Create a Simple Inexpensive Christmas Book Countdown

This simple Christmas book countdown will be a favorite new holiday family tradition. It’s a great way to cultivate a love for reading and this countdown doesn’t involve any sugar 😉

Every Christmas I like to gift my children a new Christmas book. With 4 kids under the age of 11 years we now have quite the collection of Christmas books!

A fun tradition that we began doing is a Christmas Book Countdown. Each evening starting December 1^st we read a Christmas book together as a family.

In years past I would individually wrap 25 books. Then the kids would take turns choosing a book to unwrap and read each evening.

While I love this tradition this year I just don’t want to spend the time and money on wrapping paper for 25 books! I kept thinking about a way to simplify this family tradition. Something that required less effort and time from myself.

Gift Bag

Using a gift bag is my solution to the problem. This year, instead of wrapping each book individually, each evening I will place a Christmas book into the gift bag.

Not only will I use a gift bag, I’ll be using the same gift bag each day. Using a gift bag makes this Christmas Book Countdown super easy and simple.

Here are the supplies you need to create your own Christmas Book Countdown:

25 of your favorite children’s Christmas picture books (we read Luke Chapter 2 from the Bible on Christmas Day)
large Christmas gift bag or grocery store paper bag
ribbon
paper clip or clothes pin
hole punch
scissors
printable Christmas Book Countdown Tags (Print on white card stock paper for durability)

Grab the printable by filling out the form below and heading to the Freebie Library.

How It Works

Each day place a Christmas book of your choice into the gift bag. Tie with ribbon and add the corresponding countdown number using a paperclip or clothes pin.

Place the gift bag under your Christmas tree each day. Pick the best time of day to open the bag and read the book together as a family.

For our family, we like to read the Christmas book each evening after dinner or right before bedtime. It’s a nice way to end the day all together snuggled on the couch.

After reading the book we place it in a book basket. Our book basket is kept in the living room near the Christmas tree. The kiddos like to read the Christmas books each morning when they wake up.

Choose a basket to hold your Christmas Countdown books. By Christmas Day your basket will be filled with wonderful Christmas books to read!

Inexpensive Christmas Books

If the Christmas Book Countdown is a new family tradition you would like to use this year, I have a few ideas of how you can acquire 25 Christmas books inexpensively.

Library

Check out books from your local library. It’s free and you can even request specifics Christmas books. Most libraries allow you to keep books for 2-3 weeks. Plenty of time to enjoy them and use in your Christmas Book Countdown.

Thrift Store

Shop for cheap Christmas books at thrift stores.

Borrow from Friends and Family

Ask your friends and family if they have any children’s Christmas books they would lend you. It never hurts to ask 😉

eBay

Search for “children’s Christmas books” on eBay. You’ll find many choices and grouped book sets.

Dollar Store

Check your dollar stores for books. Sometimes they have great book finds.

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25 of Our Family’s Favorite Children’s Christmas Books

The books below are some of our families favorite Christmas books that we love to read. This list of 25 books will be a part of our own Christmas book countdown this year.