DIY Advent Calendar - Prompts to Play

I know it's easier to buy a chocolate advent calendar from the supermarket, but I also know that my boys will get so much more pleasure from a simple DIY Advent Calendar idea, which apart from a little effort and time, didn't cost a lot at all.

You will need:

• clear plastic bags (I bought a pack of 25 in The Range for just over £1)
• permanent pen or if you want to follow my design use chalkboard labels which you can buy in packets from a pound shop.
• paper bags (optional)
• play ideas and a few little sweets if you want to.
• sticky tape

I had some paper bags left over from Sammy's Circus Party which I used to hide some of the treats, but the reason I love using clear bags is my boys respond to praise and reward. So if they can see there is something lovely on offer, their behaviour improves!

I filled my bags with ideas for play from around the house. 

So each little toys is a prompt to do something together. 

Glasses for a dressing up session, binoculars for a walk on a high hill, a plastic lion as we have tickets to Longleat Safari (which is a surprise), a cowboy postcard for a play in the wigwam tent, left over party bag bubbles, a toy that comes from a favourite film which signals a family movie afternoon and a knitted egg which means a cooked breakfast!

I used an old frame to stick the bags to the wall in the lounge. And as the days go on, I will move the ones that didn't fit into the frame space! Patterned tape is great because it doesn't mark your walls and looks pretty. Although if you put slightly heavier things in like bubbles you may need a couple of layers of tape to keep them on the wall!

Last year I made the boys a Book Advent Calendar from a stack of story books I collected from charity shops. 

Are you making an advent calendar this year? I'd love to see your ideas!