24 best budget dinosaur gifts for your Advent calendar

Prior to Netflix, my brothers and I used “Playschool sleeps” to count down to big events like Christmas (Australians will know what I mean).

The concept of “weekend” was beyond us, and my brothers still napped. We would only count weekdays when Playschool aired (twice).

Admittedly, we were 1 and 3 years old.

Now I guess we would count the times we ran the dishwasher?

The German system is much easier. They use Advent calendars to count the days until Christmas. One door or gift for each day.

If you’re making an Advent calendar for your little dinosaur fan, we’ve got 24 suggestions for the perfect dinosaur gifts for your advent calendar that won’t break the budget.

(And they make great stocking stuffers, too!).

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What is an advent calendar?

Advent is the four Sundays before Christmas. The word comes from the Latin word adventus, which means coming. It heralds the coming or birth of Jesus Christ, which is celebrated at Christmas.

Advents calendars count down the days until Christmas. They were first used by German Lutherans in the 19th century. An advent calendar always starts on 1 December and has 24 or 25, depending on when Christmas is celebrated.

Originally, advent calendars revealed pictures and Bible verses each day. Nowadays they will be filled with chocolates or toys or even beer or nail polish. You can buy one finished and ready to use or make one yourself.

Dinosaur Gifts for your advent calendar

I prefer to make an advent calendar, wrapping up 24 little presents for our LDA each year.

To save money and stay within our budget, most gifts are things she needs anyway – like socks and bubble bath mix – with a few dinosaur gifts thrown in. You might prefer to put such practical gifts in your stockings (do you have a dinosaur one?)

If you want to make your dinosaur advent calendar truly RAWRsome and fill it with all dinosaur gifts for your little dinosaur lover, here are a few ideas.

Did I mention these also make great stocking stuffers?

1. Lego set

Why not start with a small lego set, such as this velociraptor set? Or this small Playmobil set?

2. A dinosaur keychain

Dinosaur keychains are great gifts for your dinosaur advent calendar. If your little dinosaur fan is not yet old enough to have their own keys, they can hang the keyring on their bag.

There are a variety of keychains available. Some are cute, some are more realistic (scarier) and some, like this one and this one, you might even want yourself. Or make some backpack bling!

3. A book

A dinosaur book is always a great addition to any dinosaur advent calendar. Check out our list of dinosaur Christmas books here.

4. Underwear

Useful and cute: add some dinosaur underwear to your dinosaur advent calendar. There’s some for girls and some for boys.

5. Socks

While you’re looking at undergarments, add some dinosaur socks to your dinosaur advent calendar. I like these grippy ones with Triceratops and T-Rex.

6 and 7. Hat and gloves

Over here it’s winter, so anything to help keep our LDA warm is a good thing. This hat and gloves set are the perfect practical dinosaur gifts for your Advent calendar.

Or 6 and 7. Bathing suit and swimming cap

Or is it summer where you are? If it is, try a bathing suit and swimming cap.

8. Sticker book

A dinosaur sticker book will keep your little dinosaur fan entertained for hours. Make sure you add one to your dinosaur advent calendar.

9. Another book

Add another book to read – because you can never have enough.

10. Tattoos

Temporary tattoos are easy and cheap dinosaur gifts for your advent calendar and kids love them (even if they are not major dinosaur fans). These ones glow in the dark.

11. Magnifying glass

Is your little dinosaur fan an avid investigator? Try a magnifying glass. You can also buy a kit and split it over a number of days. This explorer kit would make for more than half of your dinosaur Advent calendar.

12. Excavation kit

Add a dinosaur excavation kit to your dinosaur advent calendar (or make your own excavation eggs for a portion of the price).

13. Torch

Add a simple flashlight – it’s good for more than dinosaur experiments and shadow puppets.

14. Card game

Add a box of cards – dinosaur cards of course. There’s dinosaur UNO. We love this game of snap with a twist – the dinosaurs and their fossils are also a match!

15. Colouring book

Our LDA loves colouring at the moment. Add a colouring book to your dinosaur advent calendar. We got our LDA a paint-by-stickers book.

16. Felt-tipped markers

Of course, what good is a colouring book without markers or pencils to colour it in?

17. A small dinosaur

Another frugal option: Grab a set of dinosaurs and divide them up – some as dinosaur gifts for your Advent calendar, some for the stocking, and perhaps some from Santa. This set of large dinosaurs would work, this Jurassic World set is good for a child who is a fan of Camp Cretaceous, or for a younger child try this set with a sound book.

18. Dinosaur mug

Start the day right each morning or snuggle with a hot chocolate in a dinosaur mug. Our LDA wants a Brachiosaurus mug, but I’m rather partial to this geologic time mug.

19. Dino cookie cutters

Dinosaur cookie cutters work well for both cooking and crafts. They make fun gifts for your dinosaur Advent calendar, too. We have this set, and some of these fossil cutters too. We used them to make our festive sugar cookies!

BUDGET SAVER: Split the set up and pair each gift with a craft or recipe, like these sun catchers.

If you don’t want to buy a whole set, Christmas markets often have stands selling cookie cutters and other fun kitchen gadgets.

20. Dinosaur apron

A dinosaur apron might encourage your little dinosaur fan to get creative in the kitchen.

21. Dinosaur bath bombs

We’re going to be making our own dinosaur bath bombs soon. However, if you don’t have the time, you can get some here. Perfect for your dinosaur Advent calendar and for bath time!

22. Paintable dinosaur

Encourage your budding artist with a paintable dinosaur set.

23. Dinosaur game

We loved Dinosaur Bingo. And Dino Dump is our current favourite. You need one of these games in your dinosaur Advent calendar.

24. Ticket to a dinosaur museum

Get tickets or a voucher for your favourite dinosaur museum or park, or perhaps one you are eager to try out. This supports your local museum and promises your little dinosaur fan a day out at one of their favourite places (when the museums open again).

The Dinosaur Park in Münchehagen has vouchers, for example. You can buy tickets online for The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis or the Field Museum in Chicago. The Natural History Museum in London is free to visit, but you can adopt a dinosaur, or even buy a ticket for Dino Snores, the Museum’s sleepover with the dinosaurs.

Dino-fy your Advent calendar this Christmas!

These dinosaur gift ideas are perfect for your Advent calendar or to use as stocking stuffers. They will dino-fy a normal Advent calendar and intensify the prehistoric level of any dinosaur Advent calendar. Use as many dinosaurs as you can stand – practical and fun – and watch your little dinosaur fan’s excitement.

It’s a much simpler way to countdown to Christmas than “Playschool sleeps.” Trust me.

Are there any dinosaur gifts we missed?

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