Every year, advent calendars are getting fancier with fancy price tags. Why don’t we try creating one for our kids, completely personalized and with a flexible budget! This year, I am making a craft themed advent calendar.

First we need to find a reusable advent calendar. I love how this creates less waste and that I can find one that suits our decors in the house. Places like Etsy and Winners (if you’re in Canada!) are good place for a search. Here is an example. We can go farther with personalization with the kids’ names or adding decorations but simple ones look great too!

Now we get to be creative when it comes to what goes inside! For craft theme, I arranged purchases from Dollarstores, Temu, Walmart to Winner’s and Michael’s.

1. Variety is what makes it fun! I mixed chocolates, candies, small items, craft kits, and some random materials my kid needs to be creative with like strings, shells, or pieces of fabric/wood.
2. On some days, I put just tools, so my daughter either needs to wait until the next day or come up with ways to use them with other materials she already owns.
3. Add heartwarming messages!
4. Maybe avoid what kids already own. I won’t be putting in any paints or markers as she has tons of them already unless I find something really cool!
5. Add fun challenges before the kids get to open the box! For example, do one nice thing for sibling or say “I love you” to dad. Something simple, easy to do, and nice!
6. Just because it’s special time of the year, I might add some glitters and other mess creating materials that are not usually welcome in the house.

Here are some examples from Temu of what I might put in my child’s advent calendar.

Gathering materials and imagining my child’s reactions made the whole process really fun. Opening the advent calendar can start fun conversations each morning; we get to see their reactions to our choices and they get to see what we pick for them. This way, their fun Christmas activity becomes an engaging family ritual that builds deeper connections.