Our DIY advent calendars usually have one piece of candy for each child plus something fun. For the past four years, we've put jigsaw puzzle pieces in the advent calendars to add a fun, quick activity to each day. As the children grew older, we increased the difficulty of the puzzles. Last year, we used a puzzle that was several hundred pieces. It took my husband and I hours to put the puzzle together so that we could put the pieces in the pouches in a logical order. Also, there were so many pieces, that the advent pouches were stuffed full, leaving very little room for candy.
After thinking about a possible solution for quite awhile, I decided to try something new . . . using loose LEGO Minifigures!
To keep the cost down, I decided to put one minifigure part for each child per day rather than a whole minifigure. This also adds an aspect of fun because the children can see what parts they have at the end of the 24 days and trade with each other. For example, on Day 1 there will be 3 minifigure heads, on Day 2 there will be 3 minifigure hats or hair, and so forth. After the 5th day, they will each have enough parts to make one complete minifigure. After 20 days, each child will have enough parts for four complete figures. Day 24 will have extra parts and candy in it.
You can find minifigures at your local LEGO Store for 3 complete figures (head, hair or hat, torso, legs, and accessory) for $9.99. I purchased mine from this ebay seller and was extremely pleased. All the figures I received were genuine LEGO (not knock-offs) and included a good mix of figures for both boys and girls (no duplicates). You can also find loose LEGO Minifigures on Amazon for a decent price. Just be wary of prices that look too good to be true, because those might not be genuine LEGO figures.
I probably will need to think of something new to go in next year's advent calendar to surprise the children. Have any good ideas?
Share your ideas with us in a comment on Facebook!
($24.99) - This is one of 6 craft kits made by the Choose Friendship Company, all designed around the theme of "friendship." This particular kit is the one that started it all and includes the Friendship Bracelet Maker, 56 skeins of floss in 14 different colors, and easy-to-follow instructions. There are many more tutorials for fun patterns available online. Although this product is recommended for ages 6 and up, I think it is a perfect gift for an older child, who will have better dexterity and a longer attention span. I had to teach myself how to make a few patterns before I could teach our nearly 9 year old son and I am still working my way through the
($24.95) - This is the first of two very different LEGO books that are new from No Starch Press for Fall 2012. Although this book does teach the reader how to build specific models, it also does an amazing job at inspiring the reader to use his or her imagination to create something great. My son found the bright and colorful photos to be captivating and refused to put the book down until he had looked through it twice. This hardcover book is currently selling on Amazon.com for 
($24.95) - Now this book is a very handy how-to LEGO manual. It will help the reader learn new ways to build things, how to build sturdier structures, and how to get around certain obstacles, such as running out of a specific type of brick. While my son read through this book, I heard him say "Hey! I didn't know that!!" many times. It would definitely be an interesting read for any LEGO fan. This paperback book is currently selling on Amazon.com for 
($13.98) - New for 2012, this Kidz Bop Holiday music CD (or any Kidz Bop CD for that matter) would make an affordable gift or a nice stocking stuffer that can be enjoyed for years to come. If you are not familiar with the music brand 
