Advent Calender

Last year I ordered this really cool advent calendar of Etsy. It hangs on the wall and has little pockets for each day in December leading up to the 24th. Last year we filled the pockets with candy--they are big enough to fit like 2 Hershey's kisses. Every morning the girls would go find the treat for the day and have a piece of candy with their breakfast. 

This year, when I hung up the calendar, I realized I would need to find something besides candy to fill those cute little pockets. I did not want to feed my kids candy every single morning before school--not a good idea!

So, I did what anyone these days does to find answers to a dilemma: I presented my question on Facebook and Twitter. I got some great ideas, and so I went out yesterday to find small treasures to fill those pockets with.

I went to the dollar store and the grocery store and ended up with some great things, like:

Candy flavored chapstick

Fruit snacks (I realize it's not that much better than candy, but they're kids, gotta let them live a little)

Holiday themed pencils and erasers

Bella Sara cards 

These cute little magic towels--you put it in water and it grows into a washcloth.

So this is the filled advent calender the girls greeted after school yesterday. (I wanted to put some silly bands in there too, but didnt' find any at the dollar store. I might sneak some in later.) The girls were super excited and are now counting down the days til December starts and they can dig into the advent calendar! :-)

How about you? Have you had to tweak any holiday traditions to be healthier?