Gumball Machine Advent Calendar for Kids
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I love creating fun and unique Advent calendars to count down the days until Christmas. This year Jo and I came up with a fun new way to contain those daily treats — a gumball machine!
Choosing a gumball machine and capsules
There are plenty of home gumball machines available, in various sizes and colors. I went with this Vevor coin-operated gumball machine model in classic red, which also happens to be the perfect color for Christmas. It has solid construction with metal parts (except the clear plastic jar) and a locking lid.
Besides candy, this gumball machine can also accommodate capsules, which is exactly what I needed for this Advent calendar idea.
I bought some of these 1.1" plastic capsules that fit the machine and were just the right size for my idea.
Treats to put inside an Advent calendar
To fill the capsules, I chose a variety of treats, including some Christmas candies, stickers, and jingle bells. I also created slips of paper with Christmas activities on them. (More on that in a minute!)
A Hershey's Kiss fits perfectly inside. I also discovered that a quarter fits inside a capsule, which could be a "free turn" prize to add into the mix.
Christmas activities ideas
The Christmas activities are my favorite part about this Advent calendar, because they are all fun things that the kids and/or the whole family can do together to get ready for Christmas.
I printed the activities onto paper and cut them apart to create little slips that would fit perfectly inside the capsules. Just roll them up and tuck them inside!
You can write your own slips with any activities you want, but if you need some help with ideas, you can purchase my ready-to-print list of 50 Christmas Activity Ideas.
My Christmas Activities printable includes a full-color page with red and green papers and a black-and-white page in case you want to save ink and print right onto red or green paper.
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50 Christmas Activity Ideas – $1.99
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Filling the gumball machine Advent calendar
With all the capsules filled with activities and treats, I just had to add them to the gumball machine, attach the lid, and it was ready to go.
The real question is... how many capsules should you add to your gumball machine? There are lots of ways you can customize this, depending on how many kids you have and how many quarters you want to give them each day.
- One capsule per day - You can keep it simple with one capsule per child per day. This limited number might not fill the gumball machine very full, but it allows you to have bigger/better treats in each one, since there will be fewer overall.
- A few per day - You could set a limit where each child gets two or three (or more!) capsules per day. In this case, you'll get a much fuller machine, but you'll need to find more treats. Christmas-themed candies are a great way to fill it inexpensively, and it's lots of fun to get to open more items.
How to use a gumball machine Advent calendar
Once you've decided how many capsules your kids can open each day, multiply that by 24 (or 25) to cover the days from December 1st through 24th (or 25th).
Then, beginning December 1st, give the kids quarters each day to get their treats.
A quick turn of the dial and a capsule will come out the bottom.
If they get an activity slip, you have your afternoon plans all set.
One last tip: You might want to put the best treats in on the top of the pile, so they have the best chance at getting opened as close to Christmas as possible.
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