Advent Calendar Filler Ideas for Kids and Teens

Looking for small gift ideas to fill your kids’ fillable advent calendar? I’ve rounded up over 30 creative ideas for the perfect advent calendar fillers for kids and teens.

Whether you want your advent calendar gifts to follow a theme, or if you want to mix and match these ideas to fill up all 24 days, this list of unique ideas includes the best ways to fill advent calendars leading up to Christmas day.

advent calendar filler ideas for kids and teens collage

I fondly remember my family’s advent calendars. I loved choosing a little wooden ornament to hang on the advent Christmas tree.

Nowadays, there are so many options for advent calendars that have space for small gifts that kids can open up each day. It’s a fun tradition that your kids are sure to remember.

This post will give you tons of fun ideas for advent calendar fillers for toddlers, kids, and even young teens.

You’ll also find a few fillable advent calendars with space for gifts that you can buy this 2023 holiday season at the bottom of this post. Plus, you’ll find ideas to make your own DIY advent calendar as well.

This post contains affiliate links. Feel free to read my full disclosure policy here.

Printable Advent Calendar Fillers

Every small gift you put into a child’s advent calendar doesn’t need to be a physical item. Here are a few printable advent calendar stuffers that can be used to fill your kids’ calendar.

printable acts of kindness for Christmas to put in advent calendars

Holiday Acts of Kindness

Well this beats chocolate any day!  How about having your child open up a little activity each day that promotes kindness and giving in their home, school, or community?

I’ve designed a free blank template that you can download and print right here.  Then, just write in the acts of kindness and stuff them in your advent calendar. Or, if you want pre-filled acts of kindness, scroll down to the next section for access to the free printable!


blank

Fun Holiday Activities

Fill the calendar with fun holiday crafts or family activities. Just make sure when you’re stuffing the calendar that you strategically place some of the activities on days you know you’ll have enough time to do on that day!


bible verse primtable for advent calendars

Bible Verses

An advent calendar with verses from the Bible is a great way to highlight a part of the Christmas story every day leading up to Christmas.  This Christmas story advent calendar can be printed on 3″ x 5″ cards and stored in envelopes or added to a garland banner with clothespins.

Happy Home Fairy has a free printable advent perfect for younger kids, too.


free holiday joke printable to use to fill advent calendars

Christmas Jokes

Print these holiday jokes for kids for a laugh every day! You can find the free Christmas jokes printable page at The Simple Parent.

Advent Calendar Gifts for All Ages

Miniature Ornaments

If your kids have a miniature tree, you can give them mini ornaments during advent to decorate it. Or, these small ornaments could also be added to the large family tree as well.

Mini Glass Ornament Set of 24

These glass vintage inspired mini ornaments would be great for older kids and teens. Or, these mini resin ornaments are great for younger kids and fairly inexpensive.
Buy on Amazon
Mini Glass Ornament Set of 24

Mini Christmas Tree Ornament Set

I love these new mini Hallmark ornaments available at Target! You're sure to find characters that your kid loves.
See all the options at Target
Mini Christmas Tree Ornament Set

puzzle pieces farm puzzle

Puzzles or Puzzle Pieces

A puzzle is a great gift for an advent calendar. Take the puzzle and split the pieces into a few groups. Then, give one set of pieces on a few different days. By the time Christmas rolls around, the puzzle will be complete.


Vinyl Animal Stickers

These stickers are great for water bottles, notebooks, laptop cases, helmets and anywhere else a kid can think to stick something. (In my 7th grade classroom, they often stick them on their foreheads…?…)
Here's a great bunch of stickers for teens, superhero stickers, inspirational quote stickers, and adorable animal stickers.
Buy on Amazon
Vinyl Animal Stickers

Animal Erasers

These animal erasers from Amazon are adorable! Here's a pack of the same puzzle erasers except with dinosaurs.
Buy on Amazon
Animal Erasers

Squishy Mochis

Squishy animals are a great small gift to add to advent calendars. They're inexpensive but so cute!
Buy on Amazon
Squishy Mochis

christmas holiday temporary tattoos as advent calendar gift

Temporary Tattoos

What kid doesn’t love a temporary tattoo, or 24 temporary tattoos, for that matter? Your kid could have a full sleeve by the time Christmas rolls around!


