Illustration by Sam Woolley The Lego lovers in your life probably aren't wanting for little plastic bricks. While adding to the pile is a quick and easy method for marking them off your gift list, why not show off your own creativity by thinking outside of the blocks? Here is a selection of Lego gifts selected to inspire builders to new heights, or at the least show them how much you appreciate the passion they possess for their pastime. A pile of bricks is nothing without a plan to bring them all together, and even the most gifted Lego designer can benefit from a fresh set of original designs. There are ton of Lego idea books out there, including the official Lego Ideas Book, which is so ubiquitous a blind gift purchase might be risky. For something light and thematically appropriate, we recommend The Lego Christmas Ornaments Book by oft-featured creator Chris McVeigh. Chris has a real flair for making amazing tiny versions of awesome things, and these 15 creations can teach builders of all skill levels a thing or two.
What to do when every horizontal surface is covered with spaceships, volcanoes, fire trucks and minifigs? It's time to go vertical, or maybe even upside-down. While gluing official Lego base plates to walls and ceilings is certainly an option, peel-and-stick third-party solutions are much more convenient. These babies cling to surfaces tenaciously, transforming them for boring to Lego-bearing. (Amazon, $US29.95 ($41) per four-pack) As a builder who has Lego bits in at least fifteen different drawers around my home, this one is personal. Organisation is essential to a smooth Lego workflow. Being able to see a small drawer filled with red single circle studs is so much better than thinking you saw one in the one of a dozen junk drawers. While others may prefer something with a bit more visual flair, I love the utilitarian feel of Stack-On's line of stackable storage cabinets. They make building even the most random nonsense feel like a delicate operation. (Amazon, $US15.97 ($22) as pictured, other sizes available)
From kit builds to custom creation, every Lego build deserves to be seen in the best possible light. A quality curio cabinet is a much better display space than on top of that one cabinet in the kitchen or on the top shelf of your children's closet because they'd never think to look there. Unless cantankerous kids are present, tempered glass is the way to go. Not only does it afford the best view, it's also great for applying backdrops and custom lighting. Hit up Ikea or Bunnings. If you're looking for something that's officially Lego but decidedly different, Lego makes an entire line of office/school supplies, combining connectable brick elements with everyday items like gel pens, erasers, coloured pencils, buildable rulers and more. You can find all of those and a lot more over at Amazon. What do you get the Lego fan who has everything? Something they won't mind having more of, like a coffee mug with plenty of brick-sticking area. One of the more popular brick-i-fied everyday items, the Build On Brick coffee mug is the perfect accessory for any desk on which Lego might be assembled.
I'm primarily a kit builder, and there are always extra parts left over. They could really use a mug to cling to, I'm just saying. Kids love to play and Dollar General stocks a variety of discount games and toys that they’ll enjoy. Whether it’s a special occasion like a birthday or just a surprise, you’ll find that we have toys for kids of all ages. Drawing is a favorite activity for most kids and we have everything kids need to get creative including bulk crayons, colored pencils and discount markers. For children that enjoy problem solving, our discount puzzles are a good option for children that must be kept inside. At Dollar General, we have discount games and creative toys that kids will love. Treating kids to the toys they want is not expensive at Dollar General. We have a broad selection of discount toys including games and puzzles good for hours of fun. Our puzzle games are popular with parents and kids since they offer hours of quiet activity coupled with a challenging problem.
In addition, Dollar General’s assortment of discount games offers something for everyone. No matter if you’re looking for action figures, active play toys or puzzles, Dollar General has inexpensive discount toys that you’ll love. Puzzles and Toys for Kids Play can be just as important as school, so at Dollar General we offer discount toys like puzzles and games that kids will enjoy without breaking the bank. Let a child’s imagination run wild with drawing supplies, a set of action figures or some building blocks without breaking your wallet. Alternatively, let kids