A text by Marie (GRIMM'S)
The Advent calendar is based on our play worlds – Flower Meadow, Sound of the Sea, and Forest Glade. These are play sets that embody open-ended play. You'll most likely have everything you need either at home or can find it outdoors. Each day, you'll receive a piece of the play set, along with a small task or suggestion for what you can do with it, in a little note.
The form you choose for your Advent calendar is up to you. You can use a reusable calendar with little bags that you might already have at home. Or you can use a branch or a clothes rail and hang lots of small fabric-wrapped gifts from it.
The packing crate becomes a small stage, gradually becoming more homely and attractive. So, it can be there on the first day, and then the construction work continues. The principle works the same for all three play worlds, but there are minor variations due to the slightly different products in the sets.
In this article, we will show you, using the example of the Blumenwiese game world, how you can spend the 24 days of Advent with little effort but a lot of time together.
And this is what it can look like:
December 1
This is in the calendar: One of the game pieces
Here's what you can do: Set up the empty box, welcome the little toy figure, and give it a name together.
This is what the little note says: Hello, I live here in this little box. What should I be called?
December 2nd
This is in the calendar: the string
Here's what you can do: Wrap the string around the playing figure like a coat.
This is what the little note says: Brrr, it's already quite wintry. Can you make me a coat out of this string?
December 3
This is in the calendar: one of the records
Here's what you can do: Decorate the box together with paints, colored paper, bunting, and anything else you can think of.
This is what the little note says: Oh, a beautiful new floor for my home. Can we spruce up my box a bit too?
December 4
This is in the calendar: a pearl
Here's what you can do: Take a walk together and collect natural materials. You can insert a small straw or flower into the hole of the bead. The other natural materials will form a small landscape around the box.
This is what the little note says: Let's go for a little walk today, then we'll look for flowers and small branches and put them in this beautiful vase.
December 5
This is in the calendar: a button
Here's what you can do: Place the button on the bead and together they will form a small table.
This is what the little note says: Oh, now I have a table, how great! Why don't you sit down together today and tell each other what you like best about Advent?
December 6
This is in the calendar: the red roof of the house
Here's what you can do: Place the red building element so that it becomes a chair for the character. Make yourself comfortable and have a cup of punch together.
This is what the little note says: An armchair for my home, now it's really cozy. Why not make yourself a little cozy and have a cup of punch together?
December 7
This is in the calendar: a postcard or an empty envelope with a sheet of paper
Here's what you can do: Write the postcard together to the toy figure and include your child's biggest Christmas wish. Place the postcard in front of the box in the evening, and of course, it must be gone by the next morning.
This is what the little note says: Would you like to send me a letter sometime? And please write your greatest Christmas wish on it, maybe I can pass it on.
December 8
This is in the calendar: the flower
Here's what you can do: The little flower becomes a pedestal for the toy figure. It looks out, but for what?
This is what the little note says: I'll stand there and keep an eye out. But I wonder what I'll look for?
December 9
This is in the calendar: the second game piece
Here's what you can do: Welcome the second character today and give it a name.
This is what the little note says: So, who are you? How great that there are two of us now. But what's my boyfriend/girlfriend's name?
December 10
This is in the calendar: a pearl
What you can do: What you can do: Together with the bead, the playing pieces and the other objects you can try out fun balance exercises.
This is what the little note says: Today it's time for some exercise. We can be acrobats together!
December 11
This is in the calendar: some of the filling material and a tangerine
Here's what you can do: The filling material can be painted and used to create a variety of items for the toy figures, as well as as decoration in their house. Just see what your children come up with and decorate the box with it. The tangerine peel can also be cut to size or shaped with cookie cutters to become a decoration.
This is what the little note says: What can you make with these? Hats, plates, lamps... And we can also make beautiful Christmas decorations from the tangerine peel.
December 12
This is in the calendar: the orange part of the house
Here's what you can do: Find a place for the toy figures' new furniture. It could be a bed, for example, but it can also be anything else you and your children can think of. In the evening, cozy up together before bedtime and read a Christmas story.
This is what the little note says: Is this a bed for us? Tonight, before we go to sleep, we'll read a Christmas story in bed, okay?
December 13
This is in the calendar: the felt cloth
Here's what you can do: The felt cloth can serve as a blanket for the game pieces. Make another one together out of paper, scraps of fabric, or whatever else you have on hand.
This is what the little note says: The blanket is wonderfully cozy. But we actually need a second one. Can you make one for us?
