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You are here: Home / Play-Based Learning Activities / These 15 Advent Calendars Without Candy Will Make you Smile
These 15 Advent Calendars Without Candy Will Make you Smile

November 5, 2016 By Alana Pace 14 Comments

These 15 Advent Calendars Without Candy Will Make you Smile

Inside find 15 advent calendars without candy that you can make, DIY or buy. Your kids will smile as they open each day.


When my little brother was ten, he was diagnosed with what they thought was colitis.

Later, we found out it was, in fact, Crohn’s. Either way, his symptoms and gastrointestinal issues meant he had to eliminate a number of foods from his diet. Two triggers that were dairy and gluten. Now if this were to happen to me today, there’s no doubt I would find it rough. But a more holistic diet and fewer sweets may lead to less baby weight around my midsection. Not all bad.

For my kid brother, it was a blow.

This meant no Halloween candy after trick-or-treating, no chocolate advent calendars, no cake at friends’ birthdays and so much more. Our family soon stocked up on gluten-free options for celebrations and almond milk aplenty. When my little bro’s birthday rolled around that November, I decided my gift to him would be an advent calendar without candy! Here is how I made his advent calendar without chocolate.

 

Whether you would prefer to decrease the amount of chocolate your children eat, have a child with dietary restrictions or simply want a really fun way to celebrate advent this year, these non-candy advent calendars are AWESOME. There are different countdowns, ways to get little surprises, use Lego, Playmobil, stickers, and so much more. There is even a STEM advent calendar idea. All of them are so much fun and most are really simple.

Really Simple Non-Candy Advent Calendar

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. The price you pay is the same. However, I receive a very small commission.

I went to the dollar store and purchased a poster board, some ribbon and wrapping paper. Then, I purchased Harry Potter lego, stickers, and some other dollar store fillers. I opened everything and created 24 separate little packages. Day 1 was the actual Harry Potter character. I divvied the rest up based on what made the most sense. Then, I measured out 24 boxes and numbered them, punctured two holes at the top of each box. Then, I wrapped each of the 24 parcels and tied them to their respective day. It cost a bit of money, but it was that easy! And, it made for something really special.

What I’m Doing for Advent Calendars Without Candy This Year

Disclaimer: I received two advent calendars to facilitate this post. All opinions expressed are my own.

I will be honest and say, Halloween took it out of me. Not only did we DIY all of our décor, I also hand made my kids’ costumes. Sure, I purchased items from Value Village to make my kids into Nick Wilde and Officer Hopps of Zootopia. But, I also had to make my own patterns and hand-sew portions of both costumes. I’m tired. And our house is already overrun with enough candy to last us a couple of months. So, I decided on Playmobil advent calendars for both kids. We absolutely love Playmobil in our household. Their figures and play-scenes act as incredible prompts for my children’s imaginative play. We’ve used them for extension activities for kids’ books, to create an indoor Safari, and so much more.

I let my kids choose their calendars. My daughter selected this one. And my son, the NHL hockey advent calendar. Like a chocolate advent calendar, these ones have 24 doors. Each day yields a person, an accessory, or furniture. They are also equipt with their own cardboard play scenes. Check out the video below to see how cool my son’s Day 1 was!

If you have younger kids and are worried about small pieces, we introduced Playmobil 123 to our daughter on her first birthday and have continued to have play value for the past three years. To get your own Playmobil calendar, be sure to enter my giveaway below <3 If you’d prefer to make your own, I got you covered!

Whether you would prefer to decrease the amount of chocolate your children eat, have a child with dietary restrictions or simply want a really fun way to celebrate advent this year, these non-candy advent calendars are AWESOME. There are different countdowns, ways to get little surprises, use Lego, Playmobil, stickers, and so much more. There is even a STEM advent calendar idea. All of them are so much fun and most are really simple.


