The best advent calendar ideas for kids. I share our favorite advent calendars that are fun, practical, tried and tested.
Advent Calendars are one of my absolute favorite holiday traditions. I've bought cheap ones, expensive ones, and have done homemade advent calendars.
I'll share some of our favorite advent calendars, as well as some ideas that I think would work really well. Most of these advent calendar ideas are practical, fun, and won't result in a lot of plastic toys and waste.
Each year, I try to come up with eco-friendly ideas that the kids will love. Here are some of our favorite advent calendar ideas for kids.
We've Tried Many Advent Calendars for Kids
Between getting advent calendars as Christmas countdowns, and advent calendars to extend Birthday celebrations, we've gone through a lot of advent calendars over the years.
I really love advent calendars, so I've also gifted advent calendar to friends and families. Hopefully I can help you find a perfect advent calendar for your kids.
Good Advent Calendar Ideas for Kids
What makes a good advent calendar for kids? I like to think about these following factors when buying advent calendars for my kids:
- re-playability
- practical / usefulness
- eco-friendly
- cost
- educational
The best advent calendar are filled with toys and products that the kids actually need, love, or consume.
I get really stressed if they end up with 24 small plastic things all around the house that only provide a few minutes of entertainment. So while we go this route sometimes, I try really hard to be more creative with my advent calendar purchases.
Also, not every advent calendar we have bought has been a hit. For example, one year I bought sock advent calendars. While the kids needed socks, 24 pairs of (cute) but the low quality socks often found in advent calendars just didn't work for us.
Buying Advent Calendars for Kids
I start looking for the perfect advent calendar starting October. In fact, I've already purchased all of ours for this year. I can't wait to start opening them!
This post is for you last minute advent calendar shoppers. I meant to get this post written in October, so I'm really sorry about the delayed post. But it's still better late than never, right?
Here's also our family secret - we like advent calendars year round. So really, you don't need to only use it for a Christmas countdown. If you see more than one that you love, snag it up and save it for later in the year.
We Even Gift Advent Calendars for Birthday Presents
Our kids have so much fun with advent calendars that they usually ask for a second one as a birthday present.
Both have January birthdays, so I buy an extra advent calendar for them each in December. It's perfect since they often go on sale by mid-December. Then I wrap it up as a birthday present.
Getting an advent calendar for their birthday also helps extend their birthday celebrations. Instead of being used as a countdown calendar, they use it to keep track of how many days they have been their new age.
Our Favorite Advent Calendar Ideas for Kids
Keep reading for our favorite advent calendar ideas for kids.
Some of the ideas I suggest are pre-made advent calendars. I've also found that buying things in sets of 24 also work well. I break them apart and give one each day.
Favorite Toddler Advent Calendar Ideas
We started doing advent calendars when our oldest was a toddler. He was able to understand the open one door a day concept pretty quickly.
A favorite is this Playmobil Junior Advent Calendar. I'm a huge fan of Playmobil because the quality is always good and the kids have played their various Playmobil pieces for years.
We were able to get away with less "toy-like" calendars when the kids were toddlers too. It made it easier to make practical purchases.
One year I bought myself a nice diffuser and a set of organic essential oils. We enjoyed smelling a new scent together every day.
Another year I bought a candle advent calendar. The toddler was able to open and smell the candle before I lit it and put it out of reach.
If you are looking to update your spice cabinet, a set of 24 organic spices would also be fun for a toddler to open, hold and smell each day.
Bonne Maman Jam Advent Calendar
The Bonne Maman Advent Calendar is my absolute favorite calendar each year. I also started buying this when one of the kids was a toddler.
Since then, we have been buying this advent calendar for about 5 years now. It's a staple family advent calendar. Whoever wakes up first can open the calendar door for the day.
Instead of eating a jam jar a day, we now save up the jars as we open them. Then in January, we host a jam tasting party. I created, and you can print for free too, these fun tasting charts and labels for these mini jam jars.
Lego Advent Calendars for Kids
The popular Lego advent calendars are great for any Lego loving kid. I think the Lego City version is a lot of fun, but my daughter always oogles at the Disney princess version (we haven't it yet).
Lego makes so many different versions - Marvel, Harry Potter, Friends, Star Wars, and more.
We have had our Lego advent calendar for about 4 years, and the kids rebuild it each year as our Christmas decoration. After Christmas, we take apart and save the daily pieces in individual bags. Alternatively, when done, mix the pieces into a free build bin.
Character Specific Advent Calendars
We've done some character specific ones, like Super Mario Bros. The perfect-sized figures are really fun for pretend play. The kids like to use the characters for board game pieces and for pretend play combined with Duplo.
Some other ones kids would love:
Snowball Maker Kits
Snowball maker kits often come in sets with enough pieces to break into an advent calendar. We have one of these sets, and the kids love it.
