Best Advent Calendars 2011

Advent is the period, observed by many churches, that precedes Christmas. It starts around the end of November or the beginning of December but its first day changes every year. Advent calendars are ways to count and record the days before Christmas. Most advent calendars found in the market always start from the first of December. Many will allow you to open a small window or door where you will find a surprise which could be anything from a poem to a candy.

Advent calendars are over 150 years old, the first known advent calendar was made in 1851, the practice was started in Germany at the beginning of the 19th century. They followed a custom found among German protestants to count the days before Christmas, iun the old days they used to do it writing crosses with chalks. At the beginning of the 20th century advent calendars started to become more sophisticated and after of the Second World War they started to become popular outside of Germany too.

We now have a look at the best and most original advent calendars around this year, as you can imagine most of them are made specifically for children but adults can enjoy them too.

As every year now Lego has its own Advent Calendar, this year it looks more Christmasy than usual and children will get a Lego minifigure as a surprise something that all kids will always welcome. It is no surprising that it is the best selling toy on Amazon right now. It would have definitely have surprised and intrigued early 20th century German protestants with their early Advent Calendars.

This is an Advent Calendar with the illustrations by Eric Carle the author or "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" on of the best and most successful children books of the past 50 years. It is based on another one of his magical books "Dream Snow". This is a calendar that all small children (and adults) will love.

As already mentioned it has become quite popular to place chocolate candies for each day of December to provide a little daily treat as we approach Christmas. This is the Advent Calendar made by Cadbury with a small Dairy Milk to be found each day.

I really like this Advent Calendar as it can be used for many years. As you open each day you will find a small figure with some velcro behind that you can stick to the main picture to create your own. You can also add a small candy in the pockets if you wish. After Christmas put everything away and next year you can create a different picture.

This is another Advent Calendar that will be used for many years. It has a beautiful vintage look and you can add small toys or candies behind the 24 doors, it is also a very decorative item that helps to create a Christmas atmosphere.

If you prefer something that you can throw away at the end and you do not want to spend a fortune but would like a traditional look have a look at this calendar with Santa's toy shop that contains a small piece of milk chocolate.

We must add a Hello Kitty advent calendar for all the Hello Kitty fans out there. The calendar includes two Hello Kitty figures and some furniture for a small Christmas room, as you open the windows you will find more Hello Kitty items.

If, instead, you are looking for a traditional nativity scene, do not forget this advent calender designed by Bernadette Watts a British illustrator. As you open each window you will reveal more details in the picture.

You can get an advent calendar with a book of 24 short stories. The stories are all Christmas related and will help you to create a Christmas atmosphere with your children.