9 Deployment Wall Ideas to Count Down Those Long Days
If you follow my on Instagram, then you know that my husband is leaving soon for a 9-month rotation in Europe. And even though it’s not a combat deployment, that’s not stopping me and the girls from making a deployment wall to countdown the days until he’s home again!
I made our first deployment wall when he was on a 15-month hardship tour in Central America. The girls were much younger then, but they loved the countdown and want to do it again this time.
We haven’t decided on exactly what we’re doing for our wall this time, but here are some deployment wall ideas that we’ve found so far!
Deployment Wall Ideas
A Kiss a Day
One of the more popular deployment countdown ideas on the internet is a ‘kiss a day while daddy’s away’. For this countdown, you fill a jar with Hershey’s kisses, one for every day deployment and have one every day until daddy’s home again.
This is one of the deployment wall ideas that Lainey really wants to do. You add 2 clocks to your wall, one of them shows your local time and the second clock shows the time where daddy is.
This is one of the popular deployment wall ideas that I’m definitely going to do. In fact, I’ve already ordered our (Love this deployment wall with a huge world map!)
Paper Chain Countdown
You make a long chain, with one link for every day that daddy is gone and every night you tear a link off the chain. As the weeks pass, you watch the chain get shorter and shorter. We did a paper chain countdown on the first deployment wall we ever made and I liked having that visual.
(Holy cow what a countdown! The longest paper chain I’ve ever seen!)
Toy Soldier Countdown
Similar to the ‘kiss a day’ countdown, you use vases full of toy soldiers. Such a cute idea, especially for kids that can’t have candy every day.
No deployment wall is complete without some pictures of your favorite soldier.
(A corkboard is a great way to add multiple pictures to your deployment wall.)
Mail for Daddy
Some deployment walls have a container to hold mail that you’re saving to send to daddy. This is a great idea to collect little notes, drawings, and trinkets that you put aside over the weeks until you’re ready to mail the next package.
For each obstacle that you overcome or achievement that you attain during deployment, you write it on a post-it note and put it on the brag wall. Then when your soldier gets home, he can see all the kick-ass things you did while he was gone.
Deployments are always hard, but pretending like it’s not happening doesn’t make it any easier. I hope these deployment wall ideas to help you create a way to celebrate your little wins and countdown those long days until your soldier is home again!