40 Best Toy Advent Calendars for Kids Who Just Can’t Wait

Kids who love to DIY will love building their own Christmas village and adding to it every day. In addition, KiwiCo also has a Mechanical Ornaments Advent Calendar ($50, ages 5+), a Santa's Railroad Advent Calendar ($50, ages 5+) for kids who love trains, or a Winter Wonderland Advent Calendar ($100, ages 9+) with electrical and mechanical parts that make the pieces move. Ages 5+

Picture this: You’re walking in the woods when—BANG!—everything goes black. You wake up, the forest you were walking in is enchanted, and you’re covered in green fur. What happened? Participants have to figure it out, getting a clue each day with an escape-room-style puzzle to solve. If that story isn’t appealing, there are also Exit advent calendars, including The Intergalactic Race, as well as The Missing Hollywood Star. Ages 10+

In my house, the unveiling of the LEGO advent calendar slate is a highly anticipated event every year. This time around, there’s no beating the cuteness of the Grogu in the holiday sweater included in the LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar. But, for non-Star Wars fans, there are also advent calendars for LEGO Marvel (available on Amazon), LEGO Friends (Amazon/LEGO), LEGO City (Walmart), and LEGO Disney Princesses (Amazon/LEGO). Ages 6+

For real life, Bluey fans can choose between two advent calendars. This one comes with Bingo and Bluey in their Christmas jumpers, plus a white-and-gold tree and other surprises spread out over 24 days. Or, for Bluey Fuzzies collectors, there’s also a Bluey Fuzzies advent calendar with eight exclusive figures. Ages 3+

For the littlest revelers who might want to try their first advent calendar, this one comes with chunky, perfect-for-toddler-hands Barbies. There's also an ornament included that they can hang on the family tree. Ages 18 months+

Kids who know their Doomsdays from their Brand New Days will thrill to get this calendar, which comes with 24 unique Marvel Pocket Pop! figures (think a frozen Spidey, or a snowman Captain America, or a Black Panther gingerbread cookie). In addition to Marvel heroes, you can get advent calendars for Pokémon, Disney Princesses, Stitch, and many others. Ages 6+

Fill their days leading up to Christmas with palatial, princessy thoughts. This calendar comes with three princess dolls in their holiday dresses, plus plenty of friends and other accessories. Or, if only one royal's name is on their lips, there's also the Disney Frozen Advent Calendar. Ages 3+

Each day, kids will get a teeny canister of Play-Doh and a little tool that will give them inspiration for new ways to play. Which is good, because it's been shown that working with Play-Doh helps kids strengthen their hand muscles. Ages 3+

From a gingerbread Chococat to Cinnamoroll in his festive finest, this calendar comes with 24 holiday surprises featuring their Sanrio favorites. It includes 18 two-inch figures, plus some other goodies. It’s available for preorder now, but will ship on October 24. Ages 6+

Follow along with the 24 little stories intended to be read in five minutes each, featuring everyone’s favorite Disney characters—a great thing to open at bedtime. If they have more specific faves, there are also storybook advent calendars for Stitch, Spidey and His Amazing Friends and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Ages 4+

These are all countdown calendars—it only makes sense to put the counting front and center! This calendar includes buildable Numberblocks One to Five, plus silly holiday accessories they can mix and match. Ages 3+

They can keep cozy with their dolls with this advent calendar, which comes with a mix of play pieces and accessories. They can pretend to drink cocoa and have warm treats together, or wear their coordinating bracelets, hats, and hair accessories. Ages 6+

Kids who like stuffies will get a lift opening up a new, adorable plush every day. There are five different shapes, including seasonally appropriate ones like wreaths, and foodie favorites like fries and nuggets. Then there are five different variations on each shape, for 25 fuzzy friends in all. Each one has a loop so it can hang from a tree (or backpack). Ages 0+

Each day, they’ll uncover a new gemstone, and learn about agate, green aventurine, hematite, sodalite, and turquenite, among others. It also comes with a collector’s pouch and a crystal they have to dig out of a brick on the last day. In addition to the gemstone advent calendar, National Geographic has advent calendars for magic tricks, science experiments, outer space, and jewelry crafts. Ages 8+

Littlest Pet Shop—a brand that may be nostalgic for adults as well as fun for kids—fills its calendar with festive pets and accessories, like a gingerbread deer covered in holly or a set of antlers. When they're done, they'll have eight new pets (including two baby pets) and gems to help them get festive. Ages 4+

D&D fans have a way of adding festive dice to their collection in the run-up to Christmas. There are red and green mini dice, holiday metal dice, polar bears, Santa, and other fun surprises. No age recommendation given

This set really focuses on the wonder of pretend play, and includes lots of little figures and accessories that encourage imagination. They’ll get some of their favorite characters, too, including Elsa, Anna, Ariel, Rapunzel, and Jasmine. Ages 3+

If the kids are into at-home science experiments, this will give them a different science-themed activity or trick to do each day. The Purple Cow also has an advent calendar for non-shocking science, arts and crafts, or magic tricks. Ages 8+