Kurt Adler J3767 Wooden Nativity Advent Calendar with 24 Magnetic Pieces - Christmas Countdown Decor for Home, Church & Holiday Gift Giving

We have used this calendar for the past 5 years with our 4 children. They absolutely love it. We arranged the figures to go along with a story adapted from a nativity calendar that Noel Piper wrote. I will see if I can post it here. Some of the larger figures have to go in the larger doors, so we had to rearrange the story a bit to fit that. We give a Hershey kiss with each nightly reading. This year, 2018, is the first time while my 3 year old was playing with it that I had the long toothpick like rod come out of the side on the bottom. It's NOT a toy and shouldn't be manipulated excessively (he was turning it all over, which made the rod slide out). I quickly replaced it and put it out of reach. I'm going to price watch this calendar and try to get one for each child as a gift when they have their own families. It is their FAVORITE Christmas tradition!Nativity Calendar StoryStarted: 2013, adapted from Noel Piper, words in bold correspond with each daily item in calendar doors.Dec. 1st Jesus is the greatest treasure of all. This is the story of how he came to us. Long ago God Made a promise about a little town named Bethlehem. He said “O Bethlehem…from you will come forth for me one who will be ruler in Israel.” Jesus is the King God promised to send. One time a long time ago in Bethlehem, it was night time at the inn. It was so dark you could see a STAR in the sky.Dec. 2nd There was an INNKEEPER who ran the inn. The inn was completely full- there were no more rooms for people to stay.Dec 3rd Next to the inn was a place called a stable. In the stable there was a manger filled with hay, for the animalsto eat. There were animals like a COW.Dec 4th There was even another COW.Dec 5th Maybe there was even a DONKEYDec 6th One day the animals had a big surprise. A woman and man came to stay in the stable. That was because the emperor commanded everyone to go to their hometowns and sign up to pay taxes. Since the inn was filled with people, there was no place for the man and woman to stay. The man’s name was JOSEPH.Dec 7th The woman’s name was MARY, and she was glad to rest in the stable with the animals because she was going to have a baby very soon. Before they traveled to Bethlehem an angel of God talked to Joseph in a dream. The angel said, “This baby is from God. You shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. This baby was the King God has promised.”Dec 8th Out in the fields near Bethlehem it was a very dark night. There were many STARS in the sky.Dec 9th Many many STARSDec 10th There were SHEEP in the fields.Dec 11th Many many SHEEPDec 12th And more SHEEPDec 13th Even more SHEEPDec 14th There was a SHEPHERD there to take care of all of his sheep.Dec 15th In the sky there was a very special STAR.Dec 16th Far away a WISE MAN saw the special star and said “This is the sign that a special King has been born. I must find him and worship him. I will bring him a royal gift of MYRRH.”Dec 17th So he got his CAMEL ready to travel.Dec 18th He brought along another CAMEL…..Dec 19th because another WISE MAN wanted to go too. He had the royal gift of gold.Dec 20th And he brought along another WISE MAN who had a gift of rich perfume called Frankincense for the King.Dec 21st When he unpacked all his baggage on his CAMEL, all the wise men set out on their long, long journey.Dec 22nd One night, an ANGEL of the Lord appeared to the shepherds. And the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were filled with fear. But the angel said, “Fear not. I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”DEC. 23 Suddenly, there was a multitude of ANGELs, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”DEC. 24 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the BABY JESUS lying in the manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. When Jesus grew up, he died and rose from the dead to save us from our sins. He is our greatest Treasure!The "Kurt Adler Wooden Nativity Advent Calendar with 24 Magnetic Figures" is a charming way to count down the days of Advent. From the folk art appearance of the individual characters and animals to the alternating navy blue and sienna gold-numbered doors on the compartments that hold each individual piece, this Advent calendar will enliven and add to your Christmas décor.The compartments border the Nativity background on which you position the individual magnetic pieces. Centered on the scene is the stable where Christ was born; a grassy area fills most of the lower portion of the background. The display area is about 10 ¼" X 12 ¾" and does become somewhat crowded when all 24 figures are placed on it. It would have been easier to place figures if the display area had been slightly larger. The approximately 1 ½" deep frame of the "Kurt Adler Wooden Nativity Advent Calendar with 24 Magnetic Figures" creates a stable enough base that you can display it on a table or shelf.The "Kurt Adler Wooden Nativity Advent Calendar with 24 Magnetic Figures" is finished nicely. Paint is evenly applied and there are no drips or bubbles marring the smooth surface.If you are searching for an Advent calendar that depicts the true meaning of Christmas and can be displayed as a wall decoration or as one that can be placed on a shelf or table, you should consider the "Kurt Adler Wooden Nativity Advent Calendar with 24 Magnetic Figures". I think your family will enjoy it as much as mine does.Bought this as a gift for a friend to match the one we own, but the colors are muted and the pieces are flat—like they just scanned and printed the original design onto wooden cutouts. The three little stars are disproportionately large (unlike the photo where you see small stars and ONE large star of Bethlehem). The metal backdrop is also flat and less vibrant. I’m sure it’s easier to produce this way, but I feel cheated and cheapened.A surprise every day! I love this advent calendar that adds items to the nativity scene daily. The figures have magnets that sick to the painted manger scene. Reuse it every year; start a Christian tradition with your family. The first year you use it, mark the number on the back of each piece, so that you will know which box to put them into after the holidays. Happy Holidays! Let peace cover the Earth.We love this advent calendar! Some prior reviews complained of in poor workmanship, but ours arrived in great condition. The only construction issue we experienced was one of the teeny magnet rods (there appear to be multiple rods in the hole) fell out of each of two magnet figures. The magnets still stick to the calendar and I figure if more come out and the figure(s) wouldn't stick, I'll just glue a magnet dot or something on to it.All the doors (except the four corner ones) are large enough for two pieces of chocolate (such as Dove) and one of the magnet figures. I had to use smaller pieces of chocolate (I used small chocolate coins) in the four corner doors and made sure I put in the smallest magnets (I used the stars). Some of the largest magnets (standing camel, for example) make a pretty tight fit with the two chocolate pieces, but with some rearranging, they did fit. I wanted something with the Bible verses for the 24 days of December, too, but instead ended up just typing them up myself (there were lots of examples online and I just tinkered around to make my own version) with some clip art and had it laminated. It mostly worked to put the magnet figures in the door to match my Bible verse for the day (i.e. the angel for when the angel appears, the shepherds, etc.), but not perfectly as sometimes the magnet figure was too large for say the 13th door. In the end, my two young daughters were thrilled with our new advent calendar and my husband and I were very happy it worked perfectly for what we wanted.A really cute sturdy set. No assembly required! My 10 year old really enjoyed putting the nativity set together leading up to Christmas. I wrapped each piece in tissue paper and I also put a trivia question in as well for each day. If he got it right,I gave him a small treat( but these would not fit in the compartments.) The only bad thing is the boxes on the sides are narrower than the ones on the top and bottom, and the corner ones are tiny-so some pieces would only fit in certain places. Now this would only matter if you cared what order each "character" appeared each day. For example, baby jesus can fit on the 24th day but Mary, Joseph, Angels etc can't appear on the 19-23rd days. Usually the important dudes are opened near the end but you will have to mix it up. Regardless I am happy I bought this set and I would recommend it.Purchased for my almost-2 year old grandson. The frame and drawers are wooden. The middle section is painted metal. The little magnet figures come out of the drawers and onto the metal picture with Baby Jesus being the last figure to appear. There is room enough for a little treat to be in the drawer with the figure. It will be a great tool to reinforce the "reason for the season". A beautiful keepsake.I purchased two of the calendars for my nieces.Although a bit young to completely understand, they loved the calendars and usedthe pieces to tell the story of Jesus birth.Am certain that this gift will remain with them throughout the years.Better than I expected. It seems well made, I like that the compartments aren’t drawers but just little doors. Will make for a fun tradition. My 3 year old thought it was awesome.Love that my grandchildren can appreciate the true meaning of Advent/Christmas with this interactive Nativity calendar. Excellent product