One holiday tradition I'm eager to share with my son this year is counting down the days to Christmas with an advent calendar. Someday I might tackle one of the many DIY ideas for one, but this year I'm looking into what's available to buy.
Advent calendars typically fall into one of three categories: a window to open each day revealing a picture or part of a poem or story, a pocket or container to hold a tiny gift to open each day or (my personal favorite) a window to open each day with a small chocolate or sweet to eat. These ten advent calendars are a mix of the three in a range of budgets:
1. David Fussenegger Deer Advent Calendar ($52, My Sweet Muffin)
2. Giant Cookie Advent Calendar ($60, Dylan's Candy Bar)
3. Eric Carle's Dream Snow Pop-Up Advent Calendar ($10.99, Chronicle Books)
4. Handknitted Mitten Advent Calendar ($100, Irmi Black)
5. Maileg Chocolate Advent Calender (Huset Shop, $15)
6. Santa's Sweet Workshop Advent Calendar ($14, Dylan's Candy Bar)
7. Amsterdam Advent Calendar ($20, Nouveau Designs)
8.Nativity Wooden Puzzle Advent Calendar ($80, Wooden Creations)
9. LEGO® Star Wars™ Advent Calendar ($24.98, LEGO store)
10. Peanuts, Good Tidings of Great Joy Advent Calendar ($9.99, DaySpring)
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Here is a link to how Sarah Richardson does her kid friendly advent calendar,as well as other holiday-party-ready tips and ideas (Hint: It also helps with tree decorating!):
http://www.hgtv.com/video/sarahs-holiday-party-video/index.html
Playmobil has a good advent calendar series too. Dinosaur, Knights and Castles, along with the traditional Christmas theme:
Our advent calendar: a ribbon garland of mini-stockings (actually, Christmas themed, or other brightly colored, children's socks from the dollar bins), one for each of the twenty-four days leading up to Christmas. Each one is filled with a small toy, treat, or activity that my daughter can do. My daughter often prefers the activities (call a relative to say I love you; breathe on the window and watch it frost over; make a present for someone; spin around twelve times & make a wish for each turn) to small treats or toys she finds. It looks festive, and is the right balance of DIY and store-bought for my hectic holiday season.
An Advent calendar was the one item missing from our holiday lineup; I found a really cool one made of up cycled French fabrics on Etsy. It says Bientôt Noël and has the usual pockets for sweets or small gifts. shipping to the states was a reasonable €5.40 & was less than a wk from Bordeaux to CA.
What makes an Advent calendar special to a kid is its existence. We had a tatty old Woolworths one when I was a kid, with glitter halos on the manger scene of Dec 24, doors that wouldn't close after years of opening and closing, and a tendency to fall over when propped up. But I can see it as clearly now as I could when standing in front of it 40 years ago. Precious memory! Don't think you need to get a new one every year, or fill it with more toys or candy.
I just found the advent calendar I had as a child. It was a pop-up nativity scene with movable parts. I was so captivated by it, I didn't care there were no sweets or prizes. It's on sale on e-bay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Advent-Christmas-Calendar-3D-Die-Cut-movable-GEMO-7405-NIP-UNUSED-MINT-/281030182070?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item416eb444b6
Oh, how I love these advent calendars. Yeah, I'm too busy to do a DIY calendar this year, but want to next year. These ones are great. Thanks for rounding them up. I can't believe there's a Stars Wars one. How fun!