Each year I make a holiday advent calendar for my daughter. And each year I try to make the 24 gifts more meaningful. She loves counting down to Christmas Day with a gift each morning; I wanted to make sure the gifts were something fun and educational instead of something she will quickly forget about by next year. We spend a lot of time at the public library because my daughter loves books. She gets so excited each Friday when she brings her library book home from school and loves telling us about the books her kindergarten teacher reads in the classroom. This year I purchased and wrapped 24 of her favorite books to create a perfect kindergarten book advent calendar. Starting today, December 1st, she will be unwrapping a book each day until Christmas.
I recalled a few of the books she talked about from her classroom and went out shopping Black Friday. I saved quite a bit by purchasing books during the holiday sale at Barnes and Noble.
My daughter’s kindergarten classroom spent an entire week reading books by Mo Willems. The pigeon books were definitely a favorite in the classroom. I read each book I purchased and can easily see why my daughter and her friends were so amused. The pigeon is hilarious and perfect for early readers to read on their own.
Mo Willems books in our kindergarten book advent calendar:
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (affiliate link)
The Duckling Gets a Cookie (affiliate link)
The Pigeon Wants a Puppy (affiliate link)
The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog (affiliate link)
Waiting is Not Easy (affiliate link)
Knuffle Bunny Free (affiliate link)
A few other Mo Willems books we already own include Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late (affiliate link), The Pigeon Needs a Bath (affiliate link) and A Big Guy Took My Ball (affiliate link).
I also purchased some of the books I recalled my daughter mentioning, her favorite characters, and a few from the I Can Read collection.
Other books in our kindergarten book advent calendar:
The Secret Life of Squirrels (affiliate link)
Sam & Dave Dig a Hole (affiliate link)
Star Stuff (affiliate link)
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (affiliate link)
Peanut Butter & Cupcake (affiliate link)
This Book Just Ate My Dog (affiliate link)
Zach’s Alligator (affiliate link)
The Numberlys (affiliate link)
100 Facts Animals Life (affiliate link)
The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat (affiliate link)
I Can Read Diary of a Worm (affiliate link)
The Twelve Rabbids of Christmas (affiliate link)
I Can Read No More Monsters for Me (affiliate link)
Olivia Builds a Snowlady (affiliate link)
I’ve had a Cricut for years but was never able to connect it to my computer for customized cutting. This week I added a new Cricut Explore (affiliate link) to my crafting tools. I spent just a few minutes playing with my new cutting machine and made the numbers for the kindergarten book advent calendar wrapping.
I wrapped each book and then glued on a number to represent the day my daughter would open the gift. The first book in the calendar is one of our favorites – The Day the Crayons Quit (affiliate link).
All the books are wrapped with numbers, placed under the tree, and ready for my daughter to be surprised.
I love that this year instead of making silly purchases on small toys I made an advent calendar that will help my daughter learn and grow her love for reading. The kindergarten book advent calendar is my favorite so far!
Do you do anything special to count down the days to the holiday with your children?