DIY Advent Calendar Ideas for Kids

DIY Scratch-off Advent Calendar Ornaments // Danya Banya

Christmas Book Advent Calendar // Living Loving Laughing Together

25 Days of Christmas STEM Countdown // Little Bins for Little Hands

DIY Box Advent Calendar (with printable) // Powerful Mothering

Toilet Paper Roll Advent Calendar // Danya Banya

Christmas Countdown Printable // Sunny Happy Day

DIY Christmas Tree Countdown // Playground Park Bench

Christmas Jokes for a Christmas Countdown // Little Bins for Little Hands

Christmas Week Activity Count Down // Sunny Day Family

Christmas Countdown Surprises // Teach Me Mommy

Choose from these Toddler Advent Activities // Rainy Day Mum

LEGO Advent 25 Days of Christmas // Little Bins for Little Hands

Random Acts of Kindness Christmas Countdown // Every Star is Different

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What are the best toys for play-based learning? Click here.

Filed Under: Play-Based Learning Activities, Posts Tagged With: advent activities, advent calendar, DIY advent calendars, kids activities, non-candy alternatives

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sarah Nenni Daher says

    November 6, 2016 at 1:29 am

    What a great giveaway – thanks for offering it. I absolutely adore homemade advent calendars and have already fallen in love with a few on your list.

    Reply
  2. Terri's Thoughts says

    November 7, 2016 at 3:27 pm

    what a great giveaway and so many great ideas 🙂

    Reply
    • Alana says

      November 7, 2016 at 3:39 pm

      I hope you entered <3

      Reply
  3. pickettfamily says

    November 7, 2016 at 10:46 pm

    What a cool giveaway! I especially like the picture with the re-used toilet paper roll to create a homemade one. I might show my children how to make one.

    Reply
  4. Andria says

    November 8, 2016 at 4:47 pm

    Love all these ideas Alana! I am just wishing all of my crafting supplies weren’t packed up right now!

    Reply
    • Alana says

      November 8, 2016 at 6:08 pm

      Have you moved already? I love these ideas too… I just need the time to get crafty for Christmas. Sigh.

      Reply
      • Andria says

        November 8, 2016 at 6:09 pm

        Part on of our move is complete! We are in a rental until mid December and then we move into our new home so we are living out of boxes until then.

        Reply
        • Alana says

          November 8, 2016 at 6:21 pm

          Oh fun! Two moves with two toddlers. That sounds like a blast.

          Reply
  5. DebbieZ says

    November 8, 2016 at 11:39 pm

    I LOVE Advent Calendars! Sometimes I have four or five of them going at once! lol This one is super cute. You can’t beat Playmobil, they have made such a great name for themselves over the years. Always high quality toys!

    Reply
    • Alana says

      November 9, 2016 at 12:21 am

      Thanks so much Debbie for your kind commentary on my chocolate free advent calendars! There are so many fun ideas here.

      Reply
  6. CourtneyLynne says

    November 10, 2016 at 11:24 pm

    Omg so many cute and fun ideas!!!! Now that cold weather is here I’m always looking for new activities I can do with my daughter indoors

    Reply
    • Alana says

      November 10, 2016 at 11:59 pm

      I hope you enjoy! I agree, these DIY advent calendars are so much fun!

      Reply
  7. kate @ livinglovinglaughing says

    November 17, 2016 at 11:54 am

    Oh, I really love all these ideas, great inspiration! Thanks for sharing my Christmas Book Advent Calendar idea 🙂 I am wrapping up all my books again this week!

    Reply
    • Alana says

      November 17, 2016 at 3:12 pm

      Thank you so much! I’m so happy with how these chocolate-free advent calendars came together. You’ve reminded me to wrap my books too!!! Thank you!

      Reply

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Hi! I'm Alana. When I'm not nursing cold, stale coffee, I usually can be found with the baby on my hip, barefoot, and racing after my two older kids. Thanks to a degree in psychology and a free-range childhood backing onto an expansive evergreen forest, positive parenting and play-based learning are my passions. Read more here.

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I’ll be happy when they sleep through the night.

I’ll be happy when my husband doesn’t have to work such late hours.

I’ll be happy when I look and feel like myself again and not a feeding troth 😬😬😬

As it turns out this struggle with finding happiness isn’t unique to me or parenting. 

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While it may seem that leaving a child to cry will help her learn to cope, it actually floods her brain with cortisol. She doesn’t learn to self-soothe but instead to shut down.

Though it may seem counterintuitive to some, independence is fostered through responsive care. The less stressed a child feels, the safer he feels to explore his world. The less stressed he feels, the more appropriate his emotional responses become.

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