Countdown to FUN (and Tradition!)

Like many people, our holiday season is filled with cheer.  And it is filled with the sounds of the holidays - the sounds of giggles and excitement, the sounds of wrapping paper ripping…

But unlike most people, our season is also filled with different sounds. It is filled with:

-         The sounds of footsteps going up and down our wooden steps

-         The sounds of adults patiently explaining colors and shapes and numbers   to children

-         And last but most common – the sounds of small, oddly shaped wooden doors opening and closing and opening and closing and opening and closing…

Those are the sounds of our season, because everyday between December 1^st – December 24^th, our porch is filled with visitors for a special event.

From morning til nighttime, people stream onto our porch to make their daily visit to the life-size COUNTDOWN CALENDAR.  And each day, behind a brightly colored numbered door, they find a special treat.  Some days it is candy, other days a small toy.  But every day it is something, and every day is filled with the anticipation of what they will find.

The Countdown Calendar has become a tradition in our neighborhood.  Like so many of our projects, it started with a wild idea and has become a community staple.  I envisioned the calendar and David designed and built it with love (measuring many, many times to get it just right). We are not sure how many Christmases we have celebrated with it, but we have also used the calendar to count down to other special events – an election, Valentine’s Day, an inauguration, Eid Al-Fitr…  At Kindness Activist we believe you can countdown to anything!

And it is so FUN!  Many visitors come every day to make sure they don’t miss a treat.  We average 55 – 65 visitors a day.  Some days the gifts are wrapped, making them extra special!!  This year 13 neighbors volunteered to wrap gifts ranging from movie theater size boxes of candy to balls filled with slime to honey sticks to wind up walking toys and more.  We have at least 50 “main treats” per day and plenty of back-up treats for overflow, because on nice weather days upwards of 70 people come.

The Countdown Calendar is good for the community in so many ways.

-         Seeing the brightly colored contraption on our porch signals the start of the holiday season

-         It gives kids and families a destination to go to every day

-         It helps teach shapes, numbers, and colors!  I can’t count the number of times in December I found myself out on the porch talking to toddlers saying things like, “Oh!  Today is day 5.  It is a YELLOW door with a RED handle.  It is shaped like a TRIANGLE (gesturing drawing a triangle in the air).  With enough patience and time those kids can find it independently.

-         It is an excuse for visitors to get out into the fresh air each day

-         It provides a build up to the “main events” of the month

-         It provides exercise for many guests who bike or walk over

-         It introduces passersby to Kindness Activist and our work (it often draws in curious strangers, especially at night when the light is shining on the bright colors)

-         It is a reward for some families – if the child has good behavior for the day, they get to come to the calendar

-         And finally, the most obvious – it gives people a special treat each day!

The Countdown Calendar might look like an easy task, but it is actually a huge undertaking.  Because it happens at the same time as the Santa Project, I have learned to prepare way in advance!  This year we started shopping for treats just before Halloween, and kind neighbors wrapped and returned gifts to be used mid-November.

Wrapped calendar gifts waiting for their day to shine!

The hardest part of the project is keeping the calendar stocked.  We only put out a few treats at a time for fear a visitor will break the golden rule and take more than one (I am looking at you, middle school kids walking past after school…).  Each time the treats run out we need to put in more.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat from the time we wake up to the time we go to bed.  Kids who come every year know that if they find the cubby of the day empty, they are welcome to knock on the door and let us know (let’s just say we get a lot of knocks and doorbell rings during those 24 days…). 

But even though it is a lot of work, I love doing this project!  Kids are so happy to get a little treat!!  One special friend is a lover of chocolate and young enough to be delighted by everything in life.  To see his eyes shine and hear him squeal, “IT IS CHOCOLATE!” when opening a Hershey kiss one night was hilariously magical.  And the manners!  Oh my goodness, we hear so many, “Thank you Mr. David!” and “Thank you Miss Susan” s all month – so sweet.

My chocolate loving friend John and I made a little video in 2023 of how the calendar works.  You can find that here:  Countdown to Christmas

I have written a short blog about the Countdown Calendar before – here is a link to that piece: The Sounds of the Season

We won’t be counting down to anything super soon as now is time to rest.  But I can promise you this – if you ever pass by the Big Yellow House and see this brightly colored contraption on the porch, STOP BY.  Because you never know what you will find behind today’s door…

THANKS CUBE SMART!  Because of your kindness, the
Countdown Calendar

                                               can be safely stored until the next occasion

Kindness Activist funds spent on the 2024 Countdown Calendar - $768.82

Daily spend for the 24 days - $32.03

Average spend per person per day - .58 cents (using an average of 55 visitors per day)

Magical impact – immeasurable

(photos shared with parental permission)