Small Gifts for Advent Calendars: Tiny Fillers That Fit Each Door

The best small gifts for an advent calendar fit the opening. A wooden drawer of about 1.3 inches wide takes rings, charms, notes and rolled stickers. A 2.75 inch fabric pocket fits lip balm, toy cars and tea bags. Boxes and bags take mini toys. For children under 3, choose paper items or gifts too big to choke on.

Measure the door before you shop

The same calendar shape can hide very different spaces, so a ruler saves the most money. These are two published sizes from common refillable formats.

A quick test: if a quarter lies flat in the drawer with room on each side, most jewelry and folded paper will fit too. Measure the depth as well as the front, since a deep drawer can take a rolled item that looks too long.

Gifts that fit a 1.3 inch drawer

Small drawers suit flat, folded or rolled things more than chunky toys.

• Jewelry: a ring, stud earrings, a charm for a bracelet or a tiny pendant
• Paper: a folded note, a joke, a coupon, a small photo, a riddle
• Rolled items: a strip of stickers, a hair tie, a short ribbon
• Tiny toys: a mini eraser, a single building brick, a die, a small figure for an older child
• Treats: one wrapped chocolate or a single tea bag folded in half

Gifts that fit a 2.75 inch pocket

A gusseted pocket stretches a little, so it takes rounder items. Pockets of Learning says its canvas calendar’s pockets can hold small candies, gift trinkets or handwritten notes.

Good pocket fillers:

• A lip balm or a mini hand cream
• A toy car, a small squishy or a finger puppet
• A mini notebook with a short pencil
• Two tea bags, a hot cocoa packet or an instant coffee stick
• Rolled baby or ankle socks
• A small ornament wrapped in tissue

Heavy items can pull a fabric calendar crooked on the wall. Put the heavier gifts in the bottom rows and keep the top rows to paper and soft things.

Stickers fold into any door

Stickers are the one filler that fits every format. Cut a sheet into strips for drawers, slip a whole sheet into a pocket or fold one into a box. A full sticker calendar is an easy option if you would rather not sort 24 gifts yourself, and our sticker advent calendar guide compares them.

Bigger boxes and bags take mini toys

Cardboard boxes and gift bags often have more room than a drawer or pocket. One folding box set listed by Manufactum measures about 3.1 inches square, so boxes like these suit collectible minis, small craft kits and bath toys. If you like the idea of a toy every day but not the shopping, a ready-made mini toy calendar does the work. Our advent calendars for kids page sorts the ready-made options by age.

Small gifts and young children

The smaller the gift, the more it matters who will open it.

Under 3. The CPSC bans small parts in toys and children’s articles meant for children under 3. A small part is anything that fits entirely in its test cylinder, which approximates the throat of a child that age. Paper items are exempt, which makes notes, picture cards and sticker sheets the simplest fillers for a toddler. A card that sends them to a bigger gift beside the calendar works well too.

Batteries. The CPSC says a swallowed button or coin battery can burn through a child’s throat in as little as two hours. Leave out light-up trinkets with a battery door that opens without a screwdriver.

Magnets. Two or more swallowed magnets can attract each other inside the body, and the CPSC says many cases have needed surgery, from toddlers through teens. Skip magnetic toys and fridge magnets in a child’s calendar.

More help planning your calendar

For ideas sorted by who is opening the calendar, see our advent calendar filler ideas. To pick a frame you can fill again next year, read our reusable advent calendar guide, and use how to choose an advent calendar to check doors, dates and age labels. Everything for building and filling your own is in our reusable and DIY advent calendars section.