It’s become a bit of a tradition that every year my Father In Law buys us all an advent calendar. It used to be chocolate buttons for the girls and Hotel Chocolat for me (oooh fancy) but for the last few years he has got more extravagant with his choices. This started out because my husband decided that he wanted the Star Wars lego calendar, every year. It means my carefully arranged Christmas decorations are overtaken by little lego figures for the duration of December which I’m still not happy about!

They are almost like presents in their own rights and the the choices available are boggling. It was definitely easier when it was just a little chocolate each day. I also loved the beautiful picture calendars my Dad used to send over from Germany with their glittery Christmasy scenes and cute picture hiding behind each door. In a way it is probably an expense you don’t need before Christmas and the kids would be just as happy with a 99p chocolate calendar but it seemed only fair that I bought you a round up of my favourite non chocolate advent calendars for kids.

This year Alice is going to be one happy little girl as she is receiving the Play Doh advent calendar from her Grandad. She adores playdoh and requests to play it every day so will love all the cutters and shapes hidden inside.

The last few years the girls have had the Playmobil calendars and have adored finding out what is inside. The only thing I would say on these is that some of the pieces are pretty tiny so definitely one for the slightly older kids.

For Molly I think we may choose this utterly beautiful Nutcracker calendar from one of my favourite brands, Meri Meri. It is just perfect with it’s music box styling and a little charm each day to add to the bracelet.

For any of you with toddlers then I’m pretty confident that the Happyland Calendar would be a firm favourite. I think this one is great as it has a full figure hidden behind each door so definitely worth the pennies.

I am a big advocate of do it yourself calendars and the possibilities are endless. You can create something truly unique that is full of things your little ones will actually want. We have a beautiful felt garland with mini stockings that we fill each year. My Dad originally sent it from Germany and they had packaged it with wonderful Lindt chocolates, Schleich animals and cute christmassy treats.

It may be a bit pricey but this Ferm Living advent calendar at Cissy Wears is so lovely and can be reused year after year. The pockets are big enough to hold anything from chocolate coins to a little toy.

I am also loving the idea of rather than giving a gift you give a task or a voucher for a treat. This is especially good for the bigger kids. Put together 24 envelopes, place a note inside and seal with a cute sticker like these from This Modern Life. You could include anything from a hot chocolate treat at the local cafe to a family movie night snuggled watching Christmas films.
 
Have you chosen a calendar for your little ones yet? Any suggestions we really should know about?