The holiday season will soon be here. And for many families, putting together an advent calendar is a beloved tradition. Advent calendars count down the days until Christmas, helping build excitement and anticipation.
But once you have your advent calendar ready, what do you put inside? Candy and chocolate are classic options. However, you can get creative with advent calendar stuffers too. From small toys to beauty items to notes, there are so many possibilities.
As a professional advent calendar printing manufacturer, I make some ideas for what to put in advent calendar to make your 2024 countdown magical. With a mix of edible treats, fun activities, and sweet surprises, these filler suggestions will delight kids and adults alike.
Why Have an Advent Calendar?
Before jumping into advent calendar filler ideas, let’s first cover why these special calendars are so popular.
Advent comes from the Latin word “adventus,” meaning arrival. For Christians, advent calendars tie to the biblical story of the arrival of Jesus Christ. The calendars count down the four Sundays preceding Christmas.
Even for non-religious families, advent calendars make the lead-up to Christmas extra fun. They transform December into a month-long celebration, building excitement with small gifts and joys behind each door or pocket.
Ultimately, the countdown gives you and your loved ones a festive activity to look forward to every single day. Plus, unwrapping a treat or surprise – no matter how small – triggers that gift-getting dopamine hit.
So even while hustling to get everything ready for the big day, advent calendars let you pause and enjoy some holiday magic too.
Advent Calendar Ideas for Toddlers and Preschoolers
Little ones thrive on Christmas anticipation, so an advent calendar is practically required for tiny tots. When brainstorming what to put in advent calendar ideas for young kids, think small, fun, and festive. Popular picks include:
Mini Toys
Toddlers and preschoolers will delight in unwrapping a new tiny toy every morning. Small plastic animals, cars, dinosaurs, and holiday-themed figurines all make excellent advent stuffers. Building bricks, stickers, bouncy balls, and magnifying glasses are other kid-pleasing options.
Arts and Crafts Materials
Foster their creativity with art supplies and tools sized just right for little hands. Single crayons, washable markers, glue sticks, pompoms, stickers, coloring sheets, and festive fabric pieces easily fit inside calendar pockets.
Building Toys
Does your tot love to construct and create? Add individual Lego bricks, building blocks, magnetic tiles, or lincoln logs to the rotation to assemble their own holiday masterpieces.
Advent Ideas for School-Age Kids
Elementary school-aged kids have longer attention spans for more complex crafts or activities. Have fun with these what to put in advent calendar suggestions for bigger kids:
Activity Books
activity and puzzle books make excellent advent add-ins to occupy kids for hours. Look for holiday themes featuring their favorite characters and cartoons. Crosswords, word searches, decoding games, scavenger hunts, and mad libs are just some of the options.
Arts and Crafts Kits
Buy kid-friendly DIY kits to nurture their inner artisan. Mini jewelry-making, pottery sculpting, candle or ornament construction, embroidery, friendship bracelet weaving, and painting sets all pack nicely into advent calendar folds.
Building Toys
School kids possess the dexterity for more advanced building sets. They’ll be occupied for hours constructing mini Lego kits, K’nex models, gear models, erector sets, or architecture skylines.
Outdoor Games and Toys
Get them moving and burning off energy with games and toys to take outside. Sidewalk chalk, paddle balls, skipping ropes, bubble blowers, water squirters, and disc tosses make playtime extra fun.
Advent Ideas for Tweens
The tween crowd can be tough to buy for…especially pre-teen girls. But have no fear – these advent suggestions will score major cool points with the ‘tweens in your life.
Beauty and Bath Goods
Tweens just starting to experiment with makeup and self-care products will love unwrapping cute beauty-related surprises. Mini nail polishes, shimmery lip glosses, scented lotions, bath bombs, facial masks, headbands, and hair ties are just some girly gift ideas.
Jewelry and Accessories
Sparkly earrings, bracelets, rings, necklaces, sunglasses, watches, and hair clips outfit their personal style. Stash them behind tiny calendar doors for an instant mood boost.