Here's a 25-piece set that includes so many fun pieces, including a cute snowman maker, heart maker, duck maker, large penguin mold, large snowman mold, snow shovel and digger, castle mold, several ice cream molds and more.
This 25 piece set includes an ice cream mold, cupcake cake mold, glitter powder, snow shovels, a duck mold, a rabbit mold, ad various other tools.
Simply pack each day's toy in a brown lunch bag and number it.
Metal IQ Puzzle
My kid loved a metal IQ puzzle advent calendar for his birthday present one year. He looked forward to doing a new puzzle each day. We saved them all in a small bag, and when we go on little trips, he will still bring them to fidget around with them.
I also appreciate that it's something we can pass on, and not made of plastic.
If you are looking for advent calendar filler ideas, it's a bit cheaper if you buy a 24-set metal IQ puzzles, without the specific advent calendar packaging. You can easily fill these into any reusable advent calendars that you already have.
Bath Bombs
My daughter loves this brand of bath bombs. We have used their unicorn and the mermaid bath bombs before. She sometimes get rashes with other brands, but not with this one.
They also sell an advent calendar with 24 bath bombs filled with either Christmas bracelet charms, unicorn bracelet charms, or mermaid bracelet charms.
Bath Color Drops
If you are looking for small advent calendar fillers, a pack of 36 bath color drops would also be fun. Made in New Zealand using natural ingredients and food-grade colors. These little drops will quickly change bath water color, perfect for pretend play.
Mini Trains
Any Thomas and Train lovers? This 20 pack exclusive mini trains is the perfect advent calendar filler. You'll need to buy 4 extra items - perhaps full size trains?
Thomas and Trains also sells an advent calendar with mini trains, but it tends to be more expensive and a bit more harder to find in the US. We had one when my son was little, bought in the UK. Six years later, he still sometimes pulls out the mini trains to play with.
I think they are so cute, I might turn them into little ornaments for a mini Christmas tree when the kids are ready to stop playing with them.
Mini Playdough Cans
I love these mini playdough cans. I buy them every time they are on black friday sale or other specials through the year.
These would make perfect advent calendar stuffers. We often pack a couple cans into birthday presents, or as valentine treats, halloween treats, or little toys for our guests to take home.
We've done the playdough advent calendar before. Honestly, the set of little cans is much better. The actual advent calendar is much more expensive and the kids didn't like all the shape molds it came with.
They prefer to use our cookie cutters at home, which brings me to the next idea.
Cookie Cutter Set
We have this handy set of 101 cookie cutters, and it has been used for everything, but mostly not cookies.
The kids love using these cookie cutters for tracing, play dough play, slime play, air dry clay, and various other arts and crafts.
You can break this 101 piece set up and package them up into 4 cookie cutters per day, plus all the remaining extras on the last day. Simply put them into numbered brown lunch bags or use special Christmas treat bags.
Book Sets for Kids Advent Calendar
Many years, I've broken book sets up. I often do this in addition to another advent calendar. Books go well with another small calendar, like chocolates. They also complement a family advent treat too - like candles, new spices, or diffuser and essential oils.
Here are a few book sets we have and break apart well into one book a day.
- Scholastic First Little Readers, Guided Reading Level A. This set has 25 full-color storybooks featuring just one line of simple, repetitive text. We eventually bought all the levels up to D, from when my son was little. Now, my four-year-old loves these books.
- Bob Books - Set 1 and Set 2 (up to 5 sets). Each set is 12 books, so pair them to get 24 books perfect for an advent calendar. These are the little books our librarian recommends. My preschooler currently loves trying to read them by herself.
- Magic Tree House Set 1-28 by Mary Pope Osborne. This set was a favorite when my son was in kindergarten.
- My Weird School Set 1-21 by Dan Gutman. This set is another favorite. It comes in a 21 book set, but you can easily add on this Christmas Special 3 Book Set to make it 24 books.
A Little Spot - Conversation Cards
If you are looking for an advent activity that can be done daily, this pack of conversation Cards is super cute. Bright illustrated cards with simple questions for kids to answer and encourage conversation that help develop emotional and social intelligence.
Simply put 4 cards in an envelope for each day, and all the remaining cards in the last day's envelope, for some extra questions.
Meri Meri Charm Advent Calendar
My daughter got this charm advent calendar for her fourth birthday last year and absolutely loved it. The charms are quality pieces for little girls. There are a few Christmas specific pieces, but most of them are simply cute and sweet.
Advent Calendar Ideas for Kids
Hope you find the perfect advent calendar for your kiddo.
If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear in the comments below too. What worked for your family? What didn't work? Do you have a favorite advent calendar idea that I missed?
Happy (almost) December!
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