Best LEGO Advent Calendars
best LEGO Advent calendars
Ready to buy now? Shop the best:
- Best of the Best: LEGO City Advent Calendar 2025
- Best Bang for the Buck: LEGO Friends Advent Calendar 2025
- Best for Disney Fans: LEGO Disney Frozen Advent Calendar 2025
- Best for Star Wars Fans: LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar 2025
- For the Most Pieces: LEGO Minecraft Advent Calendar 2025
The only thing better than getting a new LEGO minifigure or model is getting a different minifigure or model every day for 24 days. LEGO Advent calendars offer bite-size building experiences with sets based on popular franchises and other LEGO themes.
Each LEGO Advent calendar contains 24 items hidden behind numbered doors on an illustrated panel, not unlike traditional Advent calendars. LEGO calendars have different themes, usually based on popular franchises, so choosing the right one for your loved one (or yourself) is the most important decision. Most of the calendars are similar in their complexity and number of pieces, but there is some variation. In addition, the calendars disclose their contents on the packaging or online if you like to collect certain minifigures.
New LEGO Advent calendars are released before each holiday season, so there are many to choose from, all with a festive touch. A good buying guide and recommendations can help make your shopping easier.
Editors’ picks for 2025
LEGO City Advent Calendar 2025
Editors’ Favorite
Number of Pieces: 263 | For Ages: 6+ | Box includes: LEGO pieces only
The LEGO City Advent Calendar is designed for kids ages 5 and up and offers a fun way to count down the days until Christmas. It includes 186 pieces and 24 surprise treats tucked behind the calendar doors. The characters are dressed in festive winter costumes, such as a polar bear, reindeer and a holiday tree, and the accessories and toy minibuilds add an extra layer of fun.
Every mini surprise has easy-to-follow build instructions, and the Santa and Mrs. Claus minifigures create the perfect Christmas atmosphere. The box folds out easily to reveal the Christmas party, and the included accessories let kids build snow scenes.
It’s an excellent Advent calendar for children who love storytelling when building LEGO. Plus, you can hang it on the wall or place it under your Christmas tree for decoration.
LEGO Friends Advent Calendar 2025
Great Value
Number of Pieces: 237 | For Ages: 6+ | Box Includes: LEGO pieces only
The LEGO Friends Advent Calendar consists of 237 pieces and is suitable for kids ages 6 and up. This set features a festive sleepover scene, and each new day adds detail to the scene.
The set includes five minidolls of Leo, Aliya, Autumn, Liann and Nova, and minifigures of pets, including two dogs, a guinea pig, a gecko and a cat figure. It also features many accessories, including sleepover essentials such as sleeping bags, tasty treats (like hot chocolate), and decorations for the Christmas tree.
Kids love this set for its numerous accessories, which lets them create various holiday scenes. It’s excellent for younger children and offers 24 days of surprises, building anticipation for the big winter holiday.
LEGO Disney Frozen Advent Calendar 2025
Best for Disney Fans
Number of Pieces: 231 | For Ages: 5+ | Box Includes: LEGO pieces plus board game
One of the most successful Disney movies of all time, Frozen is now available as a LEGO Advent calendar. The LEGO Disney Frozen Advent Calendar is a charming 231-piece set featuring minidolls for Elsa, Anna and Kristoff, as well as Olaf and Sven. Kids can recreate iconic scenes from the movie with minibuilds of an ice crystal tree, the Arendelle Castle and more.
The neat thing about this Advent calendar is that the board transforms into a board game for up to five players. It features multiple doors, each revealing fun characters, items and situations: a seesaw, a gingerbread house, Sir Jorgenbjorgen, a fireplace with stockings and a wreath, and presents.
Your little ones can count down the 24 days before Christmas with their favorite Frozen characters, and the integrated board game adds to the fun. Plus, once the holidays are over, the pieces in this set can be added to others in the LEGO Disney range to expand play.
LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar 2025
Best for Star Wars Fans
Number of Pieces: 263 | For Ages: 6+ | Box Includes: LEGO pieces only
The Force is with you and your little ones this holiday season! The LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar lets your kids build anticipation throughout December while creating iconic scenes from the legendary franchise.
It’s a 263-piece set that offers kids a surprise treat every day until Christmas. It features some of the most beloved characters, including C-3PO and a jawa (in a holiday sweater), a LEGO minifigure of Babu Frik, and five droid figures. There are eight buildable droids, nine minibuild toys to create a droidsmith’s workshop, a jawa buildable vehicle and a Christmas tree.
It’s a terrific set for any Star Wars fan over the age of 6 and is one of the most versatile as it can be used with other Star Wars LEGO sets for enhanced play even after the season ends.
LEGO Minecraft Advent Calendar 2025
For the Most Pieces
Number of Pieces: 300 | For Ages: 7+ | Box includes: LEGO pieces plus play mat
Minecraft enthusiasts will find plenty to love about this LEGO Minecraft Advent calendar. This 300-piece set is suitable for kids ages 7 and up and features Minecraft-themed scenes intertwined with holiday themes.
It features 24 daily surprises and includes several Christmas minifigures, such as Alex, Steve, a Creeper, a drowned minifigure, a stray, a snow golem, a zombie, and a Santa villager. Kids can craft scenery with snowy trees, a warm fireplace and an iconic Minecraft micro village scene.
This set is more suitable for older children because it comes with a greater number of pieces. But any Minecraft fan will appreciate the accessories and daily surprises that it delivers every day leading up to Christmas. Plus, it’s compatible with other LEGO Minecraft building sets.
How we analyzed
We researched the most popular LEGO Advent calendars of 2025 and found that the best sets were kid-friendly and offered a unique surprise every day leading up to Christmas. The five sets we selected as our top picks were winter-themed but also inspired by some of the most popular film and video game franchises such as Frozen, Star Wars and Minecraft.
How to buy the best LEGO Advent calendar
Most people want a specific theme for their LEGO Advent calendar, and there are several to choose from. They vary in complexity and total piece count, so be sure the calendar you choose is age-appropriate if you’re buying one for a child.
Theme
The themes of LEGO Advent calendars are the same as the company’s most popular lines. However, LEGO only releases a few calendars per year, so not all the themes are featured every year.
Star Wars: A popular choice with both children and adults, LEGO Star Wars Advent calendars include scenery, vehicles, Jedi, and droids. Most builds are slightly more complicated than those in the other Advent calendars.
Marvel: These Advent calendars are suitable for kids and adults and include a handful of superhero minifigures as well as vehicles. Many have moving parts and projectiles you can launch a short distance. Some focus on a specific film or series, such as Guardians of the Galaxy.
Friends: Like the larger LEGO Friends sets, these calendars include characters from the Friends line and are made with young children in mind. The holiday theme is usually much more evident in these sets, allowing kids to create scenes with elves, snowmen, sleighs, trees, and more.
LEGO City: Aimed at children and teens, these Advent calendars feature the most variety with minifigures, vehicles, and an assortment of everyday objects. While there aren’t many holiday sets, some of the sets combine well with other LEGO City toys you might have.
Harry Potter: For Harry Potter fans of all ages, these sets include a variety of items from the Wizarding World as well as more minifigures than most other Advent calendars. In some cases, the sets have a motif of their own, like the 2020 Harry Potter calendar that includes items from the Yule Ball and characters dressed in gowns and tuxedos.
Frozen: These Advent calendars are inspired by the iconic Disney film and are geared toward younger children in the 5-to-10 age range. They often include minifigures of popular characters and various accessories for creating winter scenes.
Minecraft: These sets are more for children who are a bit older and usually consist of more pieces. Given that Minecraft is a building video game, it’s perfectly suited to be a LEGO Advent calendar for fans.
Other: Less common are the Pirates calendars, which include pirate minifigures, cannons, and other nautical paraphernalia. Other calendars include basic holiday-themed builds and usually have larger pieces that are easier to manipulate. Also keep an eye out for bundles that include two calendars. Because LEGO pairs calendars from the same year, they typically have two different themes. If you want to buy calendars for more than one child, this can work out well.
