Today’s article isn’t a gee-up. This time I will fulfil my promise!

Following on from yesterday’s tease, I’m here now to explain how to avoid unnecessary spending while experiencing the joy that is participating in a daily advent calendar ritual.

Typically, advent calendars involve indulging in cheap, terrible chocolate – one painful day at a time. The LEGO GROUP saw an opportunity to capture yet another market and produce an annual brick set that was not one model or a playset, but twenty-four mini-models or Christmas themed minifigures (why not 25? They’re assuming that on the 25th, you’ve got some much larger LEGO sets for your kiddies to open!).

We all know, if you have some LEGO, you’ve a bucket of it. From smashed creator houses, half an X-Wing or Dad’s shattered modular Pet Shop (yes, sadly this happened to me), there’s always a ton of random pieces and minifigures that aren’t being played with at any one time. And this is just it – LEGO is literally founded on the idea that you can be given a handful of elements and potentially turn them into a bazillion different things. Your imagination is the limit.

So why not skip buying needless additional sets and encourage your children to get to work at building a new Christmas-themed creation from parts they already have?

I’ve included a couple of my own mini-builds for inspiration to get your juices flowing.

While I love huge sets and imposing vehicles, there is nothing quite so satisfying as putting three single elements together and saying, “Look, Mum! Check out this little car I built!”

Imagination turns everyday life into a wonderland of adventure. This is why you can teach a child to read and they end up getting more satisfaction from an action-packed chapter book than picture books that forcibly show them what they should be seeing. Kids want to use their imagination. So why are we giving them instruction books and telling them what they need to build?

The flying Ford Anglia chasing down the Hogwarts Express. You can almost see the boys jostling about in the car!

A few elements like this can just get you thinking about the surprises awaiting under the tree on Christmas day.

Using a six-by-four plate, I was able to recreate a small toy train set – complete with smoke and steam tufting from the chimney.

You’ll notice quite a lot of dust on these little models. Once you’re done, but don’t want to display or dismantle, put them in zip lock bags away from dust exposure. Do you like the stockings hanging from the mantle?

Of course, you can go as wild as you want or set up challenges where you take a random selection of parts and force yourself to come up with something. Having an idea in mind might help kick-start the process, but often things change.

The goal is to end up with a model for each day of December up until Christmas day, until either you run out of LEGO or you have a beautiful representation of human imagination on your dining room table!

Have fun building and enjoy the challenge!

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My new, gorgeous Star Wars-themed mug. Well, it is my birthday, didn't you know? The balloon flight voucher over the Hunter Valley was also a spectacular surprise!

Thank you to my beloved Hayley for continuing to nurture and love the child in me. I'll never grow old with you by my side. Thirty-four but not a day over eight.

All the best,
Nick

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