Best advent calendars for kids that start the Christmas magic early

Hot on the success of this year’s A Minecraft Movie, I think you’d be hard pushed to find a child who wouldn’t love to receive this Lego Minecraft advent calendar on 1 December.

Behind each door you’ll find a minifigure to play with (including Alex, Steve and, my personal favourite, a villager dressed up as Santa) or a mini model to build.

While the small building toys don’t come with instructions, a simplified build guide is included on the inside of each window, which is easy enough to work out, and my tester loved having a Lego build to create every day. It’s compatible with other Lego sets, so it promises fantastic longevity of play.

You can’t go wrong with a chocolate advent calendar, and this fancy offering from Hotel Chocolat definitely feels extra-special. It features 23 bite-sized chocolate shapes and a larger bar on Christmas Eve.

Everything is made from the brand’s 40 per cent milk chocolate, which includes more cacao and less sugar. I obviously had to join the kids in a taste test and can confirm the chocolate was delicious – definitely not sickly sweet or synthetic. It goes without saying that my mini testers gave this all the thumbs up.

Aside from the chocolate, the Christmassy pictures inside the doors and the countdown of how many more sleeps to go are a nice touch. Hotel Chocolat also has an unbelievably vegan advent calendar for the same price, if your kids are dairy-free.

Fans of the hugely popular Little People, Big Dreams book series will love this advent calendar. Untie the ribbon and open out this giant ‘book’ to discover a mini version of some of the best-selling stories tucked away inside little pockets.

Featuring inspiring books about everyone from David Attenborough to Harry Styles, my testers loved working their way through the biographies.

While they were perfect for my nine-year-old to read independently, my six-year-old enjoyed me reading them to her instead – such a thoughtful way to add a sense of calm to the chaos of December.

If you’re looking for a non-chocolate festive countdown for a younger child, the Magna-Tiles micromags advent calendar is ideal. The fun calendar comes complete with wheeled carriages and enough magnetic tiles to create your own Christmas locomotive. The calendar also includes a Father Christmas and conductor figure, which were both hugely popular with my testers.

There are no instructions included, which means it’s up to your little builder to get creative and come up with their own designs. If they’re struggling, follow the pictures on the box to create the train, like my testers did.

It’s worth noting that some of the gifts are less exciting than others – a plain square tile on its own doesn’t hold the biggest appeal for preschoolers – but as the month goes on, there’s so much to keep kids busy. I love the creative possibilities with Magna-Tiles and how brilliant they are for boosting those fine motor skills. This kit is also compatible with both the classic Magna-Tiles and the microMAGS.

This adorable advent calendar is a dream come true for little Squishmallows fans – there were genuine squeals of joy when my tester got stuck into opening it up. Behind each of the 24 doors, you’ll find a teeny, festive mini-squish, including the likes of Austin the avocado (complete with Sana hat), Marshina the hot chocolate and the big guy himself.

It also comes with a ring accessory to attach your Squish-a-longs to, although my six-year-old tester prefers to have hers all lined up on display so she can play with them.

My six-year-old found it a little tricky to pop some of the figures out of the calendar, but older kids shouldn’t have much trouble. Coming in at £1 per Squish-a-long, this sweet advent calendar is worth every penny.

Bitty Pop! has gained something of a cult status with tweens, and its calendar taps into the craze perfectly.

Inside the 24 doors, you’ll find 10 teeny Bitty Pop! Disney princess figures in the cutest display boxes, as well as pieces to create the castle to show off your collection. There’s also a keyring and pin badge accessory, where you can slide in your favourite princesses – although my testers weren’t interested in these particularly.

While it’s suitable for children aged three and up, I’d suggest it’s better for older kids who enjoy the collectable side of these figures, as the play potential is limited. I was impressed with the quality here and attention to detail – especially how each princess has been given a Christmassy touch by holding a gift or wearing holly in their hair.

Excitement levels went through the roof when my tester got her hands on this gorgeous advent calendar from Stych. Inside the 24-pocket reusable pink fabric advent calendar are 12 stylish accessories, including everything from socks and sleep masks to oversized hair bows and sparkly scrunchies.

While contents may vary, you know you’re going to get excellent quality, super-stylish, age-appropriate accessories worth more than £130, and you can choose from an age suitability of three to five years or six to eight (which I went for).

I love how extra-special these gifts feel, and that there’s space to add your own gifts. The fact that you can reuse the calendar for years to come really ups the value for money here, too.

My testers and I were blown away by this Lush advent calendar, which contained 25 full-size bath bombs or bubble bars, including some brilliant exclusive festive offerings – the sprout bath bomb and Christmas tortoise being particular hits.

Lush only uses natural ingredients, making its products suitable for kids to enjoy. What’s more, everything in the advent calendar is vegan. We also loved the excitement of discovering what was behind each door, and the addition of a special extra-large door for Christmas Day was a nice touch.

The calendar itself is stunning, having been designed by artist Sherrie Tilley, and it’s of great quality – perfect for reusing next year. Yes, it’s pricey, but you get so much for your money. If you need a wow-them advent calendar to share between siblings, this is a winner.

The Majorette Vehicles advent calendar is a must for toy car fans. It comes with seven die-cast cars, a helicopter, a host of accessories (think snow plough add-ons and Christmas tree roof toppers) and sticker sheets.

