Advent Calendar

My kids really enjoy having an Advent calendar every year. I like it because it's like they get to open a giftlet every day, and it helps relieve a little pre-holiday tension.

I remember having Advent calendars when I was younger...the kind where you open a little door, and there would be a cute little picture in the opening. Then, on Christmas Day, all the little doors would be opened!

I wanted to be able to have Ziggy share in this type of excitement, too. Over the years, we've used different kinds of calendars. For a few years, we used the Playmobil advent sets. These are cute: each day has a little figurine in a box, that you place on a cardboard base. On Christmas, the Christmas scene will be complete. Ziggy did okay with this (the other kids loved it!), but he got frustrated not knowing what the figures were, and we always had to explain it to him...

This year, I was in a time crunch and found this at World Market for $1.79!!!! Thought I'd give it a go...
Behind each little door is a holiday-shaped chocolate. Once the chocolate is removed (and eaten), the shape can still be felt (it's like the base is the candy mold), which is cool.

So, how does Ziggy know which door to open? Sighted kids just read the printed numbers on the little doors. So, for Ziggy, I just apply some clear Braille labels on each door.

It's really easy...I use some special paper (kind of like laminating sheets, only thicker and stiffer...like really thick Scotch tape); it's clear and also adhesive on one side. I emboss the Braille numbers on to the sheets with the Braille writer (or "brailler" for short). Then I cut out each number and stick them on to the appropriate door...

Here's what the paper and the brailler look like:

It only takes a few minutes to do this...

I love the way Braille looks, so had to show this close-up view of this year's calendar:

I think Ziggy likes this calendar better than previous years' because of the chocolate! I guess the bad thing is that since there are 4 kids, we have to rotate who is the door opener, so nobody gets candy every day...