What is an Advent calendar?
An Advent calendar is used as the symbol of Advent which is a holy season celebrated around Christmas time.
The traditional advent calendar consists of two pieces of cardboard that are placed on top of each other. Twenty four doors are cut out of the top layer and one of these doors is opened every day from the first day of December until December 24th which is Christmas Eve. Each door can either store behind it the story of the Nativity and the birth of Jesus Christ or the doors can hide behind them some Christmas symbols such as snowmen, gingerbread men, or bells. The doors can even hide behind them tiny pieces of chocolate.
Different types of Advent calendars
The advent calendars with chocolates behind their doors are generally for children. Advent calendars are sometimes aimed at children because they use them to count down the days until Christmas Day when Santa Claus is supposed to arrive at all of the houses in the world.
The number of doors on the advent calendar can be increased to twenty five or twenty six in order to cover Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and Hanukkah and even it can have thirty one or thirty two doors in order to cover New Year’s Eve and New Years Day.
Advent calendars can be made out of different materials such as felt or a chain of candles which can be lit everyday until Christmas. One type of advent calendar in Germany is built into a fairy tale castle.