Advent calendars UK: chocolate, beauty, LEGO and toys

Advent calendars: chocolate, beauty, toys and more

Most advent calendars have 24 doors, opened one a day from 1 December to Christmas Eve. The ones here hold chocolate, beauty products, toys, tea or dog treats, and cost from £4 to £37, with the middle near £15. Decide who is opening it first, then check the age label on toy calendars and divide the price by 24 to compare value.

Advent calendars: what is behind the 24 doors

An advent calendar counts down to Christmas one door at a time. The standard is 24 doors, for 1 to 24 December, and a few calendars add a 25th door for Christmas Day. The doors look alike from one calendar to the next, so the real choice is the contents: chocolate, beauty products, building toys, tea bags, collectable figures or treats for dogs.

Prices in this collection run from £4 to £37, with the middle near £15. Divide a price by 24 to compare calendars on the same footing: £15 works out at 63p a door. Most boxes are 25 to 40 cm on the longest side and 2 to 7 cm deep, so they stand on a shelf or a mantelpiece without taking much room.

Collection	Lowest to highest	Middle price	A door at the middle price
Chocolate	£3 to £28	£10	42p
For women	£8.50 to £37	£22	92p
For men	£14 to £40	£23	96p
Kids	£10 to £36	£23	98p
LEGO and toy brands	£12 to £86	£25	£1.04
Beauty	£9.50 to £115	£33	£1.37

Chocolate is the cheapest way to fill 24 doors. Beauty calendars cost the most and have the widest range, from under £10 to over £100.

Advent calendars by who opens them

Kids and teenagers

Toy calendars carry an age label, from 3+ on Play-Doh and Barbie calendars to 7+ on the LEGO ones, because the pieces are small. For the youngest, start with the kids advent calendars, where the guide goes through the age labels. The LEGO advent calendars add building sets and other toy brands such as Playmobil, MEGA and Funko.

Women

An advent calendar for women does not have to be makeup. That page puts tea, coffee, chocolate, puzzle and seed calendars first, with the makeup sets after them.

Men

An advent calendar for men usually follows a hobby or a habit: socks, popcorn, coffee, hand tools, fishing lures or golf accessories. Grooming sets from Lynx and NIVEA MEN are listed with the beauty calendars below.

Colleagues, friends and teachers

When you do not know the person well, tea and chocolate calendars are the simplest choice, because nobody needs a size, a skin type or an age label. Chocolate calendars cost £10 at the middle of their range, which is under 50p a door.

Choosing by what is inside

Chocolate

Chocolate advent calendars are the cheapest, and the boxes hold from 85 g to 289 g of chocolate. Lindt, Cadbury, Kinder and Galaxy are among the names, next to dark chocolate and popcorn calendars.

Beauty

The beauty advent calendars cover makeup, skincare, bath and fragrance sets, plus grooming sets from Lynx and NIVEA MEN. The item weight shows what you get: makeup calendars weigh 0.4 to 0.6 kg in the listings, and skincare and bath ones 1.4 to 2.4 kg.

Tea, puzzles and dog treats

Some calendars have no page of their own. Tea calendars hold 24 bags, puzzle calendars hold 24 small jigsaws or envelopes of puzzles, and dog calendars hold treats made for dogs. Keep a human chocolate calendar away from the dog, because chocolate is toxic to dogs. The guide to dog advent calendars covers which ones are safe.

Reusable calendars you fill yourself

Fabric, felt and wooden calendars with pockets or drawers are the other route: you pick what goes in each day, and the same calendar comes out again next year. The calendars here are ready filled, so a reusable one is a separate purchase, with the contents on top.

What to check on the listing

Age label: most toy calendars say 3+ or older. If the title and the specs give two ages, follow the higher one.
Piece count: the two LEGO Harry Potter calendars list 227 and 278 pieces, 9 to 12 for each door, and a Barbie calendar lists 29 pieces for its 24 doors.
Edition: titles carry a year, and both 2025 and 2026 appear in these listings. For food calendars, check the best-before date.
Allergens: chocolate, snack and tea calendars list them on the box or the listing. Read them before you wrap one for someone with an allergy.
Size: a flat tea calendar is under 2 cm deep and a toy calendar up to 7 cm, so measure the shelf before you order.

Mistakes to avoid when buying an advent calendar

Buying on the label alone. “For men” and “for women” are the seller’s words, so read what is behind the doors.
Ordering in the last week of November. Popular calendars can sell out, and a late order may miss 1 December.
Judging a beauty calendar by the box. Check how many items are full size and how many are minis.
Leaving a chocolate calendar where a dog can reach it.

For a shortlist by budget and contents, read best advent calendars.

Frequently asked questions: Advent Calendars

What are advent calendars used for?

They count down the days to Christmas, with one door to open each day. Advent is the Christian season of preparation before Christmas, and the custom began in German Christian households. Almost all the calendars here are secular, with chocolate, toys, beauty products, tea or dog treats behind the doors.

When should you give someone an advent calendar?

Give it before 1 December, so the first door can be opened that morning. Late November is the usual time, and ordering in October or early November lowers the risk of sold-out stock. If it arrives after 1 December, the recipient can open the doors up to that day’s date.

Why do advent calendars only have 24 doors?

Most count the days from 1 December to Christmas Eve, which gives 24 doors. A few add a 25th door for Christmas Day, as some chocolate and seed calendars on this site do. The church season of Advent starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, so its length changes from year to year, while shop calendars keep to the fixed December dates.

How much does an advent calendar cost?

In this collection prices run from £4 to £37, with the middle near £15. Chocolate calendars start at £3 and the middle of that range is £10, while toy calendars sit near £25 and beauty ones near £33. Divide any price by 24 to see what one door costs.

What is the best advent calendar this year?

No single calendar suits everyone, so start with the person. A child needs a toy calendar with the right age label, an adult usually wants tea, chocolate, a hobby kit or beauty products, and a chocolate calendar works for almost anyone who eats chocolate. The best advent calendars guide compares chocolate, beauty and LEGO calendars.

Are there advent calendars for dogs?

Yes. Dog calendars hold 24 treats made for dogs, such as meaty or grain-free ones. Do not feed a dog from a human chocolate calendar, because chocolate is toxic to dogs. The guide to dog advent calendars covers which ones are safe.