Advent calendars for slackers

Our family has never done an advent calendar. It’s not a tradition I grew up with, and it just seemed like a lot of work. I have friends who give small gifts every day of advent. I have other friends who give a piece of candy. But with 4 kids and 24 days, I just didn’t want that much candy doled out, nor did I want plastic trinkets or items that they wouldn’t use. Also, on the practical side, I struggled to find an advent calendar with pockets or doors big enough to fit four items inside, and didn’t relish the thought of hanging four separate calendars. Last year I heard a friend talking about the Lego advent calendar. I loved this idea because Legos are obviously small enough to make since as a little gift each day, but they can be repurposed into a child’s Lego set. I also liked the fact that the box acts as the calendar, with a little staging area, so you don’t have to figure out how to cram the Legos into an already-purchased advent calendar. It’s really simple. The downside to the Lego set? It’s spendy. They can be upwards of $50. And they sell out quickly. By the time I decided to spring for them, 2015’s sets were sold out. That was easily solved, though, by buying sets from previous years that were still available on Amazon. The year isn’t on the box and the kids don’t care anyway. I ended up buying a different Star Wars set for my boys, a Lego Friends set for India, and a Playmobile set for Karis because she has a Playmobile house that I knew she could use the pieces in. For whatever reason the sets for the girls were much cheaper. So are they worth the money? For us, yes. It’s a low-commitment advent calendar for parents with a really big payoff for kids. Mine are loving it. We have a rule that they can’t open the day’s lego without being dressed and ready for school, and we have never had such easy mornings. The pieces are great, they are playing with them each day, and I think they will continue using them in their Lego collections. If you were interested in them for this year, it’s a couple days in but you can still get them on Amazon with 1-day shipping. I bought new sets from previous years which saved a little money. And since they tend to sell out, I’m going to buy our sets for next year now, and store them with our Christmas decorations so they are ready to go for next year. Have any other easy ideas for advent calendars?