Mini Christmas Toys for Advent Calendars

An assortment of mini Christmas surprises

The pack holds a variety of small Christmas toys, among them figures and party accessories. It is an assortment, so think of it as a lucky dip rather than a matching set: each piece is different, and that is exactly what a child wants to find behind a numbered door. You open the pack once, at home, away from curious eyes, and decide what goes where.

These are tiny stocking fillers in the true sense. They are the sort of thing a child turns over in their palm, slips into a coat pocket and produces again at teatime. None of them is meant to be the big present. Their job is to make the wait feel shorter.

Stocking fillers for an advent calendar, one door at a time

If you own a calendar you fill yourself, with fabric pockets, little drawers or paper bags pegged along a ribbon, this pack saves you a month of hunting for things that are small enough. Before you start, lay everything out on the table and sort it by size. Begin with the smallest pocket of your calendar and the smallest toy, and work upwards. Filling in date order sounds logical, but it usually ends with the last three toys fitting nowhere.

Then think about rhythm. Spread the pieces your child will like most across the month instead of using them all in the first week, and keep one good one for the 24th. Weekdays, when the door is opened in a hurry before school, suit a quick surprise. Weekends suit something that starts a game, such as a figure that can join the others on the windowsill.

A square of tissue paper round each piece makes the moment last a few seconds longer and stops anything rattling out early.

Fun stocking fillers that are not chocolate

A chocolate is eaten before the calendar door has swung shut. A mini toy is still on the breakfast table ten minutes later, and often in a pocket at bedtime. By the second week of December the figures have usually formed a small crowd that gets rearranged every morning. That slow build-up is something sweets cannot give.

Nobody has to choose one or the other, though. Many families alternate: a toy one day, a chocolate coin the next, and now and then a folded note promising something to do together, such as baking biscuits, a walk to see the lights or choosing the tree. Mixing the three keeps the calendar surprising and makes the pack go further.

Small stocking fillers for Christmas morning and the Christmas table

The same pack works without any calendar at all. Dropped into the toe of a stocking, between the satsuma and the bigger parcels, a handful of mini toys gives a child something to unwrap and play with straight away, while the grown-ups are still finding their slippers. The surprises suit girls and boys alike.

Because the pack is an assortment, it shares out well:

• Brothers and sisters: divide it into equal piles before wrapping, so each stocking holds the same number of little stocking fillers and nobody counts.
• Table presents: place one piece beside each child's plate at Christmas lunch.
• Party bags: keep a few back for a December birthday or a class party.
• Visiting cousins: a spare toy in a drawer rescues the afternoon when an extra child turns up.

A pack to share out yourself, or a calendar set ready to go

We also offer a Montessori advent calendar pack of 25 wooden toys. That one is a complete set, planned as one toy a day, for parents who want the whole of December settled in one go. The mini Christmas toys on this page are the opposite approach: an assortment that you divide as you like, between a calendar, several stockings and the table. Choose the pack if you enjoy putting the calendar together yourself or already have other surprises to mix in.

For a main present to go beside these small ones, the Montessori teaching toys in the rest of the shop are sorted by age.

Not before 36 months: what that means at home

These toys are small, which is their charm and also their limit. They contain small parts that may be swallowed and are not suitable for children under 36 months. If a baby or a younger child shares the house, hang the calendar above their reach, open each door together and agree on a box with a lid where the opened toys live. A filled stocking should stay out of a little one's way until it is opened with an adult.

Questions about filling a calendar or a stocking

What do you put in an advent calendar for kids?

Small things that fit the pockets and can be enjoyed in a minute: mini toys and figures, a chocolate, a sticker, a note announcing an activity. A mix of the three works better than a month of sweets.

What are good tiny stocking fillers for kids?

Ones a child can play with at once and carry around: small figures, festive accessories, anything pocket-sized that needs no batteries and no explanation.

What age are these mini Christmas toys suitable for?

They are not suitable for children under 36 months, because they contain small parts that may be swallowed.

Can I use these mini toys as stocking fillers?

Yes. The pack was designed with advent calendars in mind, but the same pieces slip just as well into a stocking, a party bag or beside a plate.

Specifications

• Contents: an assortment of mini Christmas toys, including figures and party accessories
• Uses: fill-your-own advent calendar, Christmas stocking, table presents
• Age: not suitable for children under 36 months
• 2-year guarantee

Warning: Not suitable for children under 36 months. Contains small parts that may be swallowed.