Advent calendar fillers - not ‘stuff’

[Newusername87]

I want to do an advent calendar for my DD8 and DS3. They’ve got a fillable hanging thing already, so I don’t want to buy ‘pre filled’. The problem is, what on earth to get them both? That isn’t lots of ‘bits’ that end up cluttering the house and their rooms until Easter?

(They both also have December birthdays so I’m extra mindful of the onslaught of bits coming down the line)

little chocolates and sweets?

We do little chocolates & sweets, and then little notes with various activities that we slip in the night before.
We've done things like:
cinema tickets for an Xmas film & cash to buy treats
Ditto panto tickets
Voucher for a McDonald's breakfast or takeaway tea
Treasure hunt to find the Xmas Lego set & an afternoon of building it with an Xmas film & hot chocolates
Ditto other Xmas craft sets or mince pie baking or gingerbread house building

Chocolates, cracker jokes, vouchers for little activities (eg “watch a Christmas movie”), “consumables” (eg pencils, hair bobbles, bubbles), clues leading them towards something they would’ve got anyway (pjs, jumper, book) wrapped up in a bow.

We still put chocolate coins in our re- fillable one.

We do a sweet or chocolate coin, but I like the idea of writing a cheesy joke for each day too.

What about a small Lego set? Open it up and put a few pieces in each day (following the order in the instruction booklet) so that they build it gradually over the 24 days.
I did this for my DS once and he loved it!

I've done this before some things iv3 put in and were successful were

Mini gingerbread man
Iced gems
Choc sprouts
Choc coins
Sachet hot choc and mini marshmallows
Pencil and eraser/ couloir pencils
Notepad
Stress ball
Yo-yo
Lego mini figure
Stickers
Tattoos
Puzzle or game in a tin https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pop-Tops-GP012-Match-Martian/dp/B08XVTKKQ1/ref=sr115?brr=1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.olbyJrcpal9MH8X0yinD9QcabLwmVRglg4r9kkOoDNMZURJRa4VjnW0VyShVDcysuQjw8i4hpl7mGwbeu-JxK-vnNAEU2eZcG9YU3w2Y3fiNw9FykUfpHF4XCoceQrjvCy0p0DxIvuF3QxR5N-441OuW-NlYSx9HIrXTuPfyN0up5FQN-1tNTSKd6fh14mCDzg0W9qeR-JssXD9j6jUGkQEWRzC6FjVfiEMwtdnR0ALNh-59yO9iHDl77eg8onqHpkJ6KriTxzSISL4fZUgR4aSpGvCZphIoHd4POT15zRY.nH99mKhqWbvPOsvYLnlTZtHEv7Q0vmYlx62ZZf6Ros&dibtag=se&nsdOptOutParam=true&pffrdi=3012216031&pffrdm=A1F83G8C2ARO7P&pffrdp=7accc6fa-9287-4d54-804e-88e159c5cb45&pffrdr=FKM5R94X1DWREP2VGMWM&pffrds=merchandised-search-top-2&pffrd_t=101&qid=1727611787&rd=1&s=kids&sr=1-5

The thrill of an advent was opening the little windows and seeing the different pictures, and the advent period itself if one's religious . Not just loads of landfill tat. 🤷‍♀️

I do cool hairclips and scented erasers etc - stuff that my DD actually needs and will use.

Chocolate coin and the countdown itself .
They don't have to eat them straight away but a little bit of chocolate is lovely .

Otherwise you end up buying things that are Stocking Gifts or Standalone Gifts .
(Like those outrageously expensive Beauty Advents from the high end stores , any one of the days could be a stand alone . Just madness and I love Christmas )

We had a re-useable advent that had a tree with music ( about 12" high) and a tiny ornament in each door of a handpainted cabinet.

We put two chocolate coins in each ( DS and DD) and a £1 coin each on Sunday .

Keep it simple otherwise you end up running out of ideas , the DC get overwhemed , and as you say , December Birthdays . (My DS is December too but adult)

I saw someone had done one where there was a qr code for a link to.a funny video every day. I like the lego one, we used to have a playmobile advent calendar that the kids loved. Or a clue to.a treasure hunt.

Lego set or a jigsaw. Put it together yourself and then separate into small sections. Then they can build a little bit everyday

For DD4, so far I've got:
Christmas hair accessories
Scented gel pens
A bath bomb
Dress-up dolly stickers
A small felt sewing kit
Sparkly star sequins
Fake snow
Temporary tattoos
Stick-on earrings
Christmas erasers
A geode
Nail stickers
Wind-up characters (The Works)
Hair bows & snaps

Some of these will not fit in the boxes and will require a small treasure hunt.

She's very girlie and loves dressing up and craft activities, so easy to buy for.
SD was the total opposite and it was way harder to fill up her calendar when she was little.

I’d put a chocolate bar or a packet of sweets in each one and a little note setting out activities, not necessarily to be done on that day, but across the festive period.

Some ideas -

Make Christmas cards for relatives
Visit Santa
Panto / cinema trip
North Pole breakfast
Walk around town to see Christmas lights
Christmas bath bomb evening
Putting the Christmas tree up
Baking Christmas treats
Putting together a Christmas donation box
Attending a Christmas lights switch on event
Attend a carol concert
Christmas pyjama evening (new ones)