If you’re ready for something a bit more exciting than daily chocolates, check out these 10 cool advent calendars. 

Christmas is on the way and, for many of us, that means investing in the obligatory annual advent calendar to see in the 25th. Gone are the days when the countdown just consisted of chocolate treats behind cardboard doors; there are now hundreds of fun kits designed to ramp up the excitement during December.

In fact, some of these showstoppers would work as gifts in their own right. Some involve building your own gadgets, while others feature collectibles or food packs to help you create delicious meals and snacks. And all of them give you something that’ll last longer than chocolates would - unless you have a lot of self-restraint.

Treat yourself or someone else to one of these cool advent calendars for a Christmas countdown you won’t forget in a hurry.

• Looking for even more advent calendar ideas? Try these wildlife and nature-themed advent calendars from BBC Wildlife or the best non-chocolate advent calendars from Countryfile

10 cool advent calendars for December 2021

Eight Innovation electronic games advent calendar 

If you’re a fan of retro games or have an interest in electronics, this cool advent calendar is a must. Every day, you can open up a different component, giving you the tools to play 24 different electronic games by the end of the month.

Don’t worry if you’re not an expert; this kit comes with easy instructions for each game, as well as all the bits and pieces you’ll need to play them.

By 25 December, you’ll be able to enjoy a full-on retro gaming session, playing old favourites including Whack-A-Mole, Ping Pong and Code Breaker. 

Funko Pop! Vinyl figures are becoming increasingly popular, and if you’re a fan of the miniature models you can bump up your collection with a themed advent calendar.

This one is official Disney merchandise and contains 24 mini characters from the classic film The Nightmare Before Christmas. There are also versions covering several other films and TV shows, including Marvel, The Office (US) and Harry Potter. 

Most cool advent calendars come with collectibles or games, but you probably won’t find one with a more practical set of gifts than this Harry Potter-themed box. It contains 12 pairs of socks to replenish your underwear drawer in time for Christmas - seven short ones for trainers and five longer varieties.

Each pair comes with a fun Harry Potter-themed design, so expect to see references to Dobby, Hedwig and, of course, ‘you know who’. If you’re not ready to say goodbye to the classic food-filled advent calendar just yet, try this fun alternative. Every day, you’ll get a 7g sachet of gourmet popcorn in one of 12 festive flavours, including banoffee pie and toffee apple & cinnamon. 

Make your very own VW Camper with this fun advent calendar kit. Between 1 and 25 December, you’ll accumulate all the accessories you need to construct not only the vehicle, but a diorama to surround it as well.

The best bit? It has a speaker to recreate the classic campervan sound. Also included is a comprehensive instruction manual and an illustrated guide to teach you all about the extensive history of the ‘VW Type 2’ and the people behind it.

It’s worth knowing there are various versions of this kit, so you can build a Porsche or a Mercedes Benz as an alternative.