December 14
This is in the calendar: a pearl
Here's what you can do: Try to build a small marble run together using the materials you have and use the bead as the ball.
This is what the little note says: With this bead, our home can easily become a marble run. Wow.
December 15
This is in the calendar: the red window of the house
Here's what you can do: The small red element can be a pillow for the toy figures. Make a second one out of paper, scraps of fabric, cotton wool, or whatever you have on hand.
This is what the little note says: Oh, a cozy pillow. But we actually need a second one, too. Can you make us one ?
December 16
This is in the calendar: a button
Here's what you can do: Use the button as a stencil and trace around it on paper with a pen. Then you can color the circles, cut them out, poke a small hole in them, and thread a string through them. You've now got homemade Christmas tree decorations.
This is what the little note says: If you place the button on a piece of paper and trace around it with a pen, you'll get lots of circles. Color them, cut them out, and with a string, they become Christmas tree baubles that can't break.
December 17
This is in the calendar: the pink part of the house
Here's what you can do: Some of the building elements have small holes in them. Take a walk together at dusk with a flashlight and collect a few more natural materials that you can insert into the small holes.
This is what the little note says: What are those little holes doing there? Let's go out into nature and see if we can find small blades of grass, flowers, or twigs to stick in there. If it's already dark, just take a flashlight and go for a little night hike together.
December 18
This is in the calendar: a pearl
What you can do: You can also create wonderful puzzles with the individual elements. A wooden board, for example, is a good base, and then you can try to create an animal on it using the other elements. Of course, you can also use any other materials you have at home.
This is what it says on the little note: What are your favorite animals? Why don't you put a picture of them in there?
December 19
This is in the calendar: the yellow door
Here's what you can do: Put some nuts or sweets in front of the door – it's fun not just on St. Nicholas Day.
This is what the little note says: Knock, knock, now we have a door! Take a look outside your door.
December 20
This is in the calendar: the second record
Here's what you can do: Make some rugs for the characters and their homes out of pieces of paper or scraps of fabric or something similar.
This is what the little note says: Our floor would certainly be even more comfortable if we had some rugs. Can you make us some?
December 21
This is in the calendar: a brass candle holder and a small candle or alternatively a tea light
Here's what you can do: Amidst all the hustle and bustle, take a few minutes to light a candle together and sing a Christmas carol. The brass holder fits perfectly into the hole in the flower, turning it into a candle holder. But it also works if you simply use a tea light and place it on the table.
This is what the little note says: Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the entire year! We'll light a candle and make ourselves really cozy. Maybe we'll even think of a Christmas carol to sing?
December 22
This is in the calendar: the bags in which the game pieces are packed
Here's what you can do: The little packaging of the toy figures is great for painting and decorating. Make little sleeping bags for them and let them sleep among the natural materials in front of their box.
This is what the little note says: It's freezing cold outside, but we'd like to spend the night outdoors with our winter sleeping bags. Could you paint them nicely for us first?
December 23
This is in the calendar: a button
Here's what you can do: The excitement is building, Christmas is coming soon. Together, make faces that reflect how you feel. Use all the materials you already have from the calendar and anything else you have at home. The boards can again be used as a base.
This is what the little note says: One more sleep until Christmas. How are you feeling? Draw your feelings as funny, excited, tired... faces.
December 24
This is in the calendar: a button, tangerine / candy
Here's what you can do: Collect a cone or cut a small fir branch and insert it into one of the beads. Now even the little toy figures can really get into the Christmas spirit.
This is what the little note says: Today is Christmas Eve! Now we just need a Christmas tree! Take a cone or a small fir branch and stick it in our Christmas tree stand. Merry Christmas everyone!
The detailed instructions for all three game worlds are available for download here. If you like, you can simply cut out the notes and use them as they are. Otherwise, you can, of course, copy them and customize them however you like.
Playworld Flower Meadow Advent Calendar Instructions
Play World Sea Sound Advent Calendar Instructions
Playworld Forest Glade Advent Calendar Instructions
If you wish, you can expand the set as desired. The following items are particularly well-suited:
- Wooden beads in any size
- wooden buttons
- Construction rings
- Gemstones
- Cords, e.g. rainbow cords
- Clay to attach the gems
- Handcrafted or improvised small furniture made of cardboard, cork
Every day, the individual pieces receive a new stimulus for play. And of course, the set can be played with all year round and combined with different (natural) materials; it's not limited to the Christmas season.
We wish you lots of fun together and a wonderful and relaxing Advent season!
