I first heard about a reverse advent calendar last year and loved the idea, but never got around to it. This year I’m determined to do one this year and I love that it’s something that the whole family can get involved in and reminds us that Christmas is so much more than the pretty decorations and presents under the tree.

So, what is a reverse advent calendar? Quite simple its a 25 day prompt of things to donate to a charity of your choice, instead of receiving something each day like the traditional advent calendar, you give something to those in need.

There are a few different ways to run your reverse advent calendar. First off you’ll need a box to put everything in and then you can either shop/collect the items daily, weekly or monthly, it totally depends on what suits your lifestyle. Personally I think I’ll end up doing mine weekly with my grocery shopping. I’ll probably also add in all of the toys, clothes and books that we put aside for donation during our pre-Christmas purge (highly recommend doing this PS).

Before you manically try to find time to create and list all of the items for your reverse advent calendar, I’ve created one for you and you can download it for free over here.

I love the idea of making this part of our family Christmas traditions, we have always had a big focus on charity in our family and I think the idea of bringing it through in this fun way is great! I hope that you and your family will enjoy taking part in this and do let me know how your collection is getting on by tagging me on Instagram or Facebook.

What a joy to be able to spread some goodwill this festive season!