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    Home » Blog » Catholic » Advent

    5 Advent Calendar Candy Alternatives

    Published: Nov 9, 2015 · Modified: Nov 16, 2020 by Tiffany Dahle · This post may contain affiliate links.

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    Advent calendars with no candy can still be a ton of festive fun. Mix and match these fun Advent calendar fillers for the perfect Christmas season.

    A wooden Advent calendar has colorful painted ornaments hanging on a wooden tree.

    Counting down the days to Christmas turns me into a kid again. The Advent calendar tradition was one of my very favorite parts of the Christmas season when I was little and is one that I love sharing with my own kids.

    Years ago, I personalized my wooden door style calendar to make it fit with our home decor. I get giddy bringing it out each time.

    I knew right off the bat that I didn't want to fill it with too much chocolate or candy. The kids are bombarded with sweets during this time of year and I love to experiment with some non-candy Advent calendar options too.

    If you look at the calendar, our model has 5 rows of 5 doors. I put one small chocolate in the door at the end of each row and fill the remaining doors with little surprises.

    A Santa figurine pokes out of an advent calendar door.

    This year I'm adding this adorable magnetic tree with ornaments calendar to our rotation too. Little Pea is obsessed with the glittery ornament magnets and couldn't keep her hands off of it when I was trying to take pictures for you!

    After having some hits and misses, today I want to share my favorite goodies for filling the calendar.

    Some are reusable from year to year and some are more disposable.

    I've mixed and matched a few of them every year to be able to finally fill up all 25 doors.

    Non-Candy Advent calendar ideas

    1. Playmobil Christmas Sets

    Playmobil actually sells official Advent calendars in multiple themes like Santa's Workshop.

    But I like to buy the bigger sets and break them down myself. That way I can control which pieces land on which days or mix and match it with some other treats.

    Non-Candy Advent calendar ideas

    2. Lego Christmas Sets:

    Lego has official Advent calendars, too. But in my opinion, the options for each day are not very exciting.

    Once I'm less worried about Little Pea losing all the tiny pieces, I'd love to get a Santa's Workshop style set and break it down for building over the course of the month.

    3. Shrinky Dinks:

    Last year I filled it with these festive Santa's Workshop Shrinky Dinks. The girls would color a few small pieces each day and then we'd bake them off in batches over the weekend. It was a super fun way to string the activity out over the course of the month.

    Non-Candy Advent calendar ideas

    4. Decorate a Christmas Tree Stickers:

    Before the kids were old enough to write, we would decorate a sticker Christmas tree for Santa and I filled each day of the calendar with a few ornament stickers to add to their tree. Very similar to the magnetic version I have for us this year. 

    5. Quality Over Quantity Treats:

    I found this adorable chocolate reindeer & Santa set the first year and it has been our tradition to use it for the calendar every year since.

    I put one reindeer behind the door at the end of each row and the Santa arrives on Christmas morning in door #25. I grab it in the holiday section at Target. 

    P.S. If you don't have your own wooden door calendar to use, check out these adorable and easy presentations you could pull together yourself:

    1. Use little fabric pouches like this.
    2. Use paper pouches and clothes pins like this.
    3. Use toilet paper rolls like this. (Not even in English but the photos are awesome.)
    • A blue and a green crochet gift bag tied close with ribbon sit on a table in front of an Advent calendar.
      FREE Crochet Gift Pouch Pattern
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      Cutest Christmas Kids' Table EVER
    • A young girl rolls out gingerbread cookie dough with a rolling pin and is covered in flour.
      Ultimate Kids Christmas Baking Challenge
    • A mom poses with her two daughters during a Christmas Girls Day Out.
      6 Christmas Mom Daughter Traditions

    More Family Traditions for Advent

    • Collage of four book covers: Song of the Stars, Three Wise Kings, The Legend of the Poinsettia, and The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree.
      22 Powerful Christmas Books for Advent
    • A DIY Advent wreath sits on a table on Christmas Eve in front of a lit Christmas tree.
      DIY Advent Wreath with Candles
    • A row of stockings are hung on a mantle in front of a Christmas tree.
      How to Celebrate St. Nicholas Day
    • A collage of different Nativity sets for families
      Sturdy Kids Nativity Sets Parents Love

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    1. Christine

      November 14, 2015 at 5:56 am

      What a fun advent calendar! So cool!
      Thanks so much for mentioning my wall mounted advent calendar as well. 🙂

      Reply

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    Hi, I'm Tiffany!
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