Short answer
Write 24 small activities on slips of paper, one for each day from 1 to 24 December, and put them in numbered paper bags hanging from a branch or in toilet rolls in a box. Put short things, like a torch walk, on weekdays and longer outings at the weekends. Most of the adventures happen outdoors and only need warm clothes.
The advent calendar for December 2026 – 24 adventures
| Door | Day | Adventures | Outdoors or indoors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tuesday | Torch walk around the neighbourhood | Outdoors |
| 2 | Wednesday | Hang up a bird feeder | Outdoors |
| 3 | Thursday | Count the advent stars in the windows | Outdoors |
| 4 | Friday | Hot chocolate from a flask on a park bench | Outdoors |
| 5 | Saturday | Forest walk, collecting sticks and pine cones | Outdoors |
| 6 | Sunday, 2nd Sunday of Advent | Make a Christmas star from the sticks | Indoors |
| 7 | Monday | Look for animal tracks in the snow or mud | Outdoors |
| 8 | Tuesday | Freeze ice decorations overnight | Outdoors |
| 9 | Wednesday | Treasure hunt in the garden with a head torch | Outdoors |
| 10 | Thursday | Find the Plough in the sky | Outdoors |
| 11 | Friday | Toast stick bread or sausages | Outdoors |
| 12 | Saturday | Go to a Christmas market | Outdoors |
| 13 | Sunday, 3rd Sunday of Advent and Lucia | A Lucia procession outdoors at dusk | Outdoors |
| 14 | Monday | Build a snowman – or a stick man | Outdoors |
| 15 | Tuesday | Draw and send Christmas cards | Indoors |
| 16 | Wednesday | Count the birds at the bird feeder | Outdoors |
| 17 | Thursday | The playground in the dark | Outdoors |
| 18 | Friday | Build a snow lantern or put out lanterns | Outdoors |
| 19 | Saturday | Bake gingerbread biscuits or build a gingerbread house | Indoors |
| 20 | Sunday, 4th Sunday of Advent | Fetch the Christmas tree | Outdoors |
| 21 | Monday, winter solstice | Lantern walk on the longest night | Outdoors |
| 22 | Tuesday | Go sledging or look for the best hill | Outdoors |
| 23 | Wednesday | Leave gingerbread biscuits with a neighbour | Outdoors |
| 24 | Thursday, Christmas Eve | Morning walk and a Christmas sheaf for the birds | Outdoors |
Feel free to swap the doors around if the weather doesn't suit – but keep the short adventures on weekdays.
What you need
- 24 paper bags, such as brown lunch bags, or 24 toilet rolls
- Paper for the notes, or the calendar cards on this page printed out
- A branch lying on the ground, about a metre long
- String or jute twine
- 24 clothes pegs
- Marker pens or a number stamp
- Scissors
Step by step
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1. Write a list of 24 adventures. Put short things on weekdays and longer outings at the weekends – the list for December 2026 further down the page can be used as it is.
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2. Write or draw each adventure on its own slip of paper and fold it in half, or print the calendar cards and cut them out. Small children can draw a picture on each slip.
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3. Number the bags 1–24 with a marker pen or stamp. Let the children decorate them with stars, Christmas trees or prints from a pine cone dipped in paint.
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4. Put the slip in the bag, ideally with a small item that goes with the day's adventure, such as a reflector or a bag of bird seed. Fold down the top and close it with a clothes peg.
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5. Tie string to both ends of the branch and hang it on the wall. Attach the bags to the branch with string and clothes pegs, at different lengths.
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6. Toilet rolls work just as well instead of bags. Fold in one end, put in the slip, fold in the other end and stand the rolls in a box in the shape of a Christmas tree.
A homemade advent calendar doesn't have to be full of sweets. Instead, put a little adventure behind each door – a torch walk, an ice decoration, a treasure hunt in the dark. The children still open a door every morning, but what happens next is something you do together, usually outdoors.
The calendar on this page is designed for December 2026. 1 December is a Tuesday and Christmas Eve a Thursday, so the doors follow the week: short adventures on weekdays, longer ones at the weekends.
Advent 2026 and the calendar doors
The first Sunday of Advent 2026 is Sunday 29 November, followed by the second on 6 December, the third on 13 December and the fourth on 20 December. This year, Lucia, the Swedish festival of light, falls on the third Sunday of Advent, and 21 December is the winter solstice, the longest night of the year.
Even so, the calendar doors run from 1 to 24 December. Hang up the branch with the bags on the first Sunday of Advent, and the children will have two days to count down to the first door.
Short adventures on weekdays, long ones at weekends
What makes an activity calendar last all the way to Christmas is keeping the weekday doors short. On an ordinary December weekday it is dark by the time you get home from nursery, so the day's adventure needs to be doable in a quarter of an hour or half an hour, with what you have at home. A torch walk, star counting or a cup of hot chocolate on a park bench works. A trip to the forest doesn't.
Save the big adventures for the weekends of 5–6, 12–13 and 19–20 December. Then you have time to go to the forest in the middle of the day while it is light, toast stick bread, visit a Christmas market and fetch the Christmas tree. There is more about how long it stays light each Advent weekend in Advent outings.
Put the kit in the bag
A slip of paper in a bag is a bit thin for a three-year-old. So add a small item that goes with the day's adventure, giving them something to hold:
- A reflector on the day you go for a torch walk.
- A bag of bird seed on the day you hang up the bird feeder.
