What to Put in a Digital Advent Calendar: 24+ Door Ideas

Updated for the 2026 holiday season · 5 min read

The doors are the easy part — the app gives you 24 of them. The real question is what to put in a digital advent calendar so that day 17 is as good as day 1. In Advent Maker each door can hold a photo, a text message, a video (including YouTube), or an interactive snowman, so here are ideas for every slot, sorted by who you're making it for.

Advent Maker — fill 24 doors your way Photos · text · video · snowman — free, no login

The golden rules

• Vary the rhythm: photo, message, video, silly thing, repeat. Two heavy sentimental doors in a row is a lot before coffee.
• Anchor days: spend your best material on Dec 1 (hook), Dec 12 (halfway), and Dec 24 (finale).
• Short beats long: a 20-second video gets rewatched; a 4-minute one gets scrubbed.

For your partner

1. The first photo ever taken of you two
2. A message: "the exact moment I knew"
3. The song from your first date (YouTube door)
4. A video of you attempting their favorite meal
5. A photo of the place you met, as it looks today
6. One compliment they'd never give themselves
7. Plans — concrete ones — for a January date

Long-distance? There's a whole guide for that.

For kids

8. A baby photo of them ("this is you!")
9. A 20-second video message from grandma
10. Today's mission: build a pillow fort
11. A terrible Christmas joke (they're contractually obliged to retell it all day)
12. The interactive snowman door
13. A favorite Christmas song (YouTube door)
14. A riddle whose answer is tomorrow's breakfast

More child-specific advice in the kids guide.

For parents & grandparents

15. A "then and now" photo pair of the grandkids
16. A drawing the kids made, photographed
17. A video of the kids saying good morning
18. An old family photo they haven't seen in years
19. A memory: "remember when we…" in three sentences

Dedicated ideas in the grandparents guide.

For friends & coworkers

20. The year's most cursed group-chat screenshot (with permission)
21. A daily superlative: "Most likely to… (you)"
22. The meme that defines them
23. A YouTube door of the song you always play together
24. Dec 24: a genuine thank-you note — sincerity lands hardest from the friend who's never sincere

Got your 24 ideas? Put them behind doors — free, in about 10 minutes.