By 25 December, the chocolate advent calendar is usually already in the recycling. The best advent calendars of 2026 last longer: one that turns into a board game for the whole family by Christmas Eve, and one whose wooden figures hang on the Christmas tree again every year. Both come from the world of Harry Potter™.
What a good advent calendar can do
For 24 days, an advent calendar is a small ritual. One window a day, one moment of anticipation. With chocolate, that moment lasts a few seconds. It lasts longer when there is something behind the window that you put together and share with others.
Road to Hogwarts™: a calendar that brings everyone to the table
One envelope a day, with pieces for the game board or a new figure: Dumbledore, Snape, Hagrid, later Harry, Ron and Hermione, who can tilt their heads. Piece by piece a path grows on the table, and by Christmas Eve the board is complete. Then it's time to play: who reaches Hogwarts™ first?
The calendar doesn't end with Christmas. The 60 board pieces interlock and can be laid out differently again and again, so the path looks new in every game. For two or more players, ages 8 and up.
A game has one more advantage that parents of teenagers know well: side by side at a table, talking comes more easily than face to face. More on that in Your teenager barely talks to you anymore?
The Harry Potter™ Advent Calendar: figures that go back on the tree every year
Behind each of the 24 windows is an envelope with wooden parts. In a few minutes you turn them into a small model: Hedwig™ the owl, the Golden Snitch™, the Sorting Hat™ or the Goblet of Fire™ on a platform with gears. Many of them are U-Fidgets, small mechanical toys with something that turns. You'll keep picking them up long after Advent is over.
Many models have a hanging loop and go straight onto the Christmas tree. After the holidays you pack them into a box, and next December they hang there again. That's how an advent calendar becomes Christmas tree decorations for many years, built by you.
Which one suits you?
If you like playing together, go for Road to Hogwarts™: Advent ends with a game night, and afterwards the game joins the others in the cupboard. If you'd rather build and collect, the calendar with the wooden figures is the right choice. And if children are building along, Building together: which age, which difficulty? explains how it works best.
By the way, a calendar just for yourself is nothing unusual. Every second person in Germany who buys an advent calendar buys it for themselves (YouGov, 2025, in German). So Harry Potter™ fans don't have to wait for children.
Still in time
We ship from our warehouse in Essen, usually within 1–3 working days. And if you only start after 1 December, simply catch up on the first windows in one evening. More from the world of Harry Potter™ in our Harry Potter™ collection.
Sources
- YouGov Deutschland: Jahr für Jahr mehr Adventskalender-Verkäufe trotz Preisanstieg, 31.10.2025 (n = 2,023, 10–13 Oct 2025), in German. yougov.com