.
9. Hot Chocolate Flask Walk
Bundle up, fill a flask, and take a walk. This can be an urban walk to look at Christmas windows and fairy lights, or a countryside walk. A flask of hot chocolate works well as motivation to get outside.
10. Stargazing Night
Pick a clear evening and head into the garden, balcony, or a local green space.
Bring woolly hats and gloves and look up. Spot constellations together, or invent your own stories about the stars.
11. Eat Dinner Outside
This is always a huge hit with the kids. I’m always reluctant do this one, but it always works out to be a special experience so it stays on the list. You can go the whole hog, take a camping stove and cook outside or keep it simple with hotdogs in a flask, soup or even just a simple picnic. Don’t forget to bring the blankets if it’s cold.
12. Make an Elf Home Outdoors
Search for natural materials — bark, sticks, pine cones, moss — and build a tiny woodland house. Leave it where woodland creatures (or elves!) can “find” it.
If you’re lucky enough to have snow, then tiny igloos are fun to make using an empty container to create ice ‘bricks’.
✨Creative and Imaginative Christmas Activities
13. Gingerbread Bake Day
We love this easy gingerbread recipe from BBC Food.
It makes a huge batch so there’s plenty to share with neighbours, teachers or grandparents.
14. Shadow Puppets
Use a torch to create shapes with your hands or cut shapes from thin card. Stick them to skewers to make characters.
Try it outside after dark or get creative and devise a cosy living room puppet theatre from a cardboard box.
15. Make a Christmas Star
You only need 5 sticks and string. Younger children may find masking tape easier.
Display your star by the door or hang above the fireplace. Try these instructions to make your Christmas Star.
16. Family Storytelling Session
After dinner or before bed, turn off screens and gather everyone in a circle.
Each person tells a story, perhaps a real past Christmas memory, read from a favourite Christmas book or make up your own.
Younger kids can add sound effects or actions.
It becomes a ritual very quickly.
❤️ Kindness & Connection Activities
17. Food Bank Donation
Let the children choose items from the cupboard or go shopping together.
18. Deliver Christmas Cards
This is our sneaky way to get another walk in. Send cards to family, neighbours or friends. If you are part of a Scout or Cub group, sign up to deliver the Christmas post which is a surprisingly fun activity!
19. Family Games Night
Dim the lights, make hot drinks, grab your favourite games.
Our favourites are Uno, Dobble and Blokus — but any games will work.
20. Donate to a Local Charity
Choose a charity that means something to your family — we’ll be donating to our local hospice which holds a dear place in our hearts, and to Brain Tumour Research who do amazing work in a desperately underfunded area.
21. Carol Concert
As none of our family can sing, we either opt for joining a carol service in our local church or join a concert. This year we’re excited to have tickets to a concert in the chapel at Tyntesfield near Bristol (National Trust). Carol singing can’t fail to get you in the festive spirit!
🛋️ Cosy Family Time
22. Family Festive Movie Night
Pick one film, dim the lights, pyjamas on, snacks ready.
This really needs no explanation. Will it be ‘Elf’, ‘Nativity’ or ‘Die Hard?’!
23. Family Pub Games Afternoon
If you don’t want to go out, host your own at home. Or find your most festively decorated family-friendly pub (ideally with a roaring fire) and settle in for an afternoon of games, snacks and drinks.
24. Celebrate the Winter Solstice
The winter solstice — the shortest day of the year — falls on Sunday 21st December.
We love to mark the return of the light by:
- Watching the sunrise (around 7:55am — South West England)
- Lighting candles at sunset (around 3pm)
- Sharing a family meal with an evergreen wreath on the table
🌟 Our Favourite Activities (from the kids & from me)
The kids: Torch tag. Every time.
We’ve hidden behind bushes, wheelie bins, hedges — anywhere to avoid the torch!
Me:
Anything involving a walk and something to eat or drink. I love finding ways to make a walk seem like an adventure, even on grey winter days.
🖨️ Download the Printable Challenge
Feel free to use our calendar as it is or customise it to suit your family.
🎁 Wishing You a Calm, Connected Christmas
However you celebrate, we hope this challenge brings you moments of laughter and warmth. If you give it a try we’d love to hear how you get on in the comments.