Age range
Instructions are fairly limited in LEGO Advent calendars and some of these can be challenging to assemble for younger kids. Most Advent calendars contain around 300 pieces, which can be very small. Pay close attention to the recommended age range on the packaging. Small pieces pose a choking hazard for very young children. LEGO sets for young children have large pieces that are easier for tiny hands to work with.
Features to look for in LEGO Advent calendars
Minifigures
For many LEGO fans, it’s all about the minifigures. In the Advent calendars, you’ll find classic minifigures as well as familiar characters in unusual clothing, like a jawa in a holiday sweater. These one-of-a-kind minifigures can be collected and may even be valuable in a few years, especially since each Advent calendar is only produced once. Next year’s calendar will be different.
Minibuilds and accessories
Minibuilds are small LEGO figures made of 10 to 30 pieces and are intended as stand-ins for specific scenes. Accessories can be used to customize any scene, and in the case of Advent calendars, it’s usually winter-themed items. They can include a snowman, a fireplace, hot chocolate and other neat accessories for extra fun.
Box design
Don’t forget about the look of the Advent calendar itself. Each box features an illustration on the back, often depicting a holiday scene that fits with the theme, with the doors hidden throughout. The back of the box serves as a cover for the calendar. When you unfold the flap and lay it on the table, it becomes a stage or playmat for the LEGO pieces and the holiday scene. Some even unfold into a board game complete with a spinner to keep the fun going after the holidays are over.
How much do LEGO Advent calendars cost?
Inexpensive
The most affordable LEGO Advent calendars are from the Friends and City lines. These cost about $40 when they’re released before each holiday season.
Mid-range
Advent calendars for franchises with wide appeal, like Marvel, Star Wars and Harry Potter, typically cost around $70.
Expensive
Older LEGO Advent calendars are usually more expensive because they’re harder to find. These cost from $60 to $120 and more, depending on their rarity. Star Wars calendars tend to increase in value significantly over time.
Tips
- Open the first door on December 1. Open one door each day whose number corresponds to the date. It builds anticipation and distributes the surprises over 24 days. Of course, no one will know if you open them in a different order or all at once!
- Choose a place to display your creation. Because the pieces are quite small, they’re easy to lose if they don’t have a designated place. Choose a shelf or tray to arrange the pieces on as you go. Any thin LEGO pieces or baseplates can hold everything in place or be used to create scenes. If you have the space, you can put the assembled set on the flap that folds out from the calendar.
- Look for rare pieces. LEGO Advent calendars can be a great way to find some rare or unusual pieces that you can use with other builds. Look carefully at the images of the components before you buy to see what’s included.
- Keep the box. Not only can it be used to store the pieces, but the instructions for each set are inside the 24 flaps and you’ll probably need them if you want to build the sets again
FAQ
Q. How does the price of LEGO Advent calendars compare to that of standard sets?
A. Most of these calendars are fairly comparable in price to standard sets, sometimes skewing slightly higher per piece. However, also consider the number of unique builds in each box, plus the Advent calendar itself.
Q. Do LEGO Advent calendars have a holiday theme?
A. That depends on the franchise and the set, but in most cases, there are a few festive touches like holiday sweaters or a snowman, with the rest of the set made up of characters and items from the franchise. LEGO City Advent calendars tend to have more of a festive theme than other calendars. However, even without an obvious holiday look, these calendars still work like traditional Advent calendars, with presents hidden behind numbered doors.
Q. Can the individual builds in an Advent calendar be combined to make larger scenes?
A. Yes. In fact, two days often include two components that are designed to go together, such as a character and a motorcycle it can ride. A few Advent calendars even have several sets that go together to create a bigger party, action, or other scenes.
Q. Are there step-by-step instructions for each day’s set?
A. The back of each flap has either basic instructions or a detailed picture of the assembled set. Instructions rarely have more than a couple of steps since the sets are typically quite simple. For some people, it’s almost like solving a tiny puzzle.