Christmas tree advent calendar

I’m excited to share a new, super fun, freebie with you—a printable Christmas tree advent calendar!

The 3D paper tree stands up on its own, and each day there is a numbered ornament to colour, cut out, and glue on to decorate your tree. 

You might also like these fun Christmas printables for kids

There’s something about counting down with Christmas advent that is just so exciting for kids. There is an endless number of fun DIY ways to do it too, so why limit yourself to a boring store-bought calendar?

When the girls were small we always had calendars with surprises inside them, like our DIY advent tree or our Arty Christmas calendar. 

This year I’ve made a super simple and easy print and colour tree. It’s biodegradable, inexpensive (all you need is paper, glue, and textas), and it doubles as a Christmas decoration for your mantlepiece—or shelf, if you’re like us and don’t have a mantlepiece!

If your kids want surprises or candy each day (I know mine do), you can decorate the base with some small store-bought candy canes as I have in the picture above.

Putting your tree together is pretty self-explanatory, but here’s a quick tutorial for you anyway …

How to make a Christmas tree advent calendar

You will need:

• Green card stock
• White paper
• Glue stick
• Felt tip pens or pencils
• Scoring tool (optional)
• The advent calendar template — enter your details into the box below and it will be sent directly to your inbox

How to:

Print out three copies of your Christmas tree base to green card stock, and one copy of the ornaments page to plain white paper.

It’s probably not necessary to score the fold line on the tree, but the designer in me can’t stop myself. Scoring, by running a scoring tool or blunt butter knife along the fold before you fold it, will give you a super-clean, crisp, and accurate fold line. It’s worth the trouble.

Cut the tree shapes out and fold them in halves. For aesthetic purposes, turn the printed dotted line to the outside of the fold. That way it won’t be visible when you glue your panels together.

Glue the panels together.

Next, colour the three stars on the ornament page. Cut them out, fold them in half, and glue one to the top of each tree panel.

Cut around the outside dotted line of the ornaments panel and put it next to your tree. Each day, cut out one numbered ornament, colour it in, and glue it to your tree.

OK, I cheated and coloured them all in at once, haha!

Are your kids getting excited for advent?

More fun Christmas printables for kids

• Make a paper nativity scene using our printable template
• These mini paper angels are super popular with our readers
• Make a rainbow of paper reindeer using our printable template
• We have a super-cute and free printable reindeer pillow box to print and make
• If you have younger kids, these free printable Christmas shapes are an activity they’ll love