Tech Accessories
Tweens always have devices glued to their palms, so gift fun add-ons like selfie ring lights, custom phone cases, earbud holders, and chargers. Bonus points if you can find their current favorite show or musical artist.
Gift Cards
Give them gifting power with stored value cards to their beloved brands and stores. Even a five or ten dollar card goes far in tween world for picking out candy, toys, crafts, or beverages.
Advent Ideas for Teens
The teen tribe can be even trickier to buy for, but these gift ideas should earn some holiday cred.
Gift Cards
Teens love choice and independence, so gift cards give them purchasing power. Think favorite clothing shops, coffee houses, restaurants, entertainment venues, or online stores. Visa or American Express cards also allow total flexibility.
Tech Accessories
Level up their devices with wireless earbuds, gaming controllers, phone cases, charging stands, laptop decals, camera lenses, ring lights, or blue-light screen protectors.
Beauty, Bath, and Body Care
Fancy shimmer lip glosses, eyeshadow palettes, nail polishes, moisturizers, bath bombs, sugar body scrubs, and facial masks give their beauty routine a glow-up.
Dorm Room/Bedroom Accessories
Help teens prep their personal spaces for studying and chilling at home and away. String lights, tapestries, throw pillows, blankets, organizational containers, mini fridges, desk lamps and more upgrade their digs.
Creative Ideas for Adult Advent Calendars
Adults enjoy Christmas countdowns too! Make mornings merry for the grown-ups in your life with these creative advent stuffers:
Gift Cards
Everyone appreciates a little extra shopping money during the holidays. Give treasured people choice with stored value cards to favorite merchants like Amazon, Sephora, Home Depot, Starbucks, GrubHub, iTunes, etc.
Wine and Beverages
‘Tis the season for sipping, so gift mini bottles of wine, champagne splits, small-batch spirits, craft beer, cider, hot cocoa mixes, fancy tea bags, or bags of gourmet coffee behind tiny doors.
Lotions and Potions
Help friends and family indulge in some “me time” with mini body butters, hand creams, bath soaks, massage oils, facial serums, lip scrubs, face masks and more to nourish mind and body.
Sweet Treats
Satisfy sugar cravings with fair trade chocolates, baking chips, candy canes, peppermint bark, biscotti, honey spoons, caramel sauce, cake truffle mixes, cookies in a jar, or specialty syrups to stir into drinks.
Jewelry and Accessories
Everyone appreciates an extra dose of dazzle during the holidays. Mini earrings, layered necklaces, silk scarves, gloves, sunglasses, and glitzy hair clips spread sparkle as small advent rewards.
Home, Kitchen, and Bar Ware Extras
Stash cocktail stirrers, corkscrews, grill accessories, tea infusers, drink chillers, oven mitts, dip bowls and spreads, herb growing kits, tea towels, candles, bottle openers or corkscrews.
Making Your Own Advent Calendar
Want to create a completely custom advent calendar? DIY calendar options allow you to design the ideal setup for stashing your daily surprises.
Countless tutorials can walk you through crafting handmade advent calendars out of wood, felt, burlap, cardboard, paper, and recycled materials. You can go as basic or fancy as your time and budget allow.
For quick and affordable options, simply use:
- Paper bags clipped along a ribbon
- Tiny gift boxes stacked in a basket
- Hosiery hung along the wall
- Envelopes taped to poster board
For a family project, craft mini calendars designed specifically for each household member. Elementary students might decorate advent cereal boxes while teens could customize canvas pouches or cosmetics bags.
Get Inspired for Your 2024 Advent Countdowns
With so many possibilities, advent calendar stuffers can match the unique interests of every man, woman, and child. Candy and trinkets are classic treats. But homemade gift tags, charitable donations, and shared experiences also warm hearts.
Look to this list of what to put in advent calendar ideas when planning your 2024 holiday countdown. And don’t just reserve advent calendars for little kids – join in the merriment by making surprises for your partner, friends and adult kids too!
The holiday hustle often steals our attention away from what matters most. Advent calendars gift us joy, togetherness, and childlike wonder day after day amid the chaos.