I cannot believe how quickly Christmas is approaching! The season certainly flies by, so I am a fan of little traditions that help you savor every moment of the holidays. Choosing an advent calendar for your child is a great way to count down to Christmas Day. It’s also an excellent way to make lasting memories you’ll treasure forever!
Best Advent Calendars for Christmas
We’ve compiled our list of the best advent calendars that will surely make your whole family smile this holiday season:
1. Lego City Advent Calendar
Here’s the perfect countdown to Christmas for your favorite boy or girl! This Lego advent calendar includes mini-figures, accessories, and a fold-down playmat. The playmat allows kids to build their own festive Lego City adventures. This calendar contains figures of holiday favorites such as Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, a snowman, a cat and dog, and more! There’s also a sleigh for Santa to ride and a Christmas tree to make your child’s playtime even more fun.
2. Lego Friends Advent Calendar
This Lego Friends advent calendar is also perfect for your child to play with and act out festive adventures. It comes with five characters, three pets, and several winter-themed minifigures, such as a fireplace and a Christmas tree. It also has a colorful train, musical instruments, and more. Kids can even create a mini kitchen with a mixer and other baking items!
3. Melissa & Doug Countdown Christmas Calendar
This wooden advent calendar is perfect for kids of all ages, but especially for younger ones! The ornaments stick to the tree using magnets, which allows kids to take them off and put them back on as many times as they want! I like the traditional look of this calendar. It could easily be used year after year by your family.
4. Natural Wooden Advent Calendar
This natural and simplistic Christmas calendar is so charming. It may be a great calendar for you if you’re not into going overboard with green and red for Christmas. We can imagine it sitting on your buffet table, mantle, or console as your little ones open the drawers to find their next surprise. Fill it with treats and trinkets and reuse it each year! This is such a wonderful Christmas tradition to start with the family.
5. Wooden Gingerbread Countdown Calendar
This is another traditional-looking advent calendar that would work with kids of any age. Each day has a drawer you can pull out. You can fill the drawers with a note, small toy, or treat for your kids to discover. I love that it is beautifully constructed with wood and will last many years. I can easily see this calendar becoming part of your annual holiday traditions!
6. Quilted Advent Calendar
This personalized advent calendar looks very similar to the one in my home growing up. I love how large it is and how easily you can move it to different areas of your house. It is adorned with colorful symbols of Christmas, and you can fill each fabric pocket with a surprise. I think this beautiful, traditional calendar would stand the test of time and become a yearly favorite!
7. Elf on the Shelf Train Christmas Advent Calendar
An Elf on the Shelf-themed calendar for families who have them visit from the North Pole each year! This advent calendar includes a minifigure for each day. All minifigures are in keeping with the elf theme, including accessories like a sled, baked goods, a stocking, and a Christmas tree.
8. Play-Doh Advent Calendar
Here’s an arts and crafts option for all your little artists! This Play-Doh calendar has different daily tubs in colors like red, green, and white. There are also special molds and accessories like snowman parts, a Santa hat, and reindeer ears. Plus, the calendar itself has a special surprise: tear-off placemats for kids to play with their creations on! I love this hands-on concept and think it could be great for a wide range of ages.
9. Minimalist Advent Calendar
This wooden calendar has a more minimalistic aesthetic. It’s great because it could fit practically any Christmas décor scheme. There are 25 individual wooden drawers for each day. You can place whatever you would like in the drawers as a surprise! I especially like that you can reuse it annually.
10. Nativity Fabric Advent Calendar
This is a traditional fabric advent calendar that many of us grew up with. It has Velcro affixed to stuffed figures, which can be taken out of the packets and added to the Nativity scene each day before Christmas. Some families even choose to include a treat in each pocket. This one has quality fabric and stitching, and we love that you can reuse it year after year.
11. Lighted Wooden Advent Calendar
This is another wooden advent calendar, but it includes an LED light detail. A few of the snowflakes also light up! It looks beautiful with the white and gold color combination. Each wooden drawer can be filled with items for kids to reveal daily. This lovely option will be perfect for many years of family memories!
12. Holiday Baking Advent Calendar
Indeed, this is the perfect calendar for any baker in training! You can add to your baking stash using this advent calendar. It includes baking supplies for each day, such as cookie cutters, spatulas, piping bags, and decorating tips. The cookie cutters are adorable and come in Christmas shapes like trees and snowflakes. This calendar would work for any age, especially older kids and adults who love to bake!
13. Lit Glitter House Advent Calendar
These adorable little glitter houses make a great advent calendar! They are lit from within and require three AAA batteries (not included). With a flip of a switch on the battery box, they bring a beautiful wintry scene into your home. Inside, you can place a small note, toy, or treat in each window of the holiday village. Everyone will look and admire this advent calendar, and your young ones will love opening the windows as they count down the days until Christmas day!
14. Festive Friends Advent Calendar
A gorgeous, modern advent calendar choice! The black-and-white design is designed specifically with infant development in mind. The calendar is made using eco-friendly materials and manufactured in a socially sustainable setting. This beautiful calendar would fit well in any holiday decoration scheme. The fringe on the bottom also gives it a relaxed, boho feel.
15. Gingerbread Magna Tiles Advent Calendar
This advent calendar uses Magna Tiles to build it, so you can create your gingerbread house structure however you want! And it’s much less messy than the traditional way of building a gingerbread house. It allows for multiple configurations so your little ones can use their imagination. This collection will expand each year to include a new gingerbread house, which means you can continue the tradition as the years go by!
16. Classic Santa Felt Christmas Advent Calendar
Keep things light and fun this Christmas season with this advent calendar! The bright colors and pom pom details add a whimsical touch. I love the cute letters and Santa Claus addition! It can even be personalized for your family to make it their own. There is a small pocket for each day that you could fill with a note or small trinket of your choice.
17. Disney 100 Advent Calendar
This is a great advent calendar for young readers and Disney lovers! It comes with 24 mini paperback books, one for each day leading up to Christmas. There are both holiday and non-holiday stories for kids featuring characters from Disney and Pixar films like “Encanto,” “Pinocchio,” and “Toy Story.”
18. DIY Ornament Advent Calendar
DIYers will love this craft advent calendar! You can make 25 felt-and-sticker Christmas ornaments using the picture instructions included. Did we mention they’re no-sew and no-glue? You and your kids can create the ornaments without a big mess! As a bonus, kids can complete a word search and other activities on the box.
19. Fisher-Price Little People Advent Calendar
With 24 figures and accessories, this advent calendar from Fisher-Price will surely be a hit with little kids. They’ll find Christmas figurines like Santa, his sack of gifts, a reindeer, an elf, and more wintry items like skiers, snowballs, and a snowman. These toys will be great for imaginative play and help keep your littles entertained.
20. Mon Ami Reindeer Plush Advent Calendar
The whimsical design is what makes this advent calendar so sweet! We love this plush calendar for a little girl’s room to help her count down the days to Christmas. Our Editor-in-Chief also says that Mon Ami’s quality of products is superb and very impressive!
Which advent calendar will you be getting your kiddos for Christmas this year? Let us know your favorites! Whether you choose a more decorative calendar or one you can fill with little goodies and treats, we hope you and your family have fun counting down the days until Christmas!
