Regular readers will not be surprised to hear we have Playmobil Advent calendars for everyone this year. Mr. Redheaded Patti had already been online to buy his Jumbo Stunt Show and Family Christmas advent calendars.

Because it’s not December yet, Mr. RHP wouldn’t let us open up any of the windows to show you what’s inside. Luckily for you and me, Playmobil asked if I’d like to review an advent calendar from their 2020 range, and I, of course, jumped at the chance. We received not one but TWO of the exciting Playmobil advent calendars, the farmyard option, and the Playmobil Novelmore edition.

I wanted to take photos with a Christmassy feel, so I left the calendars on the table while I went to dig out some tinsel from the storage decorations box. As per usual, before I had a chance to say, “stop doing that, I need to take pretty pictures,” our little man Gabriel became a little overexcited and began tearing into the outer packaging.

Fortunately, the calendars have an outer sleeve that is not integral to their use. The calendar itself is a box, within the sleeve and remained undamaged by overenthusiastic little hands. So, to give you an idea of how they look when you first get your excited little hands on them, here are a pair of photos from the Playmobil website.

Once you remove the sleeve, you expose the calendar. Stuck to the inside of the sleeve, you will also find some plastic packaging that contains a cardboard background scene for you to set out the goodies you find behind the doors and an instruction booklet for the larger pieces that need to be put together. But don’t worry, you don’t really need the instructions as all of the items are straightforward to assemble.

The advent calendars themselves are sturdy, but light, plastic trays, and inside each part of the tray there is an exciting piece of Playmobil goodness. The vast majority of the surprises are within a thin cellophane bag, but one or two of the larger pieces are not, and instead, they nestle within their little plastic cave, waiting to be discovered.

Most of my fellow child wranglers and I have become reluctant to buy advent calendars with gifts inside them. The quality is often shoddy at best. The kids are excited for about 30 seconds, before realizing the “gift” is nothing special, and promptly forgetting about it.

But Playmobil advent calendars are different. Very, very different.

Each of the surprises behind the advent calendar doors is a full-size Playmobil item. You get exactly the same quality you find in a Playmobil set. There are no cheapened down offerings, just the usual high-quality, “proper” toys. Each one connected by the theme of your calendar.

Consequently, as you go through the month, your child builds a playset that provides worthwhile imaginative play opportunities.

This is what we found in the first six days of each calendar.

The Farm Themed Playmobil Advent Calendar

In the farm set there was; a Playmobil child, a rabbit hutch, two bunnies, a carrot and a turnip with which to feed said bunnies, a pair of mice, and an adult cat and kitten combo.

The farm background then provides kids with a focus for their games.

By the 24th day you will have found all of these goodies:

The Novelmore Playmobil Calendar

The Novelmore advent calendar is just as good. Within the first six days, we had found a dragon, this scary, tattooed dragon slayer, and a wealth of accessories.

And with Novelmore, by day 24 you will have all of this:

and this:

These images from the Playmobil site give let you see each item, carefully set out.

And for those of you curious about the Playmobil advent calendars Mr. RHP purchased, these are some photos from the Playmobil website.

If you want to grab one of the advent calendars shown here or explore the other Playmobil advent calendars, you can find them either on the Playmobil Ca or Playmobil US sites, or on Amazon. We are especially fond of the Christmas Toy Store, and next year we’re going for Back To The Future.

If you’re looking for Playmobil gifts, you can find our favorite Playmobil gifts in a separate post.

If Playmobil won’t work in your home, don’t worry. We’ve also got lots of other advent calendars for tweens and teens.