Whether your family chooses a traditional advent calendar or a modern themed advent calendar, the time spent together will add excitement and discovery to your christmas celebrations. Think long life items such as tins, jars and packets of dried food. Pin On Christmas Traditions Family Memories The point of the calendar is not to count down, but rather to count up towards the days before christmas. How does a reverse advent calendar work . Choose a time each day to connect spend time as a family around the calendar. The doors are opened one by one, day by day. Also, small compartments are placed into the cardboard for each day. Inside of the compartments usually lies a small candy or chocolate representing the advent that day represents. Share your photos on our facebook page. Instead of opening a window and getting some chocolate, for 25 days during november you put an item of food in a box. How do advent calendars work? On top of the doors there is a number repr...