No one feels excitement about the holidays more than kids. Every single child in our household can’t wait to open every single wrapped present that catches their eye under the Christmas tree, after all. And yes, it can test a little one’s patience having to wait all the numerous days and weeks for Christmas to actually get there.
Advent calendars for kids offer a fun way to lean into the holiday spirit while keeping their excitement in check. Sure, it’s still a bit of time before they get to open their presents and play with their new awesome toys, but advent calendars offer a reminder that we’re, at least, one day closer to the special day and they even get a treat to commemorate that. Whether the calendar delights them with a small toy, a tasty candy, or a fun keepsake, it should help assuage the desire to rip all the big gifts open. Plus, it gives them something to look forward to day after day, instead of having to commit to waiting for multiple weeks till Christmas day comes.
These are the best advent calendars for kids in 2024.
Disney Doorables Countdown to Christmas Advent Calendar
For kids who love their Disney and Pixar characters, this advent calendar comes with 24 Doorable figures from various films in those two companies’ stables. To the unfamiliar, Doorables are 1.5-inch collectible figures, so they’re small and easy to display in a small shelf somewhere, making it the kind of fun, simple toy a kid can enjoy on the lead-up to Christmas. Do note, it’s not known exactly which characters are in each set, since they curated it in blind bag fashion. Yes, we’d have liked to make sure we got a Wall-E Doorable in there somewhere, but, we guess, that’s part of what makes these blind bag sets fun. Some calendars, by the way, will come with Snowman Mickey and Minnie figures, which, the outfit claims, are exclusively available in these calendars.
Lindt Holiday Teddy Bear Advent Calendar
Designed to satisfy a sweet tooth, this advent calendar for kids comes with 24 individually-wrapped pieces of assorted chocolate flavors, making your Christmas countdown a sweeter time than ever. Each piece of holiday chocolate is wrapped in festive foil, too, ensuring you’re reminded of the coming celebrations every time pick up a new piece. And yes, it includes two teddy bear-shaped chocolates, just in case you’re wondering what the Teddy Bear in the name is all about.
Bluey’s Classic Christmas Surprise Pack
Bluey fans are sure to love this advent calendar for kids, which comes with three character figures, an assortment of accessories, and a few stickers, all divided across its 24 different compartments. You get Bluey, Bingo, and Bartlebee at various points in the daily countdown, along with a Christmas tree, wrapped presents, and various household items, so you can put everything together like it’s from a Christmas-themed scene in the cartoon.
Kinder Mini Santa Advent Calendar
We love Kinder chocolates. If your kids do, too, they’ll definitely enjoy this advent calendar for kids, which comes with 24 Kinder chocolate minis scattered across its 24 compartments. This is particularly targeted to fans of those Kinder Minis, which combine a chocolate outer with a creamy, milky filling under the surface, as those are exactly what’s stashed under each tear-out opening. Do note, there’s not much variety in here, so if your kid’s the type who can get easily bored, you might want to look elsewhere. We doubt any Kinder fans will actually mind, though.
Mattel Disney Princess Advent Calendar
For kids in their Disney princess phase, this advent calendar offers the perfect way to spice up the days and weeks leading up to Christmas. No, you won’t quite get 24 individual Disney princesses in the set. Instead, it comes with four 3.5-inch dolls of Tiana, Cinderella, Ariel, and Belle, each wearing holiday-themed outfits, complete with a winter cape. The rest of the 24 slots contain either non-princess characters from Disney princess movies (Flounder and Sebastian from The Little Mermaid, Jaq from Cinderella, Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast, and Naveen from The Princess and the Frog) or various accessories you can use to set the scene for each of the main characters. It’s overall a very fun set that should keep Disney princess fans dancing and singing through the first few weeks of December.
Funko Pop! Holiday Calendar Pokemon
If your kid’s a Pokemon fan, what better way to keep them gleeful on the way to Christmas with small figures of the world-famous pocket monsters to add to their collection daily? Each slot in the box comes with one Funko Pocket Pop figure of a unique Pokemon character, allowing your kid to build up a two-dozen strong collection of small two-inch figures right in time for the special holiday. Do note, it’s a blind box setup, so you don’t actually know what kind of Pokemons you’re getting, but you can bet they’re going to look plenty of fun as all Pocket Pop figures tend to do.
Harry Potter Advent Calendar
Candies and Harry Potter sound like a perfect holiday combo. That’s exactly what you get with this advent calendar for kids, which stashes 24 different types of candies in a magical box covered with a dark and dreary picture of Hogwarts. Do the candy flavors even have anything to do with the Wizarding World? We’re not entirely sure, but with confections like lemon sherbets, butterscotch buttons, every flavor beans, snowflake gummies, and more, we have a feeling both magical creatures and the Muggles among us will find this quite the everyday delight.
Barbie Doll Fashion Advent Calendar
Some kids like Barbie and Barbie alone. Nothing wrong with that. As such, it makes sense to get them an advent calendar that brings a new addition to their Barbie doll collection. This one makes the road to Christmas more exciting by giving you a brown-haired, tan-skinned Barbie that you can style with numerous clothing and fashion accessories, with a new one coming your way every day throughout the 24 days leading up to Christmas. All the items are designed for mixing and matching, too, making this quite the fun toy for kids who like dressing up their fashion dolls.
Lego City 2024 Advent Calendar
LEGO has no shortage of advent calendar sets for kids, so you can shop the rest of their line if you have a different theme in mind that’s better suited to your kid’s tastes. This one, though, is the LEGO City version and it’s one of our favorites, as it bundles numerous minifigs and accessories reminiscent of what you’ll find around the city during this festive time of the year. From minifigures dressed in winter outfits and a Santa Claus minifig to sleds and snowmobiles to a whole host of other seasonal fare, it’s a colorful set that gets you fun items every singe day.
Mattel Hot Wheels Toy Cars Advent Calendar
For the die-cast car fan, this advent calendar for kids lets you expand your toy car collection, complete with scale accessories you can use to set up fun mini-dioramas around the vehicles. Sadly, you won’t be getting 24 die-cast vehicles. Instead, you get eight of Hot Wheels’ 1:64-scale models, with the rest of the days netting you a total of 16 winter-themed accessories you can set up around the cars. It’s a fun set of accessories, too, with ramps, sleds, gas pumps, large tires, and a whole host of other items. Plus, the box opens up to a winter-themed playmat that you can use as the backdrop when you display all the collected pieces.
Super Mario Advent Calendar
Mario may have come from the 80s, but the little bouncing plumber stays popular among kids even four decades later. If you have a Nintendo kid in the house, chances are, they’ll love this advent calendar for kids, which comes with numerous 2.5-inch figures from the franchise, including Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Toad, Santa Mario, Snowman Mario, and Snowman Luigi, along with a number of familiar accessories scattered throughout the numerous Mario game worlds. The box also serves as a playmat with a Christmas backdrop and pop-up environment pieces.
KiwiCo Motorized Christmas Train Advent Calendar
Yes, this seems a bit expensive for an advent calendar. For that price, though, you get a buildable set that gives you different parts to build a train set over the next 12 days. This gets you a real, working motorized train set, too, so it’s probably more suited to bigger kids, unless, of course, dad (or mom) want to spend time building trains with the kids. Oh yeah, this is a shorter advent calendar, with just 12 days. We’d still recommend starting it early in the month, though, since you’ll still have to put in time to build it and play with it, which just sounds like a perfect way to spend the next few days before Christmas comes along.
