Christmas countdown · for kids
How many sleeps until Christmas?
Ask the little glass box from our story. From December 1 it counts them with you, one red and white drop a night.
Today
Counting...sleeps until Christmas
In December the glass box fills up, one drop a night.
Counted from the date on this device, in your own time zone. Christmas Day 2026 is Friday, December 25.
How the count works
One sleep, one drop
A sleep is a night in bed, so the countdown counts the nights between today and Christmas morning. Tonight is one of them, and Christmas Eve is the very last, which is why the night before Christmas is always “one more sleep”. Count days instead and you get the same number.
- 1October and NovemberThe box waitsSeventy sleeps means nothing to a four year old, but ten weekends they can picture. So until December the box stays empty, and the countdown tells you how many weekends are left.
- 2December 1 to 24A drop every nightEach December sleep puts one red and white drop in the box, and it has 24 places. The last one falls in on Christmas Eve.
- 3Christmas morningThe box is fullOn Christmas morning all 24 drops are in and there are no sleeps left. On December 26 the box empties and the countdown starts again, this time to next Christmas.
The paper chain below goes at the same pace, one link off every night at bedtime. So does 24 Doors, our advent calendar by email, with a door every morning from December 1. A book advent calendar keeps the same count at bedtime, with one wrapped book a night. And for the very last sleep there's the Christmas Eve box, with new pajamas and a book to end the countdown on.
Christmas 2026
Sleeps from the days they remember
Christmas Day 2026 is Friday, December 25. Here's how many sleeps are left from the days children tend to remember.
- October 1a Thursday85 sleeps
- HalloweenSaturday, October 3155 sleeps
- November 1a Sunday54 sleeps
- ThanksgivingThursday, November 26, in the United States29 sleeps
- December 1a Tuesday, and the box starts to fill24 sleeps
- Christmas EveThursday, December 241 sleep
Print · free, no sign-up
Christmas countdown printables
The chain maker numbers the strips from today's count, or from 24 for December, and the chain goes up on a doorframe. The calendar is for the fridge, the glass box gets one drop colored a night, and the blank chain takes any number you like. Each comes in US Letter or A4, in black and white to color or in color to hang up.
24 strips on 3 pages, from 24 down to 1.
To keep a PDF, choose “Save as PDF” in the print window. Cut on the dashed lines, then glue strip 1 into the first loop.
As it prints · page 1 of 3
Paper chain countdown
Twenty four strips, from "24 sleeps to go" down to "1 more sleep!", eight to a page with a glue tab on each. One link comes off every night at bedtime.
Ages 3 to 8 · 3 pages · PDF
Fill the glass box
It's the little glass box from the story, with 24 numbered drops to color, one each night in December. By Christmas Eve it's full.
Ages 3 to 8 · 1 page · PDF
Sleeps until Christmas calendar
November and December fit on one page. Every box has its date and the sleeps left that day, and Christmas Day gets a star.
Ages 3 to 8 · 1 page · PDF
Paper chain, blank
Eight strips with empty circles, for a chain that starts at any number. Print it twice for 16 sleeps, five times for 40.
Ages 3 to 8 · 1 page · PDF
Free for home and classroom use. To pass them on, please share the link to this page and not the file.
When the count gets to 24
Then a door every morning
On December 1 the countdown gets company. Our elf sends 24 Doors, one by email every morning until Christmas Eve, so the sleeps come with something to open.
Our own book
The Christmas Secret
A Christmas Eve picture book with a read-along · ages 3 to 7 · out on October 20
At the end of The Christmas Secret, Santa gives the girl a little glass box with one red and white drop inside. She tells the story years later, and she still has the box:
But ever since, every Christmas Eve, a new red and white drop appears in the little box.
The book's read-along does it too. On Christmas Eve, a new drop appears there.
Questions
Grown-ups ask
How many sleeps until Christmas?
Christmas Day 2026 is Friday, December 25. Count the nights from tonight up to Christmas Eve. On November 1 there are 54 sleeps, on December 1 there are 24, and on Christmas Eve there's one more sleep. The countdown at the top does the counting for you, from the date on your own device.
How many days until Christmas?
The same number as the sleeps. A countdown counts December 24 as 1 day to go and Christmas Day as none. If you want it to the hour, tap Days and hours on the countdown, and it counts to midnight at the start of Christmas Day on your own clock.
What counts as a sleep?
One night in bed, from tonight to Christmas Eve. Naps don't count, however hard a 3 year old argues that they should.
When should we start a Christmas countdown?
When the asking starts. December 1 is the classic day, with the first door of an advent calendar, the first link off a 24 link paper chain and the first night of the glass box. If the questions begin in October, count weekends instead, or print the blank chain and start it on a day that means something to your child, like the day their letter to Santa goes in the post.
How do you make a paper chain countdown?
Print the strips and cut them out: 24 for December, or as many as there are sleeps left, from the chain maker on this page. Glue strip 1 into a loop, thread strip 2 through it and glue that, and carry on to the biggest number. Hang it by strip 1, and every night at bedtime tear off the last link, whose number is how many sleeps are left. When the strip that says 1 more sleep comes off, it's Christmas Eve, and there's nothing left to tear but wrapping paper.
What is an advent calendar?
A calendar that counts the days of December up to Christmas, with a little door or window to open each day, usually from December 1 to 24. Ours comes by email: 24 Doors, one door every morning, with a riddle, something to make and a kind mission.
More Christmas
Or see all of them on one page, from the weeks before Christmas to the night itself.
Christmas EvePlan the evening together, print a card for Santa's plate and his boot prints, and find every Christmas page in the order it happens.
24 Doors, the advent calendar by emailOne door by email every morning from December 1 to 24: a riddle, something to make, a kind mission, and now and then an animal that steps into your room.
Christmas scavenger huntRhyming clues from one of Santa's elves for Christmas morning and Christmas Eve, and Santa's own candy cane hunt from our book, which ends at the bookshelf.
Letter to Santa and wish listDraw it, trace it or write it: a letter to Santa for every age, a wish list, and Santa's real addresses.
A letter from SantaSanta writes back, in his own handwriting: your child's name, two good things they did this year, and notes for Christmas morning.
Christmas Eve box ideasWhat goes in the box at every age from 1 to 8, with box labels, name tags and a key for Father Christmas to print.
Book advent calendarHow to make one on any budget, with 24 numbered tags to print and 24 picture books by age.
Christmas picture booksTwelve new ones for 2026 and 24 classics by age, with how long each one takes to read aloud.
Santa's reindeer namesLearn all eight in order with our rhyme, print the poster, and find out what real reindeer are like.
Reindeer foodOats and seeds in a bowl, never glitter, with our own poem and bag toppers and tags with your child's name.
Santa's nice listA certificate for kind things only, signed by Santa, and 24 kind things to do in December.
Christmas gift tagsEveryone's names fit on one sheet of tags in the pictures of our book, and Santa's own tags come signed.
Christmas elf namesSpin up an elf name from a first letter and a birthday month, and make it official with a badge or an elf ID card.
The candy cane storyCandy canes were plain white until about 1900. Read what happened next and the legends, then print blank canes to stripe your own way.
Christmas activity sheetsSeven black and white sheets for ages 3 to 8, from a picture word search to bingo for a whole class, answers included.