A few months after I started blogging I wrote a blog post full of ideas for things to fill a wooden Advent calendar. At that time, the idea of giving a small gift for each day leading up to Christmas was quite new and children usually just had a picture or chocolate Advent calendar. In the last few years things have really taken off in the world of Advent calendars, especially when it comes to Advent calendars for adults, and so I thought I'd write an updated version of my post with some new ideas and links to products that might be useful if you are looking for inspiration for how to fill those wooden boxes.
My own wooden Advent calendar is one that I decorated myself from Hobbycraft. You can see how I did it here - Decorating a Hobbycraft wooden Advent calendar. It has a small box for each day of December, and the boxes are a good size for filling with small treats.
There are lots of different styles of wooden Advent calendar available so it's worth having a browse to find one that you like, especially if you are planning to use it for years to come. If you are buying one for a younger child I'd look for the more squat versions that won't be knocked over easily.
Collectable toys
A few years ago we bought a big pack of mixed Pokemon figures. We had enough Pokemon to fill two Advent calendars with plenty left over which we used as party bag favours for years, and the children still play with them. It was perfect because we only needed to buy one bag, and it had enough variety to make each day interesting. It's easy to find big packs of small toys like this on a variety of themes. Just check the delivery dates as some of these are shipped from China and so can take a little while to arrive, order in plenty of time.
Other small toys
There are lots of other small toys that can be bought in bulk. If you don't want too much repetition in the gifts, you could always get together with a friend or two and swap, so that each child receives an assortment of gifts. And there are some toys, like cars, that it seems children can never have too many of!
Stationery
Children love collecting erasers, and there are some really pretty ones available which come in a range of different designs so they won't be too similar each day. You could also think about mini gel pens or highlighters, tiny decorated adhesive note blocks, little notebooks, decorative paper clips or magnetic clips, magnets or keyrings.
Beauty items and jewellery
Look for multi-packs of things like mini nail varnish or lip gloss. I also love the range of tiny Christmas charms that you can buy. You could make the first gift a bracelet, with a new charm to be added each day ready for this Christmas and then to be re-used every year.
Christmas decorations
Christmas decorations make a lovely Advent gift that can be re-used from year to year. I particularly like the blank wooden decorations which the child can decorate as a Christmas activity like the ones that I made here - Decorated wooden Christmas ornaments.
Sweets and chocolates
Probably the most economical way to fill a wooden Advent calendar is with chocolates and sweets. In the supermarkets at Christmas you can easily find net bags of individually foil wrapped chocolates or chocolate coins. I personally love Lindor chocolate balls from Lindt, and would be very happy to receive one of those each day. You could also include mini bags of sweets like Haribo or packs of Love Hearts, treat size chocolate bars or individually wrapped chocolates from a Christmas chocolates tub.
Christmas activities
Finally, a free way to fill your Advent calendar is to include a family Christmas activity to do each day. They can be as simple or elaborate as you like, for example doing some Christmas baking, a visit to Santa, a trip out in the car to see some decorated houses in your neighbourhood or writing the Christmas cards.
If you need some inspiration here is a great list to get you started - The ultimate Advent activity list
Other ideas
You could also buy one larger toy, like a Lego set, and include a few pieces each day. This would be a much cheaper alternative to a Lego or Playmobil advent calendar! Another idea is a jigsaw - you could first make the jigsaw yourself and then break it up with the pieces for each row in a separate box. Then the jigsaw will build up over Advent to reveal a festive picture.
Filling a wooden Advent calendar for adults
As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, Advent calendars for adults have become very popular over the last few years. There are many different pre-filled ones available, but although some can represent good value, when it comes to the contents they can work out very expensive.
Many of the gifts above would also be perfect for adults, but some additional ideas you might want to consider could be:
Miniature alcoholic bottles (or even full size ones!), nail varnish, make up, bath bombs, pens and pencils, keyrings, Christmas decorations, jewellery or stationery.
You might also find these Advent calendar filler ideas posts useful:
Advent calendar filler ideas for crafters
I hope I've given you plenty of ideas - have fun filling up those Advent calendars!
I hope I've given you plenty of ideas - have fun filling up those Advent calendars!
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