Hope your season is bright!

Things perhaps get a little silly.



And scratch 'n' sniffy.

Candles are traditional, and chocolate is fun, but snuggling and spending time together is the perfect way to count down the days till Christmas.

Consider wrapping a series of winter or holiday books and craft projects, then having your child open one a day until the big day arrives. You'll get to enjoy a cuddly reading time or an interactive project opportunity together.


You can adapt this for Hanukkah by wrapping eight themed books, or as a countdown to Solstice or another celebration your family keeps.

You don't have to buy anything if you don't want to, so it's a frugal option to keep the spending and clutter down as well. I store our Christmas-themed books with our holiday decorations so that I can find them each year and keep them off the shelves when they're less relevant.



I'd seen this idea before of doing a solely book-themed countdown, but with our small space, we don't actually own 24 Christmas books. This year, though, I got the idea to sprinkle in other items: