Non-Chocolate Advent Calendar Ideas for Kids: 50 Fillers

The best non-chocolate Advent calendar mixes three kinds of filler: free vouchers for a privilege or a moment together, a few small things that will actually get used, and notes or riddles that cost nothing at all. Spread those across the 24 days, add a handful of activity days at the weekends, and you avoid both the sugar and a pile of plastic by Christmas Eve. Below are 50 ideas in those groups, plus five containers you can make at home.

Finding the balance: small fillers, notes and activities

Twenty-four small toys add up quickly, in money and in clutter. A mix keeps every morning a surprise without the cost. For one child, a balance that works:

• 8 vouchers (“coupons” in the US): free, and often the ones children remember.
• 6 small fillers: set a total budget before you shop, and keep the best one for the 24th.
• 6 notes, riddles or challenges: written in ten minutes one evening.
• 4 activity days: on the weekends, when there is time to do them properly.

Think about size before you buy: everything has to fit the pocket, envelope or bag you are using. And for children under 3, leave out anything small enough to swallow: use stickers, pictures and activities.

15 vouchers and treats that cost nothing

Write each one on a small card, with the rules if needed (“valid on a Friday or Saturday”).

1. Stay up 15 minutes later tonight.
2. Choose what's for tea.
3. Breakfast in bed at the weekend.
4. Pick the family film.
5. One hour where the grown-ups say yes (within reason).
6. Skip one chore, and a grown-up does it.
7. A hot chocolate date, just you and one parent.
8. An extra bedtime story.
9. Build a den in the living room and sleep in it on Saturday.
10. A pyjama day at home.
11. Choose the music in the car all week.
12. A torchlit bath with the big lights off.
13. The whole family plays your choice of board game.
14. Swap places: you plan tomorrow's after-school activity.
15. A late-night look at the stars, wrapped in a blanket.

15 small fillers that actually get used

1. Hair clips or bobbles.
2. A fun toothbrush.
3. A sheet of stickers.
4. One good gel pen or felt tip.
5. A novelty eraser or pencil sharpener.
6. A packet of seeds, for spring.
7. A small notebook.
8. A pair of fun socks, rolled up tight.
9. A satsuma or clementine, the classic stocking filler.
10. A glow stick for the Christmas lights walk.
11. A pack of playing cards.
12. A bookmark, with a library trip that weekend.
13. A bath bomb (check the age on the packet).
14. A small puzzle cube or a wooden puzzle.
15. A Christmas tree decoration they choose: by the 24th, they have their own collection for the tree.

10 notes, riddles and mini challenges

1. A riddle, with the answer on the back: “What has hands but can't clap?” (a clock).
2. A cracker joke, to read out at breakfast: “What do you call a cat on the beach at Christmas? Sandy Claws.”
3. A treasure clue: “Look where the cold things live” leads to a note in the fridge.
4. A compliment about something they did this week.
5. A memory: “Remember when we built that snowman with no head?”
6. Christmas around the world: in Iceland, 13 Yule Lads visit in the nights before Christmas and leave small gifts in shoes on the windowsill.
7. Another one: in Germany, children clean their boots and leave them out on the night of 5 December for St Nicholas.
8. A silly challenge: sing Jingle Bells while balancing on one foot.
9. A drawing prompt: draw Father Christmas on his summer holidays.
10. A question for tea time: “What are you most looking forward to this Christmas?”

10 activity days, no shopping needed

Keep these short and save them for weekends or the end of term. Our guide to Advent calendar activity ideas for the family has 40 more, with times and ages.

1. A walk to see the Christmas lights.
2. Hot chocolate and a story in a blanket den.
3. Paper snowflakes for the windows.
4. Christmas charades.
5. Bake and decorate biscuits.
6. Pine cone bird feeders.
7. An afternoon at the library.
8. A pyjama film night.
9. An indoor treasure hunt.
10. A card for a neighbour who lives alone (more ideas in our kindness Advent calendar).

5 homemade containers for your calendar

1. Envelopes on a string: 24 envelopes, numbered, pegged along a string with clothes pegs. Ideal for vouchers and notes.
2. Paper bags on a branch: small paper bags, numbered, tied to a branch in a vase or along the banister. They hold small fillers too.
3. Toilet roll tubes: fold the ends in to close them, number them and stack them in a shoebox or hang them on ribbon. Children tear them open.
4. Matchbox drawers: 24 empty matchboxes glued into a block, painted and numbered. Good for tiny notes and stickers.
5. A pocket calendar: a large piece of felt with 24 small pockets (about 8 × 10 cm each) sewn or stuck on with fabric glue, numbered with fabric pen. It takes an evening and lasts for years.

If you'd like the activities ready to print

Our printable family Advent calendar gives you 24 activity cards (crafts, cooking, games, outings and acts of kindness), each with the materials, time and a suggested age, plus 24 number tags for your envelopes or bags. It's a PDF you print at home on A4, so you can mix the cards with your own vouchers and notes. More about printing and paper on our printable Advent calendars page.

24 activity cards, ready to print

Printable Advent calendar: 24 family activities

€14.90

What if Advent became family time again?

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