Twelve days of cosy: a family jar for the dark evenings

Choose your twelve days

The twelve days are yours to pick. Some families take the twelve nights before the 24th of December. Others use the twelve days after it, when the rush is over and the house is quiet. You could also keep it for the darkest twelve nights of January. A cosy countdown works any time the days are short.

The twelve evenings

1. Cocoa by the window
2. A fairy-light evening
3. Pyjamas all day
4. Bake something warm
5. Blanket fort film
6. Soup and bread supper
7. Read aloud by lamp
8. Board game and tea
9. Candle and card night
10. A wool socks walk
11. A puzzle on the table
12. A slow breakfast

These twelve are the starting jars in the maker. Swap any that do not suit your house.

Twelve spares for when plans change

• Draw by candlelight, make paper snowflakes, a hot bath and a story, tell a family story, build a train track town, a toasted marshmallow supper.
• Look at old photos, a no-lights evening, a pillow picnic, a letter to a faraway relative, write a wish list for spring, cinnamon toast.

Keep a few spares in the jar for the evenings when the first idea is wrong. A tired family on night seven needs a short, easy slip.

Fill the shelf, then print numbered slips

Open the twelve days of cosy preset. Everyone fills the jars by how much they look forward to each evening, and the fullest jars become your must-do nights. Add a jar for something that belongs to your family, such as the film you watch every year.

Then print the slips with number the slips ticked, so each evening has a day. Choose medium for an easy fold, A4 or Letter, and cut marks to cut along. Tick add blank slips to leave space for the family's own ideas.

A few ways to play it

• The surprise draw: a different person draws each night and keeps the slip a secret until supper.
• The vote: pull two slips and let the youngest choose.
• The wall countdown: pin the numbered slips up in order and fold each one down as the evening is done.
• The grandparent edition: post copies of the shelf to far-away family so they can join one evening by video.

Keep the cosy going

After the twelfth evening, the shelf is a small record of what your family likes best. Keep a photo of it. The three fullest jars are the ones to repeat each month until spring. For more shelves in the same spirit, see the winter date night jar and the kids' kindness jar.