Advent calendars for teens can be hard to find, I think.
Sure, there are thousands of LEGO advent calendars in 2021, or those containing chocolates themed to this or that cartoon character.
At 16, my teenage daughter is too old for those advent calendars, but still too young for the thousands of gin/wine/beer themed advents. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to help her celebrate the countdown to Christmas with her own advent calendar!
So what are the best advent calendars for teens in 2021?
Today I’m rounding up 20 of my favourite advent calendars for teens, including edible, beauty and self-fill advent calendars. If I’ve missed one from the list, just let me know and I can add it in! This post may contain affiliate links. I am an Amazon Associate so Amazon links may earn me a small commission payment, at zero cost to you!
10 Best Advent Calendars for Teens
Amazon Beauty Advent Calendar
A more affordable option for teen beauty fans, this beauty advent calendar from Amazon isn’t cheap at £60, but does contain an impressive 24 mini beauty products from brands, with a total value of more than £215! There’s a real focus on indulgent treats, so lots of creams and balms, from brands including Elemis, Espa and Philosophy.
MAD Beauty Advent Calendar
Lots of beauty calendars only have items for 12 days, which personally I think is NOT what advent calendars are about. This calendar from MAD Beauty is one of my favourites for teenage girls. It has 24 small beauty gifts and costs just £14. Think lip balms, pencils, blushes and nail polish. Looking for the best advent calendar for a teenage boy? The good news is that there’s a MAD Beauty advent calendar for the teen boy in your life.
Lynx Advent Calendar
I think Lynx is basically a cult among teens these days, with both boys and girls in thrall to these body sprays. This particular set is one of the best advent calendars for teenage boys that I’ve seen.
The Lynx Advent Calendar is a great option with 12 days of treats, including socks, body sprays, shower gels and hair care products. At just under £20, I think it’s great value for teenage boys or other Lynx lovers in your family. It’s also available in the Lynx Africa scent.
Yankee Candle Advent Wreath
Like lots of teenage girls, my daughter loves scented candles! She usually has several on the go in her bedroom, with another set of candles for the bathroom. So I love the idea of this Yankee Candle advent calendars for teenage girls.
There are actually several designs available, but this candle wreath is nice and neat, and comes with 24 festive-scented tea lights. Perfect for a bathtime treat for your teen. It’s available for £24.99.
Nativity Advent Calendar
We were given this advent calendar by Lakeland Limited ten years ago. We passed it along to a friend of the family and it’s still brought out every year in their house, and looks good as new.
If you have teens who are religious or just love the idea of the nativity, this advent calendar is a great choice. It won’t generate lots of waste and it’s made of wood, so pretty eco-friendly.
The figures are cute enough to entertain little ones, and the box design means it’s perfectly sturdy enough to be packed away and reused year after year. Well worth the £70 investment, I reckon.
Popcorn Advent Calendar
The best thing about Christmas (apart from the birth of our Lord, obvs) is Christmas movies. A whole month of seasonal goodness, am I right? If your family is anything like mine, then, this advent calendar packed with popcorn will go down a treat with teenagers.
This giant advent calendar for teens is available from Joe & Seph’s costs £25. It is packed with award-winning gourmet popcorn with flavours like salted caramel and chocolate orange. It’s also available in a vegan version.
Benefit Advent Calendar
Looking for a beauty advent calendar for teens? At £59 this advent calendar is a present in its own right, and it’s certainly got a luxe feel.
I thought it was so pretty and indulgent for a special teen. There are 12 boxes to open and it’s packed with teen-friendly favourite products including brow pencil, mascara, primer, blusher and even something called a ‘brow setter’. Costs £59 from John Lewis.
Friends Advent Calendar
This is one of my favourite advent calendars for teens from 2021, especially if your teenager loves to binge Friends on Netflix! It might not have chocolates but this Friends-themed advent calendar from I Want One of Those is still pretty adorable and one of my favourite advent calendars for teenagers this year. The 12 doors reveal a host of bath and beauty gifts, including body wash, lip balm, fragrance and hand cream.
