Ideas on what to put in a fill your own advent calendar?

[peekaboopumpkin12]

Doing my own advent calendars this year for a 2 year old boy and a 7 year old boy.

I've got the chocolate items sorted but just wondering what else we can pop in?

Following with interest because I feel like all my ideas don’t fit in the pockets/drawers and wonder how people manage this??

I thought a note for a scavenger hunt of where to find a new Christmassy book.
crayons, bath crayons, other non chocolate snacks that they like
ornament to decorate the tree
bubbles
a small bath toy
stickers

Socks

Mini Lego figure

Comic

Temporary tattoo

Mini bubble bath (or just bubbles)

Toy animals, cars

Pencil with eraser head

For the ones that dont physically fit, put a picture in.

Small lego or playmobil set. Alternate between piece from the set and a chocolate. Obviously save the “big” set piece for the 25th.

My DS was always happy with the chocolate to be honest - it's going to be tough to find something appropriate for 25 days for 10-20 years! My DS is 21 and still gets his advent calendar filled up every year, now it's usually the mini Tony's chocolates.

I would keep the small things for the Christmas stocking - I start picking up little bits for that from the summer, because of course I still do it!

You're making a potentially expensive rod for your back if you have to get 25 small presents for each child, as well as their stocking and presents. I think there's magic enough with a chocolate. If you want to do more than that, I'd go with the Lego/duplo advent calendars, so someone else has done the work.

More chocolate.

mine had advent calendars until 18 (and so do I even now).

Thank you everyone!

Some lovely ideas. I had thought about a pack of hot wheels and popping a car in at a day, I love the socks idea, bubbles and mini Lego men.

More applicable for the 7 year old, but “vouchers” for experiences that you are already doing is a good one.

some ideas:
watch Christmas movie
visit santa
go ice skating

You just need to be sure they go into the right day!

I got 2 packs of 12 little wooden tree ornaments, plus a quality street or similar chocolate each.

We had a twig tree thing that they are hung on.
And now they go on a little prelit tree.

I agree with others, you are making a rod for your own back here, save the small gifts for stockings. I used to do a chocolate and a piece of paper with a little joke of the day, any detail of anything special they had that day eg school Christmas lunch or at the weekend something special/a treat we were doing eg ice skating. As they got older I used to put little questions in that were Christmassy such as ‘when/how did the tradition of Christmas trees start, sing the carol the Holly and the Ivy etc

For the older one write a clue on a bit of paper hinting where to find something that's too big to go in.

It's like a mini treasure hunt to get him thinking.

A sea shell
A fossil

My son is 13 now. He still asks for little notes in his advent calendar (along with chocolate). They are normally Christmassy things we are already doing or Christmas-prep tasks that are low / no cost. stuff like this:
Read a Christmas story
Decorate the tree
write Christmas cards
walk around the town and look at the lights
go to a Christmas carol concert
see the town Christmas tree be lit

i keep an electronic checklist that I reuse each year in different orders and add in other bits that come up.

I used to put a pound coin or a 50p in some of the draws & chocolates, small toys, a Christmas decoration for the tree.

I like to put a note in random days (often weekends when I have more energy) with a little clue to a treat hidden in the washing machine or bath or similar. The kids love the days with the note but still appreciate the days with just a chocolate. Some Christmassy themed big wins for little ish gifts were penguin shooters, melting snowman in a tin and gingerbread decorating kit. The works usually do some cheap little craft things too, like Hama bead decorations or sand Christmas trees.

I know it’s a total cheat’s method, but I have, in the past, bought a proper filled advent calendar and split the contents between my two children so they get 12 toys each, and the remainder are filled with small chocolates OR bought a 24 pack of mini toys. This has included mini squishamallows, mini brands calendar and this year I’m splitting a popcorn calendar between them.

We have a pack of Christmas joke cards which are the size of a pack of cards and I put one in every day. Some years I’ve bought a job lot of Christmas play mobile toys or later gem stones cheaply on eBay. I also put in things that might be needed like if there is a school Christmas dress up day I put in a themed hair clip. I use sparingly though and most days just put in a chocolate coin otherwise it sets up an expectation of a’gift’ every day.

we also put in a little drummer boy tree decoration which DD always enjoyed moving each day to the next date

I would just buy one of the toy ones from John Lewis (Lego, whatever) for about £25, break up the bits and put them in your own advent calendar.

we did our own last year, it worked out so expensive and was mainly tat

doing the above this yesr

i always put in a stamp with a chocolate on the 1st for letter to Santa. I put in chocolate coins or mini reindeers/santa etc from Aldi. I pop in a Christmas joke too. Some days I throw in something else- badge, craft thing, baking session. I have 4 kids so keep
it as cheap & cheerful as possible.

We did it for years and just did chocolate or a note sying that day was going to be a specil baking day and make cookies/gingerbread/mince pies or trip to father xmas. Ie stuff we were doing anyway. They have enough shite already.

Duplo, Lego, Playmobil, Barbie etc sets (sometimes secondhand) and then split them across the days. Craft items that will be used up too, like stickers, glitter glue, washi tapes. I really enjoy making them, but chocolate is always a hit too!

This. Don't set yourself up for a painful tradition.

I put a chocolate each in the box and then a piece of paper. The paper says things like make some Christmas biscuits or walk round the village to see the lights. I would pick each night which piece of paper to put in according to what we had time for the next day. Some might just say read a Christmas book or let's make a Christmas list of what we can give grannie, auntie etc, or make your own wish list.

Tube of hot chocolate/Horlicks/ovaltine powder (makes 1 drink)

some other ideas

or

these

A harmonica