8 Advent Calendars For the Whole Family To Enjoy

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As a child, I only received an Advent calendar one year, from my Aunt Darlene. I had no idea what an advent calendar was up until that point (my poor Mom probably wanted to keep it that way). She gave one each to my brothers and I on Christmas, so it wasn’t even the 24 days leading up to Christmas.

Additionally, they were these chocolate candy calendars that popped open each day, and they tasted awful. I kept telling my parents that they tasted like dog food. Believe me, I would know (but, that’s another story for another time).

What kills me is even though I only had an advent calendar once, the candy in it tasted awful, and I didn’t even use it until after Christmas was over, I still have a really positive, childhood like attachment to them and love gifting them.

Usually, I even completely forget they exist until I see an advertisement for them somewhere, or see one in store on the shelves. That was what happened today and I started to go “oh, I wonder if they have this sort of advent calendar” (they do!) and I spent the next two hours on Amazon finding anything and everything.

Since I did the research for you (at least that’s what I told myself–it’s not for me, it’s for the blog…yeah, we’ll go with that), the next natural step is to plop all of my favorites into a blog post for the world, aka you, to see. Without further ado, here are my favorite advent calendars your whole family will enjoy.

For the Dad Who Fishes

Does the man in your life love to fish with a passion? Or maybe he likes to, but doesn’t have enough fishing lures to make it happen? Yeah, I know that last question is doubtful. But, what guy can’t appreciate another fishing lure in his tackle box!

In his mind, you can’t have too much of a good thing (his wife might disagree, but oh well). That’s where the fishing lure advent calendar comes in. It’s just under $30 and with so many different designs, he’s bound to find at least one he can use on his next fishing day.

For the Decorating Mom

When I saw this small Christmas tree advent calendar, I thought it was so cute! You get a small wooden tabletop Christmas tree and each day you can add a tiny ornament to decorate the tree. When you reach Christmas day, you have a perfect table topper: a fully decorated wooden Christmas tree with ornaments.

If you’re as obsessed as I am about Christmas decorations (or know someone who is), this is the perfect advent calendar.

For the TS-Loving Teen

Taylor Swift is all the hype for most of the pre-teen and teen girls that I know. Yes, there is actually a Taylor Swift Advent calendar you can buy (there’s actually several!). I like this one the best (it’s a charm bracelet) because I think it’s something young girls will use more than just during the Advent season. The charms are super cute and definitely fun to wear. This is one of the less expensive calendars I’ve seen which give sit some extra brownie points as well.

For the Child Who Loves To Create

Listen, I’m not one of those moms who deals well with messes. For some reason, though, play-doh does not make that much of a mess in my eyes. I’m not really sure why that is. My mom definitely hated the mess that came with Play-Doh and she rarely let us play with it. So, you would think I would feel the same way. I don’t though.

We have a Play-Doh drawer that is the bottom-most drawer. It is at free access to all of the kiddos. It’s not out where everyone can see it, so we don’t play with it every day. But I have a five year-old who asks to play with it at least once a week.

Play-Doh is one of those “you want it, you get it” type deals. Rarely do I stop what I’m doing to help them (other than get it out of the tub for my youngest). They get it out, use it, and put it away. At the end of the day, leftover pieces get vacuumed up while I’m doing the normal daily vacuuming, and everything’s taken care of.

Therefore, I know my boys would love this Play-Doh Advent calendar and they would get use out of it more than just at Christmas time. I’ve got one added to my Amazon cart as we speak.

For the Child Who Loves Art (And the Mom Who Doesn’t Mind It)

I added that last tidbit there because this is definitely not me. I like painting and I like letting my child paint because I know how much fun they get out of it. However, I cannot stand the mess. I’m not really sure what the big deal is, but I just know that this Advent Calendar is not for me.

It is, however, for those of us who love to paint and don’t find it messy. It’s also for their child who’s more on the creative side and likes having a mini art project to paint every day of December. These Advent calendar plaster crafts are mostly Christmas themed and will definitely keep your mini artist entertained for awhile each day!

For the Dinosaur Lover

I have a child who’s obsessed with dinosaurs, so this is a tribute to him. I actually have a video of him where he’s under a year old, playing with two dinosaurs and making the roaring noises that no one taught him to make. Fast forward three years later and we’re still playing with the same dinos and making the same roars.

I’m not really sure where his obsession came from, but it’s here to stay. This Dinosaur Advent calendar is perfect for him and your little guy too. He gets a new dinosaur to open each day and it provides him with play entertainment for the whole 2024 too (until they get lost, left at the church nursery or eaten by our dog, Tonto).

Something the Whole Family Can Enjoy

If your love language is quality time and you can’t think of anything better than spending time together as a family every day of December, look no further. This is by the most unique idea for an Advent Calendar I’ve seen yet. It’s an Advent Calendar Puzzle Game. Each day your family works together to solve a puzzle that gives you a clue to the next day’s puzzle.

I love that the game builds off of itself. I love that you get quality family time doing something the whole family can enjoy. You can do this all in one sitting or stretch it out for the whole Advent season. Seriously, it’s the perfect Advent calendar.

For the Friend Who’s Not Okay

It’s been a rough fall for the 90s sitcom watcher. Losing Chandler was a hard blow and shocked a lot of America. For me, I didn’t watch many Friends episodes alone–I had two siblings that watched it with me. Whenever I watch the reruns, I’m reminded of the times we watched it together.

Chandler passing brought back a lot of those memories. So, when I found this Friends Advent Calendar, I had just the person in mind to gift it to. It gifts trinkets and prizes as a tribute to the show!

The Perfect Gift

Advent Calendars are the perfect way to build up some Christmas spirit for the entire month of December (well for 25 days, at least). Finding a personalized one that fits for the friend or family member you have in mind is the icing on the cake!