For more Christmas countdown ideas, be sure to check out these kids advent calendars, this DIY advent calendar or our printable advent calendar ideas!
Why not make your own advent calendar to countdown to Christmas this year? Homemade advent calendars are SOOOOO much more fun than traditional ones found in stores. This one even has a baby Jesus in a manger!
(If you really want a store bought advent calendar instead (or as well) check out our list of the best advent calendars for kids)
You'll want to make this nativity craft ahead of time. It is a little fiddly for younger children to make but kids will love the finished product whether they make it with you or you make it for them!
Using this Christmas countdown is great way to get preschoolers and toddlers counting as well as getting older kids ready and excited for Christmas. It's lovely for younger children to be able to physically see how many sleeps they have left before the big day!
The best thing about this baby jesus in a manger themed calendar is that you can bring it out to reuse year after year!
Just scroll down below to make your very own Christmas countdown calendar.
SCROLL DOWN BELOW FOR THE FREE CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN PRINTABLE!
Supplies for your Christmas countdown calendar
- Christmas countdown printable
- Paint stirrer
- Fine point marker
- Scissors
- Yarn - white, yellow, light blue, royal blue, brown, and tan
- 3 jumbo sized craft sticks
- 5 yellow standard sized craft sticks
- Clothespin
- Hot glue gun
Directions to make your Christmas countdown calendar
STEP 1: Gather your supplies
This nativity craft has quite a few stages involved in making it so I really suggest rounding up everything before you get started! It makes the process sooooo much easier. Be sure you have the template downloaded and printed off too! Scroll down below to grab that if you haven't yet.
STEP 2: Make the manger
Then, wrap it using two different brown coloured yarns. Weave them around the manger by starting on the left side and crossing over and under the left stick and then back up again. Repeat for the right hand side.
Keep going until the majority is covered in yarn, leaving the tip uncovered as shown below. Use your hot glue gun to secure the ends in place.
STEP 3: Make baby Jesus
Then, hot glue the baby Jesus to a clothespin - this will be the marker on your Christmas countdown calendar. Be very generous with the amount of glue and apply pressure to hold into place until it has completely cooled.
STEP 4: Make the star
STEP 5: Finalize the Christmas Countdown Calendar
Next, glue the manger at the bottom and then the star at the top. Again, be very generous with the glue and apply pressure until it has cooled to secure both pieces into place.
That's it! Your Christmas countdown calendar is now complete. Use your baby Jesus as a marker to countdown to Christmas!
DOWNLOAD THE FREE CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN PRINTABLE!
To download this Christmas countdown printable for free add $0 and click on the 'I want this' box below. It may take a moment for the page to load so please be patient.
For personal use only. Not for redistribution. All images are copyrighted.
We hope you enjoyed making this nativity craft either for or with the kids. This countdown to christmas calendar is a great activity for this time of year to teach toddlers and preschoolers about counting as well as getting older kids excited about Christmas.
It makes the coundown to Christmas so much more exciting if you make you own advent calendar rather than buy a shop bought one. I love that this Christmas countdown calendar can be reused year after year! For more nativity crafts for kids, be sure to check out this Christmas nativity scene!
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