Inside: The best fun and unique Christmas advent calendars and countdowns kids will love this holiday season. Including DIY countdowns, free printables and advents you can purchase online.
Christmas is such a magical time of year, and one of the best ways to build excitement (and help kids learn the concept of time!) is with an advent calendar or Christmas countdown.
If you’re looking for a ready-made advent calendar or fun DIY Christmas countdown ideas, this list has you covered with festive and kid-friendly options!
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What is an Advent Calendar?
An advent calendar is a special calendar used to count down the days leading up to Christmas, typically starting on December 1st.
Each day, kids open a door, pocket, gift or envelope to reveal a treat, activity, or surprise. It’s a fun way to build excitement and create lasting family memories throughout the month of December.
Related Post: 100 Ways to Make Memories with Your Kid This Christmas
Christmas Advent Calendars and Countdowns
Growing up my favorite Christmas countdown was when we each got our own chocolate advent calendar. It was fun to get a square of chocolate every day leading up to Christmas.
As a mom, I love advent calendars because it helps with the “Is it Christmas yet?” question my kids always ask!
After seeing all the fun advent calendars out there, it can be hard to pick which advent calendar you want to do with your family.
With options store options like Lego, Disney, and V-tech advent calendars just to name a few, plus printable coloring page, journal and activity countdowns there is literally an advent for anyone and everyone.
Side Note: Advents often sell out quickly and early, so be sure to get the advents you want early!
Kids Christmas Advents and Christmas Countdowns
Over the years we have done a variety of different advents and Christmas countdowns with our kids (and I’ve looked into even more!)
Today I’m excited to share our favorite (in my opinion the best!) Christmas advent countdowns for kids. Some are advents you purchase and others are free printables or ones you put together yourself.
Lego Advent Calendar
All of my kids love building with Lego bricks and the Lego Calendars are a favorite for all of them. They love getting something new to build each day.
Some years we each of the kids get their own Lego advent and other years we have done one that they all get to take turns doing.
Each year Lego releases different advent calendars often including Marvel, Star Wars, Disney, City and Friends sets.
Amazon is a great place to shop for current and past year sets. You can often find these sets at Costco during the holidays.
Disney Book Advent Calendar
Igloo books has some really fun advent calendars this year and when I saw the different themes I knew we needed to do these advents with our kids.
Each night my husband reads to my kids before bed and it’s something they all look forward to.
The Disney Book Advent Calendars will give the kids each a new story to read with dad each night leading up to Christmas.
Igloo Books has several different advent calendar options – each comes with 24 small Disney books wrapped and ready for kids to open as they count down to Christmas.
Science Experiments Countdown
This unique advent calendar comes with 24 cool science experiments to do as you count down the days to Christmas.
I’m getting this one for my kids this year. I know they are going to love it.
Related Post: Christmas Traditions to Start this Year
You don’t need any prior knowledge to do these experiments and it comes with an instruction manual with all the details. You will find all different kinds of experiments in this advent perfect for kids and adults. See on Amazon.
Chocolate Advent
You can often find Chocolate Advents at grocery stores during the holidays or you can make your own. You can also order a variety of different Chocolate Advent calendars on Amazon.
Nativity Advent Count Down
We have had this Precious Moment Nativity for several years and love pulling it out for Christmas each year.
The 24-day advent includes all of the pieces for a beautiful nativity scene. Each day open a drawer to discover a new character in the Christmas story, using the accompanying booklet to learn a little bit about the significance of the characters in the Christmas story.
This advent can be used year after year. Read our review of the Precious moment Nativity Advent here.
DIY Advent Calendars and Printable Christmas Countdowns
Though there are tons of Advent calendars and Christmas countdowns you can purchase there are also a lot of fun DIY and Printable options.
Christmas Book Advent
Grab your favorite Christmas books from your own collection or the library and make this fun and easy Christmas book advent the whole family will love.
Checkout this post for how to put your advent together and some of our favorite Christmas books.
Santa Christmas Countdown
Press Print Party has this fun Santa beard countdown free printable thats fun and easy for kids of all ages, especially little ones. Grab the free printable here.
Christmas Advent Journal
We loved using the free printable Christmas Journal advent countdown as part of homeschool devotionals each morning last Christmas.
Each day the advent has a scriptue or song to read/sing as well as a journal prompt for kids to write/color about.
This free printable journal is a great way to spend time each day remembering the reason we celebrate Christmas.
DIY Activity Advent Calendar
Create 25 envelopes or paper bags with a new activity for each day, like:
- Make hot cocoa
- Watch a Christmas movie
- Decorate cookies
- Read a Christmas book
Christmas Joke Paper Chain
Make the classic paper chain countdown and write a fun Christmas joke on each paper ring for some added fun.
Christmas Advent Coloring Page
My friend Justine created this Christ centered Christmas advent countdown printable I had to include. Each day there is a scripture or hymn and a picture to color. Grab the free printable here.
More Posts You Might Enjoy:
50 Fun Christmas Activities {Free Printable List}
Christmas Traditions to Start This Year
DIY Christmas Gifts
Who knew that there were so many choices? These are awesome!! 🙂 I love the lego and playdoh ones!
Wow there is a lot of selection. Great job!
I was amazed to see how many different advent calendar options there are!