Need countdown ideas, please!

[Rachel L]

We are going to Disney World in November and I'm looking for cute countdown ideas. It will be me, DH, DD9, DD7, and my mom. I feel like having something to change/update every day really helps the girls understand when the trip is and not keep asking when we're going and also makes it more real.

We have been twice before. The first time we surprised them the night before The second time I had just gotten a coupon for a free calendar from some photo printing site so I used pictures from the first trip to make a calendar and put Mickey heads with #'s counting down on the days leading up to the trip. They took turns crossing off days until we went. I've seen the paper chain idea but don't know that I want to do 100 paper chains (that sounds like a lot of work!) so looking for alternatives.

Thanks!

 

[shellyj]

We make a calendar, too. At 90 days we have a night planned to talk about
Putting a sticker on the calendar at the end of each day might be a good way for the kids to count down
In the 90 day range we have a day marked for talking about FPs.
In the 60 day range we add family movie nights and the kids get to pick out Disney movies.
Starting at 30 days we have an activity almost every day. School night activities are very quick, like packing the glow bracelets, putting together a toiletry kit, pulling out swim suits, etc. Weekend activities are usually longer like movie nights, special dinners, packing suitcases, looking at the maps and itineraries to make sure Mom didn't forget anything.

At 30 days we make the paper chains and my kids LOVE them. My kids love them and it's not much work at all, they really enjoy making them. The kids like to glue them together with a glue stick, but I use a stapler! They like to make color patterns that remind them of a character. My son, now 9, always does orange, blue, and white for Donald. My daughter switches it up.

 

[Rachel L]

We make a calendar, too. At 90 days we have a night planned to talk about
Putting a sticker on the calendar at the end of each day might be a good way for the kids to count down
In the 90 day range we have a day marked for talking about FPs.
In the 60 day range we add family movie nights and the kids get to pick out Disney movies.
Starting at 30 days we have an activity almost every day. School night activities are very quick, like packing the glow bracelets, putting together a toiletry kit, pulling out swim suits, etc. Weekend activities are usually longer like movie nights, special dinners, packing suitcases, looking at the maps and itineraries to make sure Mom didn't forget anything.

At 30 days we make the paper chains and my kids LOVE them. My kids love them and it's not much work at all, they really enjoy making them. The kids like to glue them together with a glue stick, but I use a stapler! They like to make color patterns that remind them of a character. My son, now 9, always does orange, blue, and white for Donald. My daughter switches it up.

Wow you guys do a lot! I hadn't thought about doing different things at different milestones, I like the ideas, thanks! 30 days of chains is a little less daunting than 90.

 

[keepswimming76]

We've done a chart with Mickey heads and then crossed each one off. We've also done the paper chain at around 45 days. I have the kids help to make it, which they really love doing.

 

[Surgie2]

My grandkids are younger (5 and on down) so anything longer than a month is too much time for them to countdown. I ordered a personalized digital print-at-home countdown calendar for each of them on Etsy and had them laminated (they are standard 8.5 x 11 size). When it's a month out I'll send them the calendar and Mickey stickers to cover each day that goes by until departure day. The same seller also created some personalized letters from Mickey and Minnie for me so I'm going to send the kids the calendars in the mail along with their letter from Mickey or Minnie saying how much the Disney friends are looking forward to their visit and giving them a fun packing list of things they don't want to forget.