- A piece of string on the day you collect sticks for Christmas star.
- A biscuit cutter on the day you bake.
- A battery for the head torch on the day of the treasure hunt in the garden.
Most of it is already at home, which keeps the calendar cheap and sweet-free. If you like, you can still pop a gingerbread biscuit into the odd bag.
Bags on a branch or toilet rolls
The simplest way to make the calendar is with paper bags on a branch. Look for a branch lying on the ground during a forest walk – under the right of public access (allemansrätten, Sweden's freedom to roam), you may take branches and cones that have fallen, but not break anything off living trees. There is more about the rules in the forest in the guide to the Right of Public Access. Let the branch dry indoors for a few days before you hang it up, so it doesn't drop needles and dirt.
If you are short of wall space, toilet rolls work better. Start collecting now, because 24 rolls take a few weeks to gather. Stand them in a shoebox or on a shelf, arranged like a Christmas tree: six rolls at the bottom, then five, four, three, two and one at the top. That makes 21 rolls, and the last three – 22, 23 and 24 – can stand at the foot like presents under the tree.
Plan B when it rains
In much of Sweden, December is more often grey and wet than white. So write a plan B on the back of the slips that need snow: the snowman becomes a stick man, the sledging becomes a hunt for the best hill for the next snowfall, and the snow lantern becomes a couple of lanterns on the steps. You can also swap two doors around, as long as the children know the adventure is coming.
The ice decorations need sub-zero temperatures overnight. If it is above freezing, you can freeze them in the freezer and hang them outside anyway – they last until it gets mild again.
Who does what – children and adults
- Ages 3–5: decorate the bags, choose which items go in and have the slip read out to them every morning.
- Ages 6–8: help write the slips and can read the day's adventure themselves.
- Ages 9 and up: can come up with their own adventures, hide the treasure in the garden and lead the torch walk.
An adult packs the bags in advance, so the children don't know what is coming.
Christmas Eve and after
The last door is the calmest: a morning walk on Christmas Eve and a Christmas sheaf for the birds before Christmas begins for real. Save the branch for next year, and note down which adventures the children liked best – then you will have a ready-made list next December.
If you would like your own candle holder for the Advent Sundays, there is an advent candle holder made from natural materials to make from a birch log, and we gather more ideas for Advent and Christmas in Christmas with kids.
Calendar cards to print and cut out
Print the page, cut out the cards and put one card in each bag or toilet roll. The number on the card is the door number.
- Put on your high-vis vest and go for a torch walk around the neighbourhood. Who can spot the most cats in the windows?
- Hang up a bird feeder or a fat ball in a tree where you can see it from the window.
- Count the advent stars in the windows on the way home. One point for a star, two for a candle bridge.
- Fill the flask with hot chocolate and drink it on a park bench in the dark.
- Forest walk! Collect five straight sticks and three pine cones lying on the ground.
- Make a Christmas star from yesterday's sticks and hang it in the window.
- Track hunt: look for tracks of birds, dogs, hares or deer in the snow or mud.
- Fill a mould with water, berries and twigs and leave it outside overnight. Tomorrow you will have an ice decoration.
- Treasure hunt in the garden with a head torch. An adult has hidden something – follow the clues.
- Go outside when it is dark and look for the Plough. How many stars can you count?
- Toast stick bread or sausages outdoors. Don't forget the sticks!
- Outing to a Christmas market. Everyone gets to choose one thing to look at.
- Lucia! Walk in a Lucia procession outdoors at dusk with lanterns and sing for the neighbours.
- Build a snowman. No snow? Build a figure out of sticks, pine cones and leaves instead.
- Draw Christmas cards and post them to someone who lives far away.
- Bird count: watch the bird feeder for ten minutes. Which birds came?
- Go to the playground after dark, with reflectors and a head torch.
- Build a snow lantern – or put lanterns out on the steps if there is no snow.
- Bake gingerbread biscuits or build a gingerbread house.
- Fetch the Christmas tree together – from the forest or from a Christmas tree seller.
- Today is the longest night of the year. Go on a lantern walk after dark.
- Go sledging! No snow? Find the best sledging hill for the next snowfall.
- Take a bag of gingerbread biscuits to a neighbour and wish them a happy Christmas.
- Happy Christmas! Go for a morning walk and put up a Christmas sheaf for the birds.
Frequently asked questions
What can you put in an advent calendar instead of sweets?
A slip with the day's adventure, ideally with a small item that goes with it – for example a reflector on the day you go out in the dark, a bag of bird seed on the day you hang up the bird feeder, or stick bread dough in the fridge on the day you have a campfire.
When does the advent calendar start in 2026?
The advent calendar has doors from 1 to 24 December, and 1 December 2026 is a Tuesday. The first Sunday of Advent is as early as Sunday 29 November, so the calendar can hang up and wait that weekend.
How do you make an advent calendar from toilet rolls?
Collect 24 toilet rolls, fold in one end, put in the slip and fold in the other end. Write the number on the outside and stand the rolls upright in a box or on a shelf, ideally arranged like a Christmas tree.
What do you do if the weather doesn't suit the day's activity?
Write a plan B on the back of the slip, or swap days with a slip further on. Torch walks and star counting work in almost any weather, but the snowman has to wait for snow.
What age is an activity calendar suitable from?
From about three years old. Small children need short adventures and an adult to read the slip, and from six or seven the children can read and help write the slips themselves.