Lego or Other Figurines

Lego figurines are a great small gift idea to fill advent calendars. You can buy a set of 10 random Lego figures on Amazon.

Advent Calendar Ideas for Toddlers and Young Kids

Finger Puppets

Here’s another great way advent calendar filler for young children – a set of finger puppets! They can be used for imaginative play throughout the whole year and beyond.


Alphabet Magnets

This set of animal magnets comes with letters and the matching animal. You could fill the advent calendar each day with a matching pair and they would have the complete alphabet by Christmas!


Toddler Crayons

Perfect for grasping, these palm grip crayons could be given as gifts on different days during advent to make the full set.


Advent Calendar Fillers for Teens

Beauty Products

Small cosmetics are a perfect way to fill advent calendars because you can buy them in multi packs and can be used all year. Lip gloss or lip balm, nail polish, bath bombs, or mini hand lotions would all be great advent calendar filler for older girls.


Felt Tip Pens

Both the girls and boys in my middle school classes like to use Flair pens. Bonus – this set of 16 pens come in different scents!

Or, there are so many other craft or art supplies that could be gifted during the advent season as well.


Crystals and Stones

Geodes, small stones and healing crystals can be a great idea to gift to older kids and teens.


Sweet Treats

Of course, an easy way to fill up extra space in an advent calendar that kids will love is with candy or chocolate.

Think candy canes, hot chocolate packets, chocolate coins or your kids’ favorite sweet snacks.

Fillable Advent Calendars

Fillable Advent Calendars for Purchase

There are so many options for advent calendars you can buy that are the perfect size for a tiny gift. Here are a few pre-made advent calendars available during 2023.

This small wooden drawer advent could hold little gifts (the whole thing is only about 12″ x 12″.)

This Christmas tree wooden advent calendar measures 15″ x 12″. Each drawer is 1.5″ x 1.5″ x 2″.

wooden santa advent calendar from target

A wooden Santa advent with drawers of two different sizes measure 16″ by 12″

With the small size of the wooden drawers, you may find that many items won’t fit in the drawer calendars. The next advent calendars have little bags or compartments that give a little more space for each gift.

The larger pockets on this fillable advent calendar will hold slightly bigger gifts.

This kit comes with everything you need to make a drawstring advent calendar with burlap sacks.

DIY Fillable Advent Calendars

Instead of buying new, there are many ways to make your own advent calendar. Here are a few easy calendars to make this Christmas season.

I made a fillable advent calendar from an old mini muffin tin! It doesn’t fit large gifts, just something small each day. Here’s the tutorial and free number printable: DIY advent calendar from a muffin tin

This DIY advent calendar is upcycled from an old muffin pan. Magnetic cut outs cover the holes and are easy to remove. Plus, there is a free printable for the numbered circles!

Making a gift advent calendar is easy with the help of a fabric shoe organizer advent calendar! This would also work well for a family with multiple kids – just wrap a small box or envelope for each child and put them all in the shoe slot!

I took a set of curtain string lights and made it into a DIY fillable advent calendar by adding little envelopes. It can also be used to hang Christmas cards! You can view the full tutorial here: DIY Christmas Card Holder

use curtain lights as Christmas card holder DIY project

I hope you found some of these advent calendar gift ideas helpful. Wishing you a joyous holiday season!

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Jenny at Refresh Living (dev.refreshliving.com)

Post by Jenny Leads

Jenny is the voice behind Refresh Living. She has a passion for helping people to create a home they love without spending a lot of money.

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