What fillers are you putting in your advent calendars?

[Snozwanger]

Last year I sewed DS1 an advent calendar and filled it with Goodies oaty bites, chocolate coins and little toys.

I have no idea what to put in it this year. What are you putting in your fillable calendars?

Our DS1 will be almost 3 this year , with a brand new baby brother, so I’m going a tad ott this year to try and take some of the focus away from having a new baby!

I’ve got:

• Thomas minis x 4

• lego figures (he plays lego with daddy and daddy’s lego, so we are starting his own collection) x 4

• a couple of paw patrol people

The rest of the days will be either a choc coin / mini kinder thing / mini santa choc with a couple / few days (depending on how birth goes!) activity days.

There is a ‘big ticket’ item in there as an activity too, which is going on a train to see santa - that day he will get a golden ticket - a la polar express - and a little bell to tell him he’s going on the train.

Some great ideas Tootsie. My DS will be 4 and he has a sister on the way too.

I've never bought Thomas minis. How big are they? The pockets on my calendar are quite small.

Mine is a lot older, a teenager, and I will be mixing it up - mostly a couple of boiled sweets or a couple of chocolate coins in each pocket, with a very few real coins (£1) and a keyring randomly mixed in. But mostly just sweets.

(It's the opening which is the fun bit, not the contents.)

I am making my own one this year. I bought it in The Works. Don't usually bother but this should be a little tradition.

I am going to put in slips of paper in some drawers 'let's do some baking' 'let's visit Santa' so in others maybe chocolates, crayons etc (mine are very small)

@Snozwanger the thomas minis are great - definitely advent calendar size (if you take them out of the packaging!) - they are also buy one get one free in smyths toys at the moment.
The serial numbers are on the back - if you google the thomas minis check list you can match them against it so you don’t get 2 the same. Hope that helps!

I did tsum tsum minis last year and was thinking shopkins this year. I have done in the oast an activity each day but now they are at school and clubs it makes it impossible, although it was lovely!

My DD is 15.6yo and a make-up addict.
Her Advent Calender is clear cellophane gift bags (Lakeland) tied with ribbon and an adhesive 1-24 number (eBay)
I'm collecting various beauty bits (face packs, soaps, Lush bath bomb, couple of NYX things, Body Shop, Cowshed giftbag that I'll split)

She loves Urban Decay, Kat Von D , Too Faced (must be cruelty free) so she can have Gift Vouchers in her main presents and her Advent about £3ish.
I'm scouting out magazine freebies too

Haven't decided yet, probably just a mixture of little chocolate bars, lollies, stickers, that kind of thing. One year I just filled it with clementines because she loved them so much!

I'm doing four for dcs and DH.
I'll put in collar stiffeners, folded up £5, silk knot cuff links, face masks, tights, £2coins, chocolate, miso soup sachets, euro coins, hand sanitiser, cotton hankies and paper tissues, chocolates of course.

Would any of you like to adopt me?!

Chocolate and poems for me and DH.
DS is two, and I've heard horror stories from mumsnet about chocolate advent calendars at this age, so I'm thinking stickers and maybe decorations to hang on the tree. (Ones we already own - he's too little to remember last year).

We have a Christmas decoration soldier who gets moved to the new pocket each day - seems to had an extra bit of excitement.

Then I cut up Christmas cards to fit in the pockets and write on them Xmas jokes, Christmas related activities etc. these are interspersed with Christmas pencils, stickers, choc coins.

I also bought some Christmas finger puppets (set of 5 from amazon) that go back in every year.

no 'fillers'. Advent is actually a season of penitence, like Lent, so a time for soul searching and preparation to experience a great celebration.

I have a paper Advent calendar with plug in characters which fit nicely in the pockets of the fabric calendar MIL gave me. DDs take turns. Advent is magical b/c 24 divides nicely between most numbers of children.

These are such nice ideas! Tend to do choc coins etc plus a figure from our nativity set so they build the scene.

Contemplating doing small home-made one for myself, at the tea-lights and hot choc sachet sort of level.

We just do chocolate coins but I also put a Christmas carol or song in each drawer and then have a good sing song while they eat their chocolate. They find it particularly funny to sing with their mouths full (since at other times this is not allowed!)

My DD is coming up for 10, and she’s into all things Japanese and kawaii. I’ve bought a load of tiny packets of stickers and Pokemon and studio ghibli figures (particularly pleased with Totoro in a Santa suit) from Ali Express for next to nothing. The other days I’ll fill in with chocolate, lip balm and mini bath bombs.

Some lovely ideas. Thanks posters.

I do a miniature bottle of spirits, a snack pack of mini-cheddars and a luxury chocolate - but then I'm doing the calendar for my 90 yr old Dad :)

I have done almost exactly the same as Bluths for my 11 year old, we have loads of kawaii stationary and Studio Ghibli mini figures including Totoro in a santa suit from Ali Express along with some mini chocolates.

The works have a pack of 10 Christmas themed Mr Men books for £5 - that’s 5 days for 2 kids and you can reuse them next year

For the last few years, I've put in moshi monsters alternated with chocolate, buying a job lot of moshis off eBay. They each have a wooden advent calendar with small cubby boxes to fill. But at 8 and 10, I think we've reached the end of that now - we have too many, plus they're maybe too old, so trying to think of new ideas too.

Bloody Nora.

Gone are the days of the chocolate advent calendar, with a different shape of chocolate and a picture behind each one! If my kids' friends are having calendars like the above, then mine are going to be a bit disappointed!!

What are the "horror stories" related to chocolate ones, @Tylee?

Nothing. We've had the same paper advent calendar since about 1955 and we iron it down on Dec 26th before putting it away. It has a picture of Israel and Palestine and is somewhat different to the political situation today. Everyone knows what's behind each door and the fun is in remembering.

Then we sit down with a single lump of coal and listen to the Queen's Speech (joking about that but not the calendar)

The bells and whistles advent calendars are a new thing for us- as the dcs have left home it's been a nice way of bunging them some treats and essentials.