cute holiday advent calendars and what to fill them with
i never had an advent calendar (being a jewish kid), but since we got one for arlo a few years ago i’m so into it now! they are really fun and i just love doing something festive every single day leading up to christmas. i made printable cards so that our calendar was filled with more activities than stuff, but i also have to include STUFF.
i have this beautiful advent calendar from gathre. the one we used before had such tiny pockets, i wasn’t really able to fit much besides paper in there — having the pocket space is crucial!
without further ado here are a bunch of beautiful advent calendars and some easy ideas for things to throw in them too!
cute advent calendars
gathre
advent calendar
i have this one in the ivory color but i also really love this newer fern color!!
lumens
star narrow advent calendar
this ferm living advent calendar is such a perfect size for a small space or hallway where you might not want to dedicate a big piece of wall to the calendar — plus it’s pretty. again i love the green but it comes in a white color too!
anthropologie
nutcracker advent calendar
so cute and it has a little nutcracker doll you count down with
maisonette
felt advent calendar
this is another adorable small-space option and also comes with holiday activity cards!
target
meri meri fairy mushroom advent calendar
this one is so fun — it’s a mini suitcase that comes with pieces to create a little forest scene as you count down to christmas
west elm
wood light-up advent calendar
the little houses are so cute and how fun that this one lights up
crate & barrel
wooden forest holiday advent calendar
this one is so special and doubles as really pretty holiday decor
cute things to put in your advent calendar
1. printable advent calendar activities
the activities i designed are always really fun for us, it’s a nice way to check all those bucket list items off your list too!
2. candy
i’m gonna put a couple little festive candies inside but keep it limited! there are so many fun christmas themed candies arlo would go nuts for (i linked to reeses shaped like nutcrackers above!! WHAT. lol)
3. snacks
i also got a bag of cashews because he loves nuts haha. any little bags of their favorite snacks would be perfect!
4. inexpensive toys
if you’re trying to not fill your whole house with cheap crap, this isn’t that easy. i was able to find some random cute little things he’d like at our local hardware store (i got a whoopie cushion, two little dinosaur toys, a rubber snake and a little wind up chicken). here is a really helpful product (it’s sold out now but i found on ebay) if you want to keep it simple! last year i found some cute squishy snowmen and a santa that arlo still plays with to this day.
5. ornaments
i got a few ornaments that i knew arlo would love, so i decided to include them in the advent calendar versus presenting them when we first decorated our tree! this way it’ll hopefully make each one more special.
6. stickers
i filled a lot of days last year with a couple of stickers on the days i didn’t have anything else. arlo wasn’t the most excited because it was the same ones over and over haha — but it was something to do!
7. art supplies
a little watercolor palette, new markers, new crayons, all perfect things to include!
8. temporary tattoos
easy and cute.
9. holiday crafts
i always love to grab a few craft kits for the holidays so now that i have large pockets i can stick them in here!
10. figurine sets
i will never forget the hanukkah that my mom got me all of the 90210 barbie dolls and gave me one each night. it was a great thrill of my life hahah– that would be such a fun idea. arlo already has 8000 “guys” but if your kid loves a show or movie and doesn’t have the figurines, would be fun to purchase them and spread them out so they collect them over the month!!!
11. cars or dinosaurs or mini stuffed animals
anything they’re into but we have always had a soft spot for the metal toy cars at cvs so if i can make it there i will prob have to grab one for his calendar!
12. band-aids
fun AND useful. i included some cute welly ones but you could also just get a pack of mickey or elmo or paw patrol or whoever they love.
13. dollhouse accessories
i wanted to get arlo a christmas tree for the dollhouse but i haven’t gotten to it yet — was thinking it would also be fun to get him some new food items or a laptop. if you have a dollhouse this is the perfect excuse to add some new accessories!
ok i hope these ideas helped!!! and ps. i am always adding more advent calendars and fillers to my amazon storefront here
Can you please share more about what you put in your advent calendar? Are they activities, kind actions, traditions or just items that you move along the dates?
I didn’t have an advent calendar either, as an orthodox kid, but it looks like so much fun! Great ideas, thank you for the article!
Love the mix of store-bought and DIY calendar ideas, as well as the wide variety of filler ideas. The secret, I think, of making the process interesting for kids who’ve grown accustomed to the advent calendar routine is to surprise them with a wide range of activities and gifts. The more unexpected, the better, and you’ve got some wonderfully unpredictable ideas.
Our favorite are Christmas movies. We print out 25 movies, shuffle them up, and every night we watch a movie together. Now we do save the classics for the final week, but we still shuffle them that week. (We don’t want to watch Elf Dec 2nd. We will watch it the week leading up to Christmas.