LookFantastic Advent Calendar
I’ve already included one beauty calendar in this list, but if you want a slightly more luxe option, this beauty advent calendar from lookfantastic is one of the best advent calendars for teens I’ve seen this year. It has over 500 5* star reviews, so comes highly recommended.
With 24 boxes to open, this goodie box contains over £400 of products – available as a package for just £85. There are loads of brands your teen will recognise, like Molton Brown bath and shower gel, Neals Yard hand cream, Elemis face cream, and even a Morphe palette. Your teen will LOVE you for this advent calendar.
This one sells out FAST and as of September it’s available for pre-order – if it’s not available, try this Benefit Advent Calendar as a great alternative.
Moutopp Jewellery Advent Calendar
This cute advent calendar is one of the best I’ve seen for younger teens or those with a fondness for whimsical jewellery. Available from Amazon the Moutopp advent calendar contains 23 festive charms and on the 24th, there’s a bracelet and necklace to wear them on. It makes for a lovely festive gift, and each of the charms are so cute! At just £10.99 this isn’t heirloom quality but it’s a nice alternative to chocolate! Get yours here.
Harry Potter Jewellery Box Advent Calendar
All the teenagers I know love a bit of Potter and this Harry Potter advent calendar has to be one of the best advent calendars for teenage girls this year. II love this Harry Potter set from Merchoid. It’s £44 but teens will LOVE the souvenir jewellery box that is left after they’ve opened the 24 boxes that contain little themed jewellery and accessory treats. The contents are valued at over £120, so it’s great value too.
24 Days of Harry Potter Stationery Advent Calendar
My daughter is obsessed with stationery so what could be better than a stationery-themed Harry Potter advent calendar for teenage boys or girls?
This adorable box is packed with 24 mini packages. Each package contains a different stationery gift, including pencils, erasers, pens, postcards, memo pads, ruler, paperclips etc. All the packaging is plastic free and recyclable, to boot. Available from Merchoid at just under £20.
Personalised Spotify Playlist Advent Calendar
I love this advent calendar for teens because all the teenagers I know are OBSESSED with music. I love the idea of this Spotify music playlist advent calendar. It’s just £19.99 from Prezzybox. Bear with me, because this one takes a little bit of explaining. This calendar comes complete with a festive playlist. Each day, you open another door on the calendar, and hold your phone up to the image. It will then play that day’s Christmas hit via your phone! It’s the perfect way to wake up each morning in December with a Christmas song in your heart!
On Christmas Day, scan the image behind the door and all the songs will be collated into a perfect Christmas Day playlist. This does of course feature all the classics, from Mariah Carey to The Pogues and Michael Buble. It’s clever and perfect for your Spotify-loving teen. As an added touch, the calendar can be personalised with your child’s name. Available for £19 from Prezzybox.
So there you have it – ten of the very finest advent calendars for teens this Christmas 2021. But let’s face it – some of these are good enough for us to keep to ourselves, right?
Genius post. Just bought the popcorn one. Thanks Sally!
I appreciate the post, truly but just like most it focuses on young ladies which commercially a significant amount of products & marketing are centered towards. As a Mom of teenage boys it is a struggle finding articles/ideas for older teen boys. There is a tremendous amount regarding tweens but they are 17 which is a world apart from 12. It’s just tough. I don’t want to fill it with stuff that is just a waste of money and/or a space filler nor do I have the funds to buy shirts, socks, CDs, movies etc. for each day of the month. Boys are tough, apologies for my grumbling. Blessings to you and family over the Christmas season.
For teen boys, I know on here a couple of the beauty advent calendars are available in mens versions, including Amazon and there are 2 options from Lynx this year. You could also try the popcorn advent calendars, or the Spotify music advent calendar, which is gender neutral.
I think one of the challenges is that small, light items that fit inside advent calendars tend to lend themselves to stationery, jewellery and beauty items. If you’re not keen on the idea of a scent or food calendar how about trying one of the sweet calendars (you’re never too old for Haribo!)