My youngest tester loved that the cars were emblazoned with ‘North Pole District police’, and my nine-year-old thought it was very cool that the toys were modelled on real vehicles, including a Ford Bronco Wildtrak and Dodge Charger.

There’s loads of play potential here, and the set could easily provide hours of fun on its own, or make a cute festive addition to a current toy car collection. The stickers may not have sparked as much excitement as the cars themselves, but it’s a brilliant haul for less than £20.

Smiggle reigns supreme at primary school, and the brand’s advent calendar is a guaranteed hit with little learners. It includes a fantastic collection of stationery essentials, including a pencil case to keep them all in. What I particularly loved about this advent calendar was that there were no ‘filler’ gifts – every single item was something my testers were delighted to open.

From genuinely useful items (mini gel pens and a fun fold-out ruler, which blew my littlest tester’s mind) to things that were just good fun (a spy pen and camera torch, which projects Christmas pictures onto the wall), it’s packed with great items that your little ones will continue to enjoy using.

Smiggle also has a Lilo and Stitch-themed advent calendar (£32, Smiggle.co.uk), containing a great mix of stationery essentials and accessories.

You definitely feel like you’re getting a lot for your money with the Craft Buddy Disney crystal art Christmas calendar. It’s made up of two boxes, one of which contains a large magnetic frame and another with all the advent windows to open. Inside are 24 Disney-themed crystal craft kits, along with a tray, pen and wax squares to create the sparkly designs.

My six-year-old was happily able to get stuck into the crafting on her own, although I would suggest having an adult on hand to open up the bags of crystals unless you want to spend the run-up to Christmas picking up tiny gems from around your house.

I really liked the fact that this calendar came with a frame to display your magnetic crystal art, one design at a time, adding to the countdown feel. However, my little tester had other ideas and preferred to give her creations to her school friends or add them to our fridge.

Everything about this Meri Meri x Liberty advent calendar feels like a treat. The house-shaped, Liberty-print suitcase contains two layers of numbered windows and looks beautiful on display during the December countdown. It will also double as a sweet storage box once the Christmas decorations have been put away.

The calendar contains a gold-tone bracelet and 23 metal charms and tassels, which you can add to the chain to create a truly gorgeous charm bracelet. My six-year-old thought it was “the prettiest bracelet, ever”, and even though the calendar is designed for children eight and up, it didn’t fall off her wrist when she insisted on wearing it.

The keepsake nature of the calendar scores it extra points, especially as you can easily remove a few festive charms to wear the bracelet all year round.

Stitch fever is still going strong, and I predict this will be everywhere this Christmas – even hard-to-please teens don’t seem to be immune to the allure of this Disney character. That’s why this beauty calendar is a good choice for those who are too old for the usual toy advent calendars, but too young for the premium beauty calendars available this year.

It’s got a bit of everything hidden behind the doors – from bubble bath to a reusable make-up remover pad, but it was the eye and lip masks that my testers thought looked very cool.

Mad Beauty recommends this for teens and up, so I tested some of the products myself – and they definitely get my seal of approval for this age group. The only downside is that you receive multiples of certain items, including nail files, bath bombs and clay masks, but at least they’re useful.

This excellent Star Wars-themed advent calendar was an instant hit with my tester, a fan of the epic space franchise. Similar to the Minecraft advent calendar, this has 24 doors to open, each with a minifigure or mini build behind it – the tiny Jawa and BB-8 (snowman style) proved to be standout favourites with my testers.

All the contents of this calendar are designed to be enjoyed and played with beyond Christmas – let’s call it the gift that keeps on giving.

The box also opens out into a festive Star Wars scene, creating a fun backdrop for displaying the contents, as well as for imaginative play.

Featuring eight ‘bobblin’ head’ pet figures and 16 accessories, including reindeer antler headbands and a cosy campfire, the Littlest Pet Shop advent calendar is cute and colourful, and definitely delivers on play potential.

My six-year-old tester loved the animals, particularly their signature nodding heads. Although she did occasionally struggle dressing them up with some of the smaller accessories, which can be a little fiddly.

What’s great about this advent calendar is that the figures – including a kitten, dalmatian and panda – aren’t overly Christmassy, so can be played with throughout the year. If you’re after a calendar with serious cute appeal, this is it.

It’s fair to say Brio know its target audience, demonstrated perfectly in the trains and dinosaur-themed advent calendar. It comes complete with 24 gifts, including wooden train track pieces, a train and a carriage, a Santa figure, a trio of velociraptors, a T-rex, a pterodactyl and various accessories.

The train and carriage attach together with Brio’s signature magnets – something my testers loved – but unsurprisingly, what they enjoyed the most was that the mini wreath fitted perfectly in the T-rex’s claws.

There’s enough here to encourage plenty of imaginative play, although I’d say it’s best suited to Brio fans who already have a stash of wooden train tracks at home (the two provided won’t get you that far).

If you’re after a more sustainable advent calendar, Rockahula’s advent calendar is a worthy investment.

It’s beautifully made and features 24 decent-sized pockets for you to fill with whatever goodies you want, and it will look gorgeous hanging on a wall or door throughout December. My testers loved how much we could fit in each pocket – I’d say there’s room for two small gifts or chocolates, so it’s ideal for siblings.

The stylish design details, including colourful stitched numbers, a gold star topping the tree and stripey pink lining on the back, add to its charm. And it’s of fantastic quality and clearly designed to last – perfect for getting out each year to signal the start of the Christmas countdown.