At what age is an Advent calendar suitable for children?
With an Advent calendar you sweeten your children's pre-Christmas season. With each little door that your little ones open day by day, the big day comes increasingly within reach. This increases the anticipation for Christmas with children equally among young and old.
Many parents, however, wonder from when their little one is ready for their first Advent calendar. A handmade Advent calendar has the great advantage that you can decide on the contents yourselves and that these can be tailored exactly to your children's needs and preferences. Toddlers and babies enjoy festive toys or picture books that you can look at and leaf through together.
Older children, on the other hand, love craft supplies, stickers or treats that shorten the time until Christmas and the long-awaited gift-giving and increase the anticipation for the big day.
A general age recommendation does not exist when crafting an Advent calendar. You know best whether your child is already ready for a calendar or whether you would rather make the wait for the Christ child even more beautiful for your little ones through Christmas stories or other ideas and activities to make the wait for the Christ child even more beautiful for your little ones. Still, even babies already love unwrapping and take great joy in discovering the little gifts with you. If you prefer to buy an Advent calendar for Christmas, choose a model with age-appropriate contents. For babies and toddlers it should not contain small parts that can be accidentally swallowed. Most calendars indicate a corresponding age recommendation that gives you a good guideline.
Overview: materials and supplies for crafting an Advent calendar
Making an Advent calendar yourself is not particularly time-consuming nor expensive. Even with a few materials that you often already have at home, you can make a great calendar that makes children's eyes light up. Now we'll show you which materials you generally need for crafting most ideas:
Materials you'll need for crafting:
Craft scissors
Glue/adhesive
Pens & paints
colored cardboard
Threads, yarn & gift ribbon
Wrapping paper
Decorative materials like stickers, glitter & co.
Cardboard rolls, paper bags, mason jars, coffee cups, matchboxes, etc. as
gift packages
a coat hanger to hang it
Our four loveliest craft tutorials for Advent calendars – creative ideas & inspiration
So you can start crafting right away, we now show you four beautiful and simple, easy-to-follow instructions for crafting an Advent calendar.
Advent calendar made from toilet paper rolls
Materials:
24 toilet paper rolls
Pens
Glue
colored cardboard
Scissors
Cotton
Description and instructions
An Advent calendar made from old toilet paper rolls is not only quick and easy to make – with this idea you also give new life to old materials.DIY upcycling idea lets your creativity run free.
It's very simple if you paint the rolls colorfully and number them. You store the presents in the respective rolls and seal the openings with cotton, to keep the anticipation for the contents and for Christmas alive.
If you want to approach it even more creatively, cut out from colored cardboard festive motifs such as fir trees, reindeer, Santas and angels and stick them onto the toilet rolls. With the cotton you can not only close the openings, but also glue a bushy beard onto Santa or create the hair of angels.
Also a Christmas village made of colorful little houses can also be nicely crafted. Cut small elements such as doors and roof peaks from craft cardboard or paper and thus transform the 24 rolls into little houses that eventually become a whole town. For the base, cut small circles from cardboard that are fixed to the lower edge of the rolls with glue. On top, the rolls are again filled with cotton to hide the contents.
Advent calendar on a hanger
Materials:
Clothes hanger
24 clothespins
Ribbon/string
Wrapping paper
Scissors
Adhesive tape
Marker pen for numbering
Copper or gold spray (optional)
Description and instructions
With the help of a clothes hanger you can make a great Advent calendar! For this you need a hanger, 24 clothespins and the gifts, which you wrap nicely and number.
After wrapping, put the clothespins onto the hanger. Now on each pin a gift is attached using a string or ribbon is secured.
If you want an even more more Christmassy look for your Advent calendar, spray it before filling with copper or gold spray from the hardware store.
You can now hang the finished Advent calendar on the wall with a nail or let it dangle from the ceiling with a hook. That way the gifts are not only well wrapped, the calendar itself is also a nice decoration for Christmas.
Advent calendar with small gift bags
Materials:
thin cardboard (alternatively paper bags)
Glue
Scissors
Pens
Ribbon
Hole punch
Stickers, glitter or other decorations (optional
Stapler (optional)
Description and instructions
Another lovely idea is an Advent calendar made of small gift bags that you with a bit of skill can easily make yourself.
To make the bags you need either a thin cardboard or old paper bags from the supermarket, which you want to upcycle. Turn the bags inside out so that the unprinted side of the paper is on the outside later.
On the Internet you will find various tutorials and templates on the best way to fold a small gift bag out of the paper. If you want to go a bit faster, take a stapler to help, simply fold over the ends of the bags and fasten a clip to hold them together.
After the bags are filled, close the top opening with ribbon by punching a hole with the hole punch and threading and tying the ribbon. Now only the numbering and decorations are missing. With pens, glitter and other decorative materials you can let loose to your heart's content and customize the Advent calendar.
Place the finished gift bags in a small basket – best mixed up, so that your little explorers have even more fun searching for the right door.
Advent calendar with cardboard houses
Materials:
colored cardboard
Scissors
Glue
felt-tip pens
Ruler
Description and instructions
A cheerful Christmas village can be made not only from toilet paper rolls but also very easily from colored cardboard.
Draw the facades of the individual houses as well as the roofs and cut out all the parts. Vary the sizes, colors and shapes, so that afterwards a multicolored and cheerful town emerges that makes your Advent calendar a real eye-catcher.
Glue all the parts together and leave the bottoms of the houses open – the little surprises will later be placed under the individual doors.
Paint and decorate the Christmas town as you like. Brightly lit windows, red brickwork or crazy doors: your imagination knows no bounds.
Whether placed on the windowsill or on a tray with moss, stones and sand – this Advent calendar is fun and at the same time invites Christmas play.
Filling Advent calendars for children
Once the Advent calendar is finished, the question of suitable filling immediately arises. Ideally you have already considered the theme before crafting, so that the gifts also fit into the crafted doors later. To be on the safe side, plan larger doors for number 6 (St. Nicholas) and 24 (Christmas) – also to build anticipation.
Of course you don't have to overdo it when buying the small gifts and spend a lot – after all, Christmas has not yet arrived. You will find that your child is already happy about little things or homemade presents is happy, because above all it's about the exciting thrill when opening the packages and the anticipation of Christmas!
Of course almost all children are also happy about sweet treats like gummy bears, chocolate and candy. It's best to fill your handmade Advent calendar with a colorful mix of fun, treats and healthy options. As inspiration, we show you the possible fillings:
Toys: Toys and craft supplies are girls and boys equally popular. Here small surprises such as pens, stickers, bubbles, bouncy balls, keychains, playing cards or hair ties are suitable to bring a smile to your children's faces.
Sweets: For many little sweet tooths chocolate, gingerbread, cookies and speculoos are the best. Of course sweets must not be missing in a homemade Advent calendar either. Snacking within reason should be allowed and especially in the pre-Christmas period the temptation is even greater, because many treats seasonally limited are.
Healthy treats: For a better balance to sweets, healthy snacks are recommended. Nuts, tangerines or apples fit into any Advent calendar and are very popular with most children. That way you can be sure that with healthy snack alternatives you'll always meet the tastes of your little ones.
Vouchers: A particularly lovely and personal idea for filling the Advent calendar is vouchers that you create yourself.small tokens or shared activities.
Small gifts for the Advent calendar
Have you finished crafting your Advent calendar, but are you still missing the right filling? HABA offers you a wide selection of toys and ideas for every age. Have a look around and discover exciting items that perfectly round off your homemade Advent calendar.
Gift idea for children: Vouchers in the Advent calendar
Vouchers are a great alternative to sweets and toys! The little experiences that are given remain in children's memories longer and bring young and old even closer together. They can be used as little notes can be practically tied to any Advent calendar or simply placed in the compartments when filling it. Here you'll find a few ideas that are guaranteed to bring a smile to your child's face.
Voucher ideas
Cinema visit
Treat from the Christmas market
Sledding
Visit to the wildlife park
Visit to the children's or puppet theater
Trip to the water park
Advent calendar for children – buy one or rather make it yourself?
Would you like to give your little Christmas elves a real one-of-a-kind, if you want one that isn't available on the market, it's always a good idea to craft an Advent calendar and then fill it yourself. That way you can not only adapt the design to your child's preferences, but also the decide on the contents yourself.
With lots of attention to detail you can create an Advent calendar in no time that is truly one of a kind. Of course it takes some creative skill and time – which some parents lack, especially during the busy pre-Christmas period.
But don't worry if you don't have the chance to Christmas crafting have – there are also great ready-made Advent calendars for children! Whether bags to fill or ready-made versions from well-known manufacturers – at HABA you'll find many Advent calendars on exciting themes and designed for children: From PLAYMOBIL® to Pixi to Schleich® – there's guaranteed to be something suitable for every child!
Good to know: If you have several children, remember to make or buy each child their own Advent calendar. This avoids arguments and the little ones are excited every day to open their little gift.
Frequently asked questions about crafting an Advent calendar
What types of DIY Advent calendars are there?
What alternatives to toys, vouchers, or sweets can I use to fill the little doors?
What is the tradition behind an Advent calendar?
Image credits
Sisters sit in the living room and look at the Advent calendar © Natalia - stock.adobe.com
Materials needed to craft an Advent calendar © Maria - stock.adobe.com
Advent calendar made from toilet paper rolls © Stefan - stock.adobe.com
Child looks at the Advent calendar on a clothes hanger © Maria - stock.adobe.com
Child opens a door on a homemade Advent calendar © ninelutsk - stock.adobe.com
Advent calendar in the form of a Christmas town © lithiumphoto - stock.adobe.com
Girl holds up a chocolate Santa © sweetlaniko - stock.adobe.com
Child stands in front of the Advent calendar wearing a Santa hat © Lyubov Ilyushina - stock.adobe.com