Get creative and reduce the sugar load this season by using some of these homemade advent calendar filler ideas! These advent fillers easy to get a hold of (or make), not candy-based, and perfect for toddlers.
Plus, you can stick with a theme of advent calendar filler ideas or mix and match for the week to get you through twenty-four days!
Keep the magic alive this season by using these perfect advent calendar fillers (these Elf on the shelf letter boards are cue too!!).
You can mix and match items or pick a theme for the month and surprise your littles.
With little to no effort, these fillers are a great way to get the kids in the spirit for the entire Holiday season.
Use a Wooden advent calendar and fill it nightly after the kiddos go to bed. Then, watch them scramble to wake up and see what the magic brought!
Or, grab a smaller child's advent calendar, pop them under the Christmas tree and have it unique for every kid.
Below is a list of over 25 advent calendar filler ideas. They're separated into sections like mini gifts, food gifts, toy advent calendar fillers, and themes. So there's something for everyone!
And if you need more ideas, here are some wicked toddler stocking stuffers too!
Perks Of Homemade Advent Calendar Gift Ideas
- Healthier
- Better experience
- Quality/eco-friendly
This list of advent calendar fillers ranges from healthy homemade treats, to homemade finds, and to store-bought gift ideas. Likewise, all are simple in nature and great for younger kids.
While I have previously picked one thing and done that for the entire season, mixing and matching the advent calendar gifts makes every day a new surprise.
Remember, kids don't need BIG things, they just love the excitement of it all. Bring back some of the magic and DIY it.
Mini Advent Calendar Ideas
These advent calendar fillers are wonderful because they're cost-effective and fit into smaller boxes. Plus, toddlers don't need anything huge, they just love the surprise!
Stickers
Stickers are our option this year as my toddler is obsessed and my baby thinks they’re funny. Trolls are a big theme in our house right now so I’ll probably go that route!
Ribbon Wrapped Crayons
Give one new crayon a day for anyone who has kids who love to draw! Opt for “special” crayons like the glitter ones versus the everyday pack.
Hair Clips
Great advent calendar fillers for anyone with little girls! Little cute hair clips or elastics is a great way to stock up (we lose these sooo often).
Erasers
Simple but great for anyone who has an artsy kid or just kiddos who are school-age.
Advent Calendar Filler Ideas: Socks
This is just practical. Yes, 25 pairs of sucks sound like a nightmare. But we lose socks probably every other day and I am constantly buying new ones!
Have a stash of cute socks wouldn’t be a bad thing. Plus, my toddler totally gets excited by stuff like this!
Stamps
If your toddler loves stamps why not get a stamp set? They’d love to collect all of them from the month and it would be a great activity to keep them entertained!
Homemade Lip Chap
My girls feel pretty special when they put on my lip chap and they love having one beside their bed like mommy. This cinnamon lip chap is great as it doesn't contain any essential oils.
Temporary Tattoos
Not everyone will be on board with this one but a bunch of little tattoos for them in their advent calendar would be super cute. It’s simple but they’d get to try out a new one (or save them up of course!) often and show it off.
Hot Chocolate Lotion Bars
My girls love having everything that I have and mimicking me in every way. These chocolate-scented homemade lotion bars make a cute advent calendar gift idea for them.
Money
And yes, the old stand by is that the homemade advent calendar could contain money instead of a treat or gift. I’m mostly okay with this, a buck a day to fuel a piggy bank isn’t bad. Buutttt, for me it takes the magic and excitement out of it.
My rule was that if it was money it was to be saved for something specific and then on boxing day you go buy that item. I still think it’s an opt-out though!
Kid-Safe Bath Bombs
These DIY bath bombs come in mini form which is why they're perfect as an advent calendar filler! Plus, every kid I know adores watching bath bombs fizz up! Whip up a big batch in different colors and portion them into baggies.
Food-Based Advent Calendar Filler Ideas
Every kid loves waking up to treats, but you can make healthy swaps if you plan for it! Having a whole advent calendar of food means a lot of prep work for parents, but doing a treat once a week isn't too bad!
Homemade Chocolate
I make a tasty candy cane fudge that my daughter loves and I was going to pop those into baggies and put them in.
Again, super-simple but you would have to get up early to put them in the morning because otherwise,it may melt overnight.
Homemade Gummy Bears
The first year I rocked the homemade advent calendar gifts we went with homemade, immune-boosting gummies. My girls absolutely loved them and I would have continued with them but my husband pointed out that we make a lot of gummy bears now with the girls and they were bound to put two and two together.
Below is a video to help explain how to do them but they worked really well in the calendar.
I bought little baggies portioned them out and snuck them into the calendar in the morning before my daughter got up.
This is our go-to recipe but truthfully, I make it up most of the time!
Advent Calendar Gift Ideas: Hot Chocolate
Giving a baggie of homemade hot chocolate is an awesome advent calendar gift idea! I'd do this on a Friday night so we could curl up with it in the evening and watch a movie. I always loved these Rudoplh baggies for hot chocolate gifts.
My favorite is dairy-free, peppermint hot chocolate.
Caramel Corn
We make a big batch of homemade, healthy caramel corn a lot- so yummy! portioning it out and popping it into the advent calendar would be a cute treat.
Advent Calendar Gift Ideas To Play With
Nothing like a mini gift that both excited a toddler and gives mom and dad some quiet time! These filler ideas a great because the kids normally spend a few minutes distracted.
Playdough (Or Mini Paints)
Not only is a jumbo pack of mini play dough colors cost-effective. But think of how much time it gives you while the kids play! You could make a theme too and intersperse play dough with little cutters.
Advent Calendar Gift Ideas: Mini Trolls
I loved this idea, but my husband was less enthused about 25 mini trolls that he’d probably be stepping on haha.
I still think it’s awesome though and think of the collection! So much fun to play with (I may possibly be bringing my own troll obsession back into this from when I was a kid!)
Disney Figurines
This option depends on how much you want to spend on ideas for advent calendar fillers! As well as how big your calendar is!
We hid these Disney Figurines in Easter eggs this year (check out how to have a non-candy Easter) and the girls loved them. There's only 20 though so you'd need something to fill for the other five days.
Glow Sticks
Glow sticks are a killer one for advent calendar filler ideas! We love mini glow sticks in our house because they’re honestly just fun. Plus, you could collect and sort the colors to make it a game. We give them to my daughter at bedtime and she “reads” her books with them.
Race Cars
Stock up on mini race cars and let them zoom!
Hatchimals
We did these mini hatchimals last year and it was pretty fun. Costco had 20 packs on sale for twenty bucks and so we grabbed two and use them as advent calendar fillers. The girls loved seeing "who they would get" in the morning.
Yes, we now have an alarming amount of bloody hatchimals.
Toy Accessories
Depending on what your kids are into, accessories make great advent calendar fillers! Barbie clothes, LOL doll cups etc.
Finger Puppets
A cute option and one to spar imagination!
Advent Calendar Gift Ideas: Themes
This is another one of the advent calendar filler ideas that sometimes takes some planning or mapping out, but it's a fun one! Pick a theme for the month so that your kids get one piece of something big or one type of gift each day under the Christmas tree.
Build A Craft Or Puzzle
Give one piece of the craft every single day and on the last day put it all together! This works with puzzles too but I find you do need a super patient kids.
Advent Calendar Race Track
Similar to the one above, space out all the pieces to build a fun race track. Intersperse the pieces with mini toy cars for the race track.
Baking Calendar
Give the kids something new each day to bake with and that will eventually make something special (a spatula, mini whisk, flour for the cookies etc)
Don’t forget to pin these awesome advent calendar filler ideas!
These advent calendar filler ideas help keep the Christmas Magic alive- and I love it! Likewise, you can make a theme from them or simply mix and match throughout the twenty-four days. Either way, these advent calendar fillers are great for kids.
jenna urben says
What a fun idea! I used to love advent calendars as a kid. I need to think about doing this 🙂
fitasamamabear says
I adored them as a kid! I just want to make it as special for them 🙂
Emily Sunwell-Vidaurri says
This is such a cool idea! I've never made a homemade Advent calendar for my littles before - but we saw some fair trade chocolate ones today at the store. I think this idea is so much better and super fun for the little ones.
fitasamamabear says
Honestly we love it! I love having the option of what to give them, it makes it a bit more special and for me (health nut crazy lady lol)I prefer it 🙂
Tessa Simpson says
all such great ideas for non-food ideas, or healthy ones to boot!
fitasamamabear says
It makes it more fun when it's not always food based!
Kristi Dee | Helping Mompreneurs Master Productivity says
Looove this! As a kid, my grandmother made all of us kids an advent calendar that had small candy canes tied to it for each day. My grandson just discovered stickers, so that's a great suggestion! Thanks!
fitasamamabear says
Aw! I love the memory of advent calendars, they're so special
Maia says
OMG I loved these calendars when I was a kiddo. We also used the chocolate candy calendars but had additional ones as well. My teen son is so excited about Christmas this year, he's begging for us to put up decoration already lol. I told him AFTER Halloween 🙂
fitasamamabear says
Aw haha that's cute that he's so into it! I remember LOVING advent calendars and just want to make it as special for my girls
Hannah Bayn says
Advent calendars are a great tradition for the Christmas season. I love these creative ideas!
fitasamamabear says
They're so much fun! And so easy to customize!
Mervova Vladka says
I found your ideas very creative and practical too. Socks, erasers or Ribbon Wrapped Crayons we buy all the time! Not sure what I am going to make this year, thanks for the inspiration.
fitasamamabear says
It's fun coming up with ideas! My girls seriously loose socks daily lol so I love making socks into any present I can haha
Megan Stevens says
Such a fun tradition! I love reading or hearing about what other families do to make this time of year special for their kids. I like your suggestions and fun to know about your love of trolls LOL. 🙂 🙂
fitasamamabear says
It's a cute tradition! Though I could do without the crazy amount of gummy making haha but it makes it so special for them.