Best reusable advent calendars for a more sustainable Christmas countdown

This is such a charming advent calendar – it will make the perfect finishing touch to your Christmas decoration setup. Simply pop two AAA batteries in the back, flick the switch, and you’ll see the pretty light-up detailing in the stars and the moon on the festive wintry scene at the top of the house. The large numbering was easy for our young tester to pick out (though, she sometimes struggled with the teeny doorknobs), and we just love how magical it looks in a dimly lit room.

The red house design is cheery, while the sparkly snowy roof, and glitter detailing in the festive scene catches the light beautifully. It’s worth bearing in mind you’ll have to choose something fairly small to hide in each of the 24 slots, as there’s not heaps of room. Needless to say, this advent calendar is a real crowd pleaser and won’t hit the Christmas budget too hard, either.

We love the idea of a gingerbread man driving a festive train, and it had instant appeal with our little tester, too. Decorated in a typical seasonal palette of red, white and green, this four-piece wooden advent train looks oh-so charming on a mantelpiece, or just about anywhere.

The train features a locomotive and three carriages, all atop red-and-white candy-style wheels, which, to our mini tester’s delight, do turn when pulled. It’s not the easiest design to place, as the carriages are unwieldy, so we recommend roping in some help when lifting this train. It’s also worth remembering there are 12 little doors to open on each side of the carriages, so, you’ll need to turn the train around after the first 12 days of Christmas. Having said that, it’s a visual delight, with its cheery gingerbread characters and Christmassy motifs on the front of the drawers. The space inside is limited, however – these were the smallest chambers on test, so, treats will have to be kept to a minimal size.

Festive and fanciful, this patchwork-style velvet advent calendar from high-street favourite Oliver Bonas is a delight. An explosion of colour, gold embroidery and tassel corners, it looks fabulous hung up and measures a meter in length, plus the blue velvet hanger.

We were super impressed by the quality – even with our little tester snatching at the pockets, the wooden pole is great for keeping it hanging how it should. You are a little limited with the 24 pockets, as they’re around 7cm deep, but it looks great to have little treats poking out over the top. Fun, festive and full of joy, it’s a decorative masterpiece you’ll want to roll out again, and again.

Standing at just over 50cm tall, this is certainly the showstopper of wooden advent calendars but we’d expect nothing less from Fortnum & Mason. The design is based on the shop front of the wonderful department store in Piccadilly, London, and it’ll fill you with all the festive feels just by looking at it.

The numbered drawers are dotted about the building and there’s plenty of space for chocolate, sweets, toys or make-up miniatures inside. The best bit? On opening the doors, which isn’t too fiddly for smaller hands, you’ll be greeted with a very merry tune. This resuable advent calendar serenades you with all the Yuletide hits, such as “Jingle Bells” and “Silent Night”, filling your house with Christmas cheer.

While it’s the most extravagant of those we tested, it’s so beautifully designed, it will become the perfect family heirloom, and the premium quality ensures it can handle being used again and again.

The shape of this mountain-style wooden advent calendar is super jolly, creating an eye-catching centrepiece in any home. With a traditional festive palette of red, green and white, the 24 large compartments have been decorated with festive motifs, from holly cuttings to stockings and stars. Our young tester commented on how cool it looked on the kitchen table, while admiring how large each of the boxes are (6.5cm x 6.5cm x 7cm) – giving plenty of room for treasures. The doors can be a little tricky to open for smaller hands but the appealing design more than makes up for it.

Given there’s a box that sits at the top of the mountain, it’s a shame this doesn’t open for the big day, however, if you’re feeling extra generous, you could place something underneath it, as it’s fully removable. A creative design has been combined with a robust finish, built to last for many Christmases to come.

This reusable advent calendar from family-favourite Dunelm is made out of metal, making it stand out from the Christmas decoration crowd. At first glance, we wondered whether this design would be child-friendly, but it’s been so well made and we didn’t find any sharp edges – in fact, our little tester found it one of the easiest to use, with the drawers simply sliding out.

The craftmanship is quite extraordinary, from the imaginative village scene featuring reindeer and a cluster of houses, to the cut-out numbers on the drawers, which gave our curious mini tester a chance to try and sneak a peek. The drawers are pretty spacious, too, fitting myriad delights, such as confectionary and figurine toys.

This adorable woodland-themed advent calendar has 24 numbered drawers hidden among the snowy illustrations. Unlike most traditional reusable advent calendars, this one is already filled with wooden figures, and our little tester loved discovering what was going to be revealed next. Would it be a sleigh, a Christmas tree or a woodland creature? There’s also an open-out mat where you can place your newly found pieces, and it’s lovely to see a scene develop over the course of 24 days.

While the figures themselves are wooden, the calendar is made of cardboard. It felt pretty hardwearing but we are somewhat sceptical on how many heavy-handed Decembers it can handle. Nonetheless, this woodland advent calendar makes for a wonderful Christmas tradition.

As part of the brand’s newly launched festive forest collection, this reusable advent calendar from Avery Row gave us such pleasure when we hung it on the wall. The luxury velvet additions make this a piece of art, with a plush red star at the top, and a red-and-white scalloped trunk at the bottom, and the whole thing measures 110cm x 72cm.

With a fill-it-yourself design, the 24 pockets are roomy (10cm x 10cm), with plenty of space for sweets, toys and the like, but the high-quality festive embroidery on every pocket is a treat in itself.

There’s a discrete weighted pole at the bottom, to keep the fabric flat, and you can simply roll it up once the festive frenzy is over. The detail is just extraordinary, and there’s even the option to personalise the calendar (additional £15). This is a handsewn sensation you’ll want to adorn your walls each and every Christmas.

If you take an understated approach to Christmas décor, look no further than this fabric advent calendar from British designer Sophie Allport. Elegant, tasteful, and practical it comes with 24 easy-to-fill pockets. We love the neutral colour palette, which means you can hang it anywhere in the house with no fears of clashing. Just because its minimalist doesn’t mean it forgos the festive fun, though – as long as you fill those generously sized 9cm x 9cm pockets with plenty of goodies. Eight of the pockets feature pretty festive embroidered characters and motifs, too, with all the usual suspects making an appearance, such as mistletoe, a present, a gold star, and a robin.

To make this advent calendar extra special, opt for the brand’s personalisation service – it’ll cost £10 but we’re sure it’ll be cherished for years to come. Note there’s a 12-character limit for personalisations,

The cotton fabric quality feels hardwearing, and the weighted wooden pole keeps the calendar flat against the wall. If you’re using this with children, you may want to opt for some ribbon tied to the metal grommet, so the calendar hangs lower down and is therefore easier to reach, as it’s only 86cm long.

OK, we may be cheating a little with this dinosaur advent calendar, because you won’t get the same satisfaction the following year when you’ve ripped the perforated cardboard, but it’s too special not to include. Our little tester just loved the little wooden dinosaurs and foliage that were found hiding underneath the 24 numbered doors, which are all different sizes, adding to the excitement. The set comes in an adorable suitcase, with a leather handle and burnished brass closure, and is decorated in dinosaur illustrations.

Inside the suitcase, you’ll find three trays with numbers one to 24 on them, and handy pull ribbon tabs mean the trays are easy to lift out. The etched details on the wooden creatures shows the level of detail Meri Meri has gone to, and it makes a pretty impressive prehistoric scene once all collected. While it may not be full of festive cheer, the delight our little tester showed in opening each day was a joy to see.