DIY Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar – Free Printables
A free printable acts of kindness advent calendar with festive cards and creative ideas to spread some holiday cheer this advent season!
This Christmas I wanted to create something different than the traditional advent calendar in order to foster an attitude of joyful giving and celebrate acts of kindness with my kids. It is so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of the holiday season once the Christmas parties start and all the fun events and family time begins.
This year, I wanted to do something intentional in order to celebrate Jesus, His love, and share that goodness with my kids and the people around us! I created a Random Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar as a free printable for you and your kids to celebrate little acts of kindness and have a lot of fun in the process 🙂
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Our Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar is not only a fantastic way to count down to the most magical day of the year, but it’s also an opportunity to teach your little ones the joy of giving, compassion, and the importance of spreading kindness far and wide!
DIY Random Acts of Kindness Christmas Calendar
The acts of kindness calendar was created with the whole family in mind, so you will find fun ideas that translate well from your younger kids up to your teenagers!
There are 30 cards so you can choose the 24 best ones that fit your families needs and goals for this Christmas season. I also left 2 blank cards, so if you want you can fill in your own ideas on those cards. If you have older kids, it would be fun to see the ideas they come up with on their own!
You can find the free printable advent calendar cards as a pdf file at the bottom of this post.
The majority of the activities are budget friendly and acts of service based. The calendar is full of great ideas and fun ways to create an attitude of kindness and service in your home and your community. You will find lots of simple ideas to bring smiles to your neighbors and those around you!
Kindness Advent Calendar Ideas
- Read a book to a sibling or friend
- Hold the door open for someone
- Bake cookies for your neighbors
- Donate food to a food bank
- Donate books to a neighborhood library
- Mail a card to someone you miss
- Leave a kind note for a family member
- Ask how you can help around the house
- Leave change in a vending machine
- Donate clothes to a local shelter
- Leave a snack for your mail carrier
- Feed the birds and squirrels a treat
- Give a gift to Samaritan’s Purse
- Offer to help cook dinner
- Give a thoughtful compliment
- Tell someone that Jesus loves them
- Smile at a stranger
- Give change to the salvation army
- Donate a toy to charity
- Pray for someone
- Tell someone a joke
- Give a thank you card to a teacher
- Deliver cards to the police or local fire station
- Sing a Christmas carol for someone
- Hand out candy canes
- Shovel snow for a neighbor
- Make a friend hot chocolate or tea
- Pick up litter at the park
Supplies Needed
- White Cardstock
- Printer
- Paper Cutter
- String or clothes pins for hanging
How to Make an Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar
Print off your cards, I used card stock because I know they will be pulled on and I want them to last this year and future years as well.
Using a paper cutter or scissors cut out all of the cards.
Hang up! I hung the cards up in a fun tree shape in our hallway and found a picture of a star to put on top! If you have an advent calendar with pockets you could put the cards inside or use clothes pins to hang them on the outside of each day.
How to use the free printable random acts of kindness cards
Starting on December 1st, choose one card a day to complete until you reach Christmas Day! A lot of the cards can be completed without much preparation, but there are a few that would require some thought beforehand including baking cookies or donating food or clothing.
It might be helpful to plan out in advance which cards you will do for the week (or the whole month) in order to be prepared and keep it as simple as possible. However, this is also why I included the extra cards and the blank cards, so you can find what works best for your family!
DIY Advent Calendar PDF
You may print off for your own personal or classroom use.
I hope this DIY advent calendar makes it easier for you to incorporate more giving and spread a little kindness to those around you this Christmas. Your kids will have so much fun seeing the joy they can bring others and the positive impact that they can have in someone’s day.
There is nothing extravagant about these ideas, but most often it is the simple things that bring the most joy.
I hope your Christmas season is slow, thoughtful and full of small delights every day 🙂 Merry Christmas, friends!
If you enjoyed this random acts of kindness advent calendar, please comment below your favorite activity! It would make my day to hear your stories!
I love this idea! What a great visual reminder to think of others during the Christmas season.
Thank you Lori, I hope your family enjoys using them this Christmas season!
What a great idea! I absolutely love it! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much Beth!
I love this thanks! Such a great way to refocus on the true meaning of christmas rather than consumption!
I agree, the holiday season can easily become overwhelming with material items. We love using this to help refocus our hearts and hope you find it helpful as well!
I love this idea!! The cards are gorgeous!
Thank you so much!
Great idea! Would be great if you added a copy without any writing at the bottom
Thank you! And thanks for your feedback! I did leave two cards blank so you can write your own ideas as well 🙂
Oh my goodness. I was wanting to send an advent calendar of some sort to my kids who are living out of the country this year and this is perfect! In fact, I think I might make them for family and friends too. Thank you!
Oh, I’m so glad you like it! I love doing this advent calendar every year with my girls and hope your kids enjoy it as well 🙂