Christmas season is approaching fast, and many can’t wait for the day when they wake up to tons of presents. In order to make the countdown days more exciting, thousands of children purchase advent calendars, creating joy with a flip of a box.
There are many different types of advent calendars, such as ones with chocolate, calendars that have small gifts, and so many more creative ones made by big brands and companies.
A lot of students have tried out different types of advent calendars throughout many years. For example, Vera Lee, a 10th-grade student from Northern Valley Demarest, said she had a variety of advent calendars since she was young.
“I’ve had a chocolate one and a beauty one from Target,” Lee said.
Other students, such as Sonny Srinivasan, have had a homemade advent calendar passed down as a family tradition. These types of calendars are special for the people who have them because not only are the gifts personalized, but calendars like these also represent warm feelings and family love.
“I have a hand-me-down one from my great grandma that she knitted that has little match boxes that were painted with Christmas trees. They have little clues in them and you open them everyday… Chocolate advent calendars are boring,” Srinivasan said.
When students were asked to decide if they would prefer a chocolate advent calendar or one with actual items inside, they choose the calendar with actual items. Students like Ella Moalem claimed that the ones with items are more valuable and spark more holiday cheer into her life.
“I like receiving advent calendars with actual items because it makes me more excited for the gifts I am going to get,” Moalem said.
Advent calendars with actual items have been very unique recently, with new gifts and packages inside. These advent calendars include ones from big brands such as Legos, Skims, Sephora, Target, Victoria’s Secret, and Needoh.
“I have heard of the Skims one and bigger brands are having more advent calendars. I want the Victoria’s Secret one,” Lee said.
These different advent calendars have been advertised through social media, friends, and magazines. Students have been interested in buying calendars for the upcoming holiday season. They are searching for ideas on social media and asking around for ones that may be interesting.
“I’ve heard about these calendars on TikTok, or I saw them in the store,” Moalem said.
Even though these advent calendars are exciting and fun to open, many people argue that the prices are too high. Students agree that the prices need to be cut down and the cost needs to be cheaper.
“I think they are way too expensive, and that’s why I think the one in my family is better,” Srinivasan said.
Price ranges varied for these NVD students. They had to think about how much money they were actually willing to spend on an advent calendar for Christmas.
“The prices for me could depend on what is in it. I would pay 35 dollars for chocolate and 60 dollars for items,” Moalem said.
Another major debate was whether quality or quantity was more important to consider when buying an advent calendar. Students had to ask themselves: Would I prefer a calendar with more gifts or would I rather the quality of each present be better? Many said that they prefer quantity.
“I would rather quantity over quality because quality isn’t important when there are a lot of gifts. Christmas is the time of giving, so you should be getting a lot of presents,” Srinivasan said.
On the other hand, other students prefer quality over quantity. They say that the value of the presents is more important than actually receiving many of them.
“I would prefer more quality over quantity because I want to make use of my money,” Moalem said.
Deciding which of these advent calendars to buy can be tricky. It is important to consider the quality and quantity of the items and see which ones you would prefer to open every morning as an exciting surprise.
“I like receiving advent calendars…because it makes me more excited for the gifts I am going to get,” Moalem said.
