Best Kids Advent Calendars 2025: The Complete Guide
Every child has an opinion about their advent calendar by approximately 7:30am on December 1st, and that opinion is extremely loud and extremely confident. Choosing the right one in advance – when they are asleep and cannot lobby you – is one of the most important logistical decisions of the festive season. We are being slightly dramatic. Only slightly.
Here is the complete guide to the best kids advent calendars of 2025. We have covered the full market: LEGO in four flavours, Playmobil in two, Hot Wheels, Pokemon, PAW Patrol, Peppa Pig, and Barbie. Every age group, every price point. Last year’s hits, all of them worth knowing about as the 2026 season starts to take shape.
LEGO (All £29.99)
LEGO’s advent range is, honestly, a category unto itself. Four editions at the same price point, each aimed at a different part of the market, each with enough variety that households with multiple LEGO fans can give different calendars to different children without anyone feeling shortchanged. All four released on September 1st, 2025.
LEGO Harry Potter Advent Calendar 2025 (Set 76456)
Price: £29.99 | Pieces: 278 | Age: 7+
The reliable fixture of LEGO’s annual lineup. The 2025 edition featured eight minifigures in Hogwarts Christmas jumpers (Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco, Luna, Cho, and more), plus buildable magical creatures including Buckbeak and Aragog. At 278 pieces for £29.99 you are getting serious play value, and the festive costume angle makes this the calendar most likely to be photographed on December 1st and sent to everyone in the family group chat.
Harry Potter in a Christmas jumper. At £29.99, that is a reasonable transaction. Shop at LEGO | Shop on Amazon
LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar 2025 (Set 75418)
Price: £29.99 | Pieces: 263 | Age: 6+
Where the Harry Potter calendar leans into festive costuming, Star Wars leans into the workshop. The 2025 edition centred on Babu Frik’s droid workshop: twenty-three days of droid builds, accessories, and festive variants including BB-8 dressed as a snowman (a detail that will delight or confuse any adult in the vicinity, possibly both). For the child who is more Tatooine than Hogwarts. Shop at LEGO | Shop on Amazon
LEGO City Advent Calendar 2025 (Set 60475)
Price: £29.99 | Pieces: 186 | Minifigures: 7 | Age: 5+
Often overlooked in favour of the licensed themes, LEGO City quietly delivers one of the most well-rounded calendars in the range. Seven minifigures, 186 building pieces, and a mix of festive City scenes that tie together across the twenty-four days. The broader age range (from 5+) makes this the most versatile of the four LEGO options – useful if you have children of different ages who need to share a calendar, or if you want something that does not depend on a child already being invested in a specific franchise. Shop at LEGO | Shop on Amazon
LEGO Friends Advent Calendar 2025 (Set 42668)
Price: £29.99 | Pieces: 237 | Minifigures: 5 | Age: 6+
Five minifigures, five pets, and a string of festive scenes: writing to Santa, decorating the Christmas tree, singing karaoke, riding a hobbyhorse, making hot chocolate, and eventually settling onto individual beds (deeply relatable). The Friends range prioritises storytelling over building complexity, and the calendar format suits it well. The daily scenario structure gives each door a clear narrative purpose. Best for ages 6 and up who know the Friends characters. Shop at LEGO | Shop on Amazon
LEGO Minecraft Advent Calendar 2025
Price: £29.99 | Age: 7+
Twenty-four surprises for the child who genuinely lives inside Minecraft: Steve and Alex in Christmas costumes, a Creeper who has somehow got into the festive spirit (ominously), a Snow Golem, a Zombie, and a Santa Villager who did not consent to any of this. All figures are compatible with existing Minecraft LEGO sets. For the child who regards December as an obstacle between themselves and the next game update. Shop at LEGO | Shop on Amazon
Beyond LEGO
Hot Wheels Advent Calendar 2025
Price: £17-£25 | Age: 3+
Ten 1:64 scale Hot Wheels cars plus a handful of holiday-themed accessories, hidden behind a front panel that folds down into a playmat once December is done. The playmat is a genuinely clever detail: most toy calendars leave you with a pile of small things at the end. This one leaves you with a play surface and ten cars.
Prices ranged from around £20-£25 at major retailers during the main season, dropping as low as £17 in late-season sales. If you are buying for 2026, check the current market price rather than assuming the figures above are still live.
Retailers: Smyths Toys, Argos, Amazon. Shop at Smyths Toys
Pokemon TCG Advent Calendar 2025
Price: £45-£55 | Age: 6+
A word of context before the price surprises you: this is a Trading Card Game advent calendar, not a standard toy product. Behind each door are booster packs, foil cards, and collector items – the kind of thing a Pokemon TCG player finds genuinely valuable rather than decorative. That is why it sits at £45-£55 rather than the £25-£35 of a standard toy calendar.
If your child collects the cards and understands what a foil card is, this is a serious gift at a reasonable price for what is inside. If your child likes the Pokemon characters but does not engage with the card game, the toys and figure-based formats sold separately are probably the better call.
Retailers: Smyths Toys, Argos, Amazon, John Lewis. Shop at Smyths Toys
PAW Patrol Advent Calendar 2025
Price: £20-£35 | Age: 3+
Multiple PAW Patrol calendar formats existed in 2025, which explains the price range: the standard figure sets sat towards £20-£25, while the Holiday Rescue variant and larger sets ran to £30-£35. All featured the core PAW Patrol cast in miniature form. The characters and size will matter enormously to the three-year-old receiving this and not at all to you.
Worth noting: prices vary significantly by retailer and format. Check what you are buying specifically – the character lineup and theme differ between editions, and a firm PAW Patrol fan will have opinions.
Retailers: Smyths Toys, Argos, Amazon. Shop at Smyths Toys
Playmobil Advent Calendars 2025
Playmobil’s 2025 range offered two very different entries: one for the youngest end of the market, and one that is honestly more interesting to adults.
Playmobil Pirates (2025)
Price: £20-£30 | Age: 4+
A pirate cove built through December: two buccaneers, a cannon, animals, and assorted pirate booty arriving piece by piece behind each door. For a four-year-old in a pirate phase (it is a phase every four-year-old goes through), this is a noticeably better option than a generic chocolate calendar. No tiny pieces, clear theme, builds into something you can actually play with. Shop at Smyths Toys
Playmobil Back to the Future (2025)
Price: £40-£60 | Age: 6+ | Note: collector’s item
Miniature Hill Valley, DeLorean, props from the film. This one is, let’s be honest, partly for the adult in the house, and there is no shame in that. The Back to the Future calendar sits at £40-£60 – with prices at the top end largely driven by limited supply and secondary market demand rather than retail. If you are buying this as a genuine gift for a six-year-old who loves Back to the Future (possible, if you have done your job right as a parent), the play value is real. If you are buying it for yourself and attributing it to your child, also valid. Just check the price before you commit – secondary market listings can run well above retail. Shop at Smyths Toys
Peppa Pig Storybook Advent Calendar 2025
Price: £12-£18 | Age: 2-5
Twenty-four mini Peppa Pig storybooks, each featuring a different story with proper artwork and original characters. For younger children who are not yet building with LEGO or collecting anything, this is the format that actually works: no tiny pieces to hoover up, no batteries, just twenty-four short books that double as December bedtime reading. At £12-£18, it is one of the most affordable advent calendars in this entire guide.
Retailers: Amazon, Waterstones, Smyths Toys. Shop on Amazon
Barbie Advent Calendar 2025
Price: £25-£48 | Age: 3+
Two tiers existed in 2025. The standard Barbie Advent Calendar sat at £25-£30 and included a Barbie doll on day one with twenty-three days of accessories following (mermaid tail, royal costume pieces, fairy wings, pets, and a pet bed). The larger “Fab” sets reached up to £48 and included more extensive accessories and additional figures.
The format is well-designed: rather than offering isolated small surprises, the calendar builds a complete collection across December. By day twenty-four you have a doll with a full wardrobe of costume options, which is more satisfying than twenty-four unrelated items.
Retailers: Smyths Toys, Argos, Amazon. Shop at Smyths Toys
The Right Calendar for Every Child
| Child | Best pick | Price | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Potter fan (7+) | LEGO Harry Potter 76456 | £29.99 | Eight festive Hogwarts characters |
| Star Wars fan (6+) | LEGO Star Wars 75418 | £29.99 | Droid workshop, BB-8 snowman |
| Franchise-free, mixed ages (5+) | LEGO City 60475 | £29.99 | 7 minifigures, broad appeal |
| Friends / storyteller (6+) | LEGO Friends 42668 | £29.99 | Festive narrative, five pets |
| Minecraft devotee (7+) | LEGO Minecraft | £29.99 | Steve, Alex, Santa Villager |
| Car collector (3+) | Hot Wheels | £17-£25 | Ten real models + playmat |
| Pokemon TCG player (6+) | Pokemon TCG | £45-£55 | Booster packs, foil cards |
| Little one in a Peppa phase (2-5) | Peppa Pig Books | £12-£18 | No pieces, just stories |
| PAW Patrol devotee (3+) | PAW Patrol | £20-£35 | Full cast, multiple formats |
| Pirate enthusiast (4+) | Playmobil Pirates | £20-£30 | Cove builds through December |
| Parent who loved BTTF | Playmobil Back to the Future | £40-£60 | You know what you are doing |
| Doll collector (3+) | Barbie | £25-£48 | Doll + 23 days of accessories |
One Thing to Know for 2026 Planning
LEGO Harry Potter and Minecraft are both rumoured to be taking a year off in 2026, with a LEGO Marvel calendar expected in their place. If either of those has been an annual fixture, plan ahead this year. See our Advent Calendars to Watch in 2026 for everything confirmed so far.
For the full 2025 picture across all categories, see our Best Advent Calendars 2025 year in review.
