Poetry Advent Calendar
One classic poem a day, 1 to 24 December. A screen-free countdown to Christmas you can print at home, with an edition for grown-ups and one for kids.
Advent calendar of poems (adults) Kids poetry advent calendar
What is a poetry advent calendar?
Instead of a chocolate behind each door, you open a poem. It takes a minute or two a day, it works for one reader or a whole table, and by Christmas Eve you have read 24 poems you may remember for years. Ours are printable advent calendars of poems: each numbered card has a poem on the back, chosen from classic Christmas and winter verse.
Two editions
- Printable Advent Calendar of Poems: 24 classic poems for adults, from Shakespeare, Rossetti, Hardy, Keats and more. A literary gift for book lovers.
- Kids Poetry Advent Calendar: 24 children's poems and carols (Stevenson, Rossetti, Lear, Eugene Field, Clement Clarke Moore, Good King Wenceslas, I Saw Three Ships) for reading aloud at home or in class.
Both are instant downloads in A4 and US Letter, €7.50 each on Etsy.
A taste of the poems
In the bleak mid-winter
Christina Rossetti, 1872
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone
In winter I get up at night
Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child’s Garden of Verses, 1885
And dress by yellow candle-light.
’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Clement Clarke Moore, 1823
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
How to use it
- Print the cards, cut them out and keep them in a box, a jar or 24 envelopes.
- Peg them on twine, slip them into a fabric advent calendar, or tuck one under a plate each morning.
- Read the day’s poem aloud at breakfast or bedtime. With children, let them open the card and you read.
- Teachers: open one poem with the class each morning in December.
Want free Christmas poems right now? Browse Christmas readings, Christmas card quotes and the Christmas & New Year page.
Questions
What is a poetry advent calendar?
An advent calendar where each day from 1 to 24 December opens a poem instead of a chocolate. You read one short poem a day, alone or aloud with family, as a countdown to Christmas.
Is there a poetry advent calendar for kids?
Yes. Our Kids Poetry Advent Calendar has 24 children's poems, nursery verse and carols by Stevenson, Rossetti, Lear, Field and Moore, sized for reading aloud at breakfast or bedtime.
How do I use a printable advent calendar of poems?
Print the cards at home or at a print shop, cut them out and number them 1 to 24. Peg them on twine, tuck them into envelopes or calendar pockets, and open one each morning or evening.
Are the poems in the public domain?
Yes. Every poem in both calendars was written by an author who died long ago and was printed before 1929, and each text is checked word for word against a historic edition.
What paper sizes are included?
Both calendars come as instant downloads in A4 and US Letter, with 4 cards per page for home printing and single-card files for a print shop.