Last December, we loved seeing how many of you filled your advent calendar with our play dough, rice, tools and accessories.

This year, I thought it would be a lovely idea to help fill your advent with a play activity a day too! So here's the full list of ideas...

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1. It's December 1st! Time to put up and decorate the tree! Can you decorate play dough Christmas trees?

2. Do you want to build a snow man...? Or how about a dough man?!

3. Make a ring out of dough and decorate your 'wreath' using decorations, pine cones, orange slices or cinnamon sticks

4. Cut lengths of rolled up dough (this is great for scissor practice!) and make bows

5. 'Bake' gingerbread men cookies

6. Hide small toys in dough and get children to 'unwrap them'

7. Make a beard for Father Christmas - our new mats are perfect for this, or you can simply draw a face on to cardboard

8. Make a christingle using a ball of dough at the centre

9. Make a reindeer face using sticks for antlers and cranberries for a nose

10. Build and decorate a gingerbread dough house using our Make Your Own Gingerbread Kit

11. Decorate play dough snowflakes

12. Decorate a play dough Christmas jumper in honour of Christmas Jumper Day using beads and buttons

13. Make footprints by rolling out our white dough and stamping your favourite animal, dinosaur or vehicle (or our new polar animal footprint stones from Yellow Door!) to make tracks into the snow

14. Create an eye spy sensory tray. Add our rice into a tray and then add a selection of festive objects - and play eye spy! Children can use scoops and tongs to fish the items out for added fine motor practice

15. Dry oranges and stamp them in play dough. What other things can you find in the kitchen to make festive prints?

16. Make and decorate baubles

17. Make a wintery small world scene

18. Freeze one of the characters from our play kits in an ice cube, free a tray of water and help them to ice skate

19. Use red and white dough to make candy canes

20. Put a nose on Rudolf using either our cookie cutter or Christmas Character play mats

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21. Use our Christmas counting mats to practice your numbers, then add the corresponding number of baubles to the tree

22. Make a 3D Christmas tree

23. Use our winter rice as a base for small world play. You could excavate dinosaurs, scoop and move it around with your favourite trucks o'sprinkle it through your fingers to make it snow

24. 'Bake' cookies or mince pies for Father Christmas

I hope that these ideas hope to keep your little ones' hands busy throughout the busy festive season, and don't forget to share your pictures with us!

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