The Advent calendar first appeared in European countries, and later it began to be used in America. In Ukraine, such a calendar is just beginning to become popular. The idea of a special calendar is intended for children, it shows the remaining days until Christmas. The main essence of the calendar is that the child is waiting for Christmas, every day he opens a new window with the number of the day and receives a small present or a sweet surprise. Initially, the calendar was calculated from December 1 to December 25, because in Catholic countries Christmas is celebrated on December 25. And in Orthodox countries, the New Year is celebrated first, because of this the number of days in Advent has increased. There are different calendars designed for 31 days (all of December), 13 days (from 12/19 to 12/31) and even 38 days (from 12/1 to 01/07). You can choose any one for yourself, the main thing is to turn the anticipation of the holidays into an unusual fairy tale.
What are they made of?
Today on the Internet you can find a large number of Advents made from a variety of materials.A calendar can be made from anything, for example, from felt, plastic cups or children’s socks, from envelopes, cardboard or boxes, matchboxes, paper, children’s gloves, even from cups, gift bags and small bags, etc.
Master Class!
I am pleased to offer you an interesting advent calendar master class with step-by-step photographs, which will be valid for 13 days, from December 19 - St. Nicholas Day to December 31 - the onset of the New Year celebration.
The main structure will be made of colored cardboard, each box will be numbered and decorated with a picture with a New Year's theme. To make the countdown of days even more interesting, I am attaching at the end of the MK a list of tasks for the child for all 13 days.
Let us divide the implementation of Advent into VI stages:
I. Material. In order to make a calendar with your own hands, you will need:
- ruler;
- pencil;
- scissors;
– colored thick cardboard (A 4);
– glue, double-sided tape, brush;
- glitter, tinsel;
– pictures with a New Year theme;
– New Year’s balls (small);
– narrow tape;
– other little things for decoration.
II. Making calendar boxes. One finished box consists of 2 parts - upper and lower. To connect the two halves, you need to accurately calculate their dimensions. One box that will cover the other must be larger; how to calculate this, read on. For example, now we will make the smallest box, one part is made from a square with sides of 10 cm, and the other - 10.4 cm. Each subsequent box will be larger by 1 cm or 0.5 mm, and so on up to 21 cm, i.e. To. This is the largest square that can be obtained from sheet A4.The boxes in this advent calendar are of different sizes, but you can make them the same, any variations are possible.
And so, first we draw a square with sides of 10 cm on colored cardboard and draw two diagonals.
Then we turn the corners of the square to its center - the point of intersection of the two diagonals.
We get the design as shown in the photo.
Following the photographs, we bend the corner of the square to the desired point, do this with the remaining three corners and get a structure as in the photo.
Now we wrap the corners of the square to the marked point, bend the resulting triangle in both directions, as shown in the photo.
We draw a square, as in the photo, cut the sides along the red lines, cut out the shaded triangles.
Finally, our box is almost ready, all that remains is to fold it, follow the instructions in the photo.
If everything is done correctly, you will get neat boxes. Most of the work is done, all that remains is to decorate and number all the boxes.
III. Decorating boxes with New Year's themed pictures. As parents, it’s better for you to know what your baby likes, which cartoon characters he likes best. Therefore, the pictures can be anything. In this calendar, I propose to take those images that are associated with the New Year theme: candy, snowflake, star, bells, deer, sleigh, winter tree, angel, Christmas tree, snowman with angel, gifts, Santa Claus and Snow Maiden, New Year's wreath with socks on doors. To do this, you can print pictures from the Internet or use ready-made stickers, as you like. All other photos show the result of the entire calendar.
IV. Numbering of the advent calendar. In this calendar, the boxes are numbered from 1 to 13; on the contrary, you can do them in descending order.For example, there are 13 days left until the New Year, which means you number the calendar from 13 to 1. Pick up glue with a brush and draw the desired number on the boxes next to the picture, immediately sprinkle with glitter (any color, gray in the photo), wait until it dries completely. The winter tree is decorated with beads, the Christmas tree is covered with small decorative stars, and the angel is decorated with berries.
V. Decoration, finishing touches. Depending on the size of the resulting boxes, cut out the shape of a Christmas tree from green cardboard. We attach the entire structure using double-sided tape and place the tinsel along the contour of the tree. We also attach small Christmas balls with tape. We hang the finished calendar on a ribbon threaded through the upper corner of the tree. Advent calendar is ready!
VI. List of tasks for 13 days. It is better to buy sweet gifts for parents on the eve of Advent, but it is better to prepare a list of tasks for 13 days in advance. Every day, in the next box, the baby will find a sweet gift and a task that he will need to complete on his own or with his parents. Don't forget that the child receives a surprise on behalf of Santa Claus. Depending on the weather, tasks may change, and, taking into account the baby’s capabilities, tasks can be made easier or more difficult.
1. Make cards for your family (grandparents, parents).
2. Decorate the Christmas tree with toys.
3. Make snowmen from socks, foil or draw.
4. Make cards with congratulations to friends.
5. Read New Year and Christmas books (if the child is studying, for example, English, read books in a foreign language).
6. Build a snowman and ride a sleigh.
7. Learn a poem for Santa Claus.
8. Bake cookies with your parents in the form of New Year's images.
9. Draw on the snow with colorful water (with paint).
10. Freeze any molds with colored water and decorate the Christmas tree in the yard.
11. Watch New Year's cartoons.
12. Write a letter to Santa Claus.
13. Decorate the window with snowflakes.
As you can see, there are a lot of things to do, change them, plan them as it suits you. You will see how grateful your child will be to you when he receives such an unusual advent calendar.
