Ideas for refillable advent calenders

[Outsideperspective]

What do you put in your refillable advent calenders?

Try to avoid chocolate.

Did mini xmas decorations last year but wasn't a hit.

Do lego for the boys.

But stuck for teenage girls, any ideas gratefully received.

Just bumping, I bought a lovely one in the sale last year, but don't want to put chocolate in it.

How about mini nail varnishes and/ or lipglosses, hair bobbles, little glitter pots, small stationary like rubbers. Ermmmm.... That's all I have for now!

That's good ideas, superdrug esq products. I like.

I'm pinching an idea that someone posted on mumsnet that I thought was great - fold up a piece of paper with an activity on it, e.g tonight after school we will make christmas decorations/bake cakes/visit santa etc. Then they have something to look forward to after school.

Oreo, that's ingenious!

That's ingenious - but sounds like hardwork on my part - not only do I have to think up the activities, I have to do said activity!!!!

I like the sparkly items instead

Can we share ideas for the activities. I want to do the same having found a very old advent calendar in the loft at the weekend (from way before our time). Not sure my brain can come up with 24 activities though!

My DCs will never forgive me if I ditch the chocolate coins from ours, but I'd quite like to do the activities too. Will come back when I have thought of a few.

there is a Pinterest pin on this - it comes from kimmccrary.blogspot.com/2010/12/activities-advent.html

Her list is ...

Decorate your tree
Go to the Festival of Trees as a family
Go on a wagon ride through the lights at Thanksgiving Point
Shop for gifts for other children (FSTC Santa?s Workshop)
Unwrap a book to read
Have hot cocoa and cookies with our neighbors (Neighborhood Service Project)
Open your special ornament and put in on your tree
Make a craft with Mom
Write a letter to Santa
Go to the Christmas party at church
Go to Temple Square to see the nativity
Go sledding with Dad
Have a family Christmas movie night with treats
Choose a special treat
Shop for a gift for your preschool party
Have FHE with our BYU friends
Ride on the Polar Express
Have lunch at a special restaurant with our family
Wear new jammies to bed
Have FHE with your cousins
Decorate cookies
Read the story about the birth of Jesus

Hi, can i just hijack this thread to ask some advice on advent calendars. I've seen one I'd like to buy on ebay, one you fill yourself, but it's christmas tree shape, so pointed at the top, & that looks like where you hang it from. As it doesn't have a bar going across the top like some do i wondered how good it would actually be for hanging up? I'm wondering if the two pointy out sides will fold in on themselves iykwim. And also do you add treats day by day, rather than all at once?

And lastly can anyone suggest a good one for me. The one i'm looking at on ebay is a Chic Gisela Graham Felt Fabric Christmas Tree Advent Calendar for around £12.

Thanx in advance

Mine's a solid, freestanding one, so wouldn't know about the felt sort. I do fill it right up at the start, in fact the coins are in already, just need to think about the little activities. The DCs have always been very good at only opening one drawer a day so far .

Maybe the fabric one has a card backing or something to make it rigid? Sorry, can't be more help.

Ooh, I've been collecting activities ideas, but don't yet have the calendar itself. Any recommendations please?

In exchange, here is my scavanged composite of other people's lists:

Christmas colouring book
Make a Christmas jigsaw
Put up Christmas tree
Shop for gifts for other children
Unwrap a book to read
Have hot cocoa and cookies
Open your special ornament and put in on your tree
Make a craft with Mom
Go sledding with Dad
Have a family Christmas movie night with treats
Choose a special treat
Shop for a gift for your preschool party
Ride on the Polar Express
Have lunch at a special restaurant with our family
Wear new jammies to bed
Decorate cookies
Take photos for Christmas cards
Buy a new Christmas album and listen to it
Make the house smell like Christmas
Make Christmas Cards
Read a Christmas Story Book
Wrap Christmas Gifts
Make a new Christmas Decoration
Color a Christmas picture
Build a snowman or hang up paper snowflakes
Make hot chocolate and stir with candy canes
Make a treat and take it to a friend
Watch a christmas movie and eat popcorn
Go out for a Christmas treat
Do something nice for someone
Drive around and look for Christmas lights
Go visit Santa Clause
Do service for someone in need
Have a campout in front of the Christmas tree
Call grandma and grandpa and sing a Christmas song
Take gifts to teachers and friends
Make cookies and write letters for Santa Clause
Read "The Night Before Christmas"
Christmas!!!
Father Christmas train ride

I'm very impressed with those lists of activities!! I'm going to do 1/3 chocolates, 1/3 small gift and 1/3 activities! Mainly because DD is only a toddler and quite frankly my brain can't come up with enough baby friendly activities that will leave my house still standing by Christmas!

I have a wooden free standing calendar, its quite large and very beautiful. Inside each drawer is a tiny ornament that you hang on the display on the front of the calendar. I bought it on amazon last month it was just under £40, there was a large selection on there and they vary in price from £10 up to £100's. I think the felt calendars may have a card body to hold them rigid, if not it might be a case of drawing pins on the sides to secure - either way you must fill them up before hand its half the fun! (erm I don't get out much!)

That sounds lovely oreo and I've seen something similar which is beautiful, but I wasn't sure those tiny ornaments would be 2.7yo DS proof...

I'm not planning on using all that list, just to be clear . I haven't edited it down yet and thought others with slightly older DC might find them helpful.

Well I thought the same about the ornaments but I have a windowsil on the stairs that I'm going to keep it on so theres no unauthorised ornament eating! (or chocolate eating when DD is older!) I would post a link but I'm computer illiterate and still don't know how.

I looked up the gisela graham advent calendars that leaky mentioned and amazon has a good range of them - I really liked those too, theres a wooden gingerbread one I really like and also the felt tree one mentioned earlier is very nice.

I found this one on Amazon and this one from John Lewis.

There's too much choice :)

PS to do the links you just put before you copy and past the web address in and then leave a space and type the words that you want to be the link (i.e. this one in my links above) and then put the closing .

IsItMeOr thats my calendar!!! The one on amazon. It was a couple of pounds cheaper when I bought it in September - just under £40 (I'm the first reviewer ! Its very nice and the attention to detail is great. I really like the John Lewis one too - great minds and all that! The only thing I would say about the amazon one is the second reviewer bought hers from Costco for £20 so if you have a Costco near you it might be worth a look there first.

[Grin]. Not a Costco member, so I'll just have to pay up.

What happened to my ?