Enjoy the best of the holidays with these simple and inexpensive ideas for an Advent calendar. Updated for 2023.

It's almost December 1st which means, if you plan to create a DIY Advent Calendar or Christmas Countdown Calendar for your family for the holiday season, now is the time to do so! The holidays always go by way too fast and having an Advent calendar ensures you make the most out of every day. It's a fun way to feel that Christmas magic and guarantees you get to spend more time together.

But a whole month of activity can feel daunting to plan so today I'm sharing 75+ ideas for Advent calendar gifts, fillers, and activities. With these Advent calendar ideas, you'll feel prepared to deliver on all the daily surprises for your loved ones. 

Not only that but don't forget to sign up to receive your FREE Advent printables to make this holiday tradition even easier!

Note: affiliate links have been used in this post for shopping convenience.

But First, What Is An Advent Calendar?

Advent comes from the Latin word adventus which means "arrival". The Advent season is observed in most Christian denominations as a time for preparing and celebrating the arrival of Christmas and the birth of Christ, while non-Christians have embraced Advent as a four-week countdown to Christmas.

Advent calendars are designed to build anticipation to Christmas Day. Though the start of Advent changes every year in the church calendar (it begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas), Advent calendars keep things simple and start on December 1st and end on December 24th or 25th.

If you're not the crafty or DIY type, or simply don't have the time, you can always use pre-assembled Advent calendars which have gifts ready to go for each day. Here's my favourite packaged Advent calendars for the 2023 Christmas season.

Advent calendars for kids:

• LEGO Star Wars 2023 Advent Calendar
• Kids Advent Calendar 2023 Fire Truck Play Vehicles
• Nintendo Super Mario Pop-Up Environment Advent Calendar
• LEGO 2023 Harry Potter Advent Calendar
• Crazy Scientist Advent Calendar
• Funko Pop! Advent Calendar: DC Superheroes
• PAW Patrol 2023 Advent Calendar
• Play-Doh Advent Calendar
• Disney Doorables Countdown to Christmas Advent Calendar
• LEGO Friends 2023 Advent Calendar
• Polly Pocket Dolls Advent Calendar with Gingerbread House Playset
• National Geographic 2023 Gemstones Advent Calendar
• 2023 DIY Arts & Crafts Handmade Ornaments Advent Calendar

I've been making an Advent calendar for my daughter Chloe since she was 2 years old and it's our favourite way to make the most of the festive season. This year, I'll continue to use our Advent calendar made from small 4x6" cotton bags. The bags are large enough to hold small gifts and have a drawstring so I can attach them to a ribbon.

No matter what your calendar looks like though, you'll need to put something inside it. What do you put in an Advent calendar? My favourite kinds are ones that have an Advent activity for the family to enjoy together plus little gifts. 

There's lots of gift ideas for filling Advent calendars below - remember, you only need 24 to get to the big day! As a bonus, I've included some FREE downloads too to save you time and effort in putting together your own Advent Calendar so sign up for those at the end of this post!

Advent Calendar Activities for Families:

For our Advent calendar ideas, I like to include a task or activity for each day. Completing daily activities is a great way to ensure you spend time together as a family and get out and do things (despite the wintry weather!). But before you create your list of Advent calendar activities, here's a few tips:

• Look at what you already have scheduled for the month of December. Are you going to watch The Nutcracker, visit a tree farm with a family member, or watch a school play? Include those activities for those confirmed dates - just don't tell the kids beforehand and it will still be a surprise ;)
• Be aware of which days are weekends and which are weeknights. Weeknights tend to be busy so you might want to avoid including a time-consuming activity like "watch a Christmas movie" for those nights
• Think about gifts you were already planning to give, such as Christmas pajamas, hot chocolate mixes, or the Twas the Night Before Christmas book. Could you incorporate those gifts into the daily activities somehow? One gift I give each year to my daughter is a Lego Advent Calendar. Now, I assign it as the first Advent activity "Open a Gift!". It's a tradition she looks forward to.

Advent calendar fillers don't need to be expensive or elaborate - it really is the thought that counts! But you can heighten the surprise by incorporating a variety of gifts that are cute, funny, or unique. You can certainly buy gifts but consider bringing a personal touch and make your own DIY Advent calendar gifts and special treats. You can shop for fillers at craft stores, dollar stores, toy stores, and even the grocery store.

But don't feel pressured to include a physical gift every single day! Advent shouldn't be stressful and put additional expensive gifts onto your already-long shopping list. Instead, look at the daily activity as the "main" item and any gift or treat as a bonus. 

I include only 5-6 gifts in my calendar and most of the gifts relate to the day's activity. For example, if the day's activity is "make a craft", I might include dollar store art supplies as the gift. But sometimes, the gift is unrelated and is purely just for fun (side note: Chocolate is ALWAYS appreciated, lol!). 

If you are intent on giving small items every day though (and want to keep it budget friendly), consider "splitting up" a gift and spread it out over several days. Perhaps you gift a box set of books and there's one book each day.

Here's 75+ Advent calendar gifts ideas and fillers for kids and adults.

Advent gift ideas for kids:

1. Cute charging cord protectors
2. Harry Potter snitch hot chocolate bomb
3. Artificial snowball maker
4. Temporary tattoos
5. Gingerbread house kit (edible, cutters, building, or craft variety)
6. Handwritten poem, love note, or riddle
7. Seasonal lip balm
8. Mochi squishy toys
9. Individually wrapped chocolate or assorted candy
10. 2023 Christmas photo frame ornament to hang on the tree
11. Clay character kit pack
12. Hair accessories, hair clips or hairbrush (we love this 'no tangles' hairbrush)
13. Homemade coupon for something fun like "Stay up 20 mins late". Check out this post for more coupon ideas
14. Non-toxic peelable nail polish
15. Paint your own dinosaur kit
16. Hamster keychain
17. Monopoly Bid card game
18. Christmas craft kit
19. Friendship bracelet kit
20. Bath bombs or bath crayons
21. Crayola Colors of the World markers
22. Art brushes or canvas painting kit
23. Puzzle erasers
24. Bead box kit
25. Glitter crayons or mess-free markers
26. Journal or sketch book
27. Family picture or photo album
28. Fun socks
29. Magic 8 Ball or puzzle
30. Funny cat pen holder
31. A Christmas book 
32. Fun bendy pencils
33. Washi tape
34. Unicorn swirl chippits
35. Turtle nightlight
36. Water reveal activity pad
37. LEGO Dots bracelet kit
38. Kids playing cards
39. Cookie cutters
40. 3D Stickers
41. Glow in the dark putty
42. Money

Advent gift ideas for her:

Advent gift ideas for him:

One year I strung the Advent bags on a mitten garland with numbered tags

With these activity ideas and Advent calendar gift ideas, you'll be all set for December. But just in case you're strapped for time, I've put together some FREE Advent Calendar Printables to help you put your own Christmas countdown together in no time.

Sign up below to receive:

• A PDF of the 48 Advent calendar activities. Just print, cut on the lines, and include one task for each day
• Printable modern number tags
• Printable iron-on bag numbers. Use these files to print on t-shirt transfer paper and then iron on to small 4"x6" cotton bags. Note: the images print out reversed. See this post for a similar process.

I hope you feel encouraged to enjoy each and every day this holiday season. These small moments, spent with those we love, are really what we will remember and hold on to.

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For more Christmas fun ideas, please check out these posts:

How to Make a Grinchmas Tree

Cricut 3D Gingham Tree Ornament

DIY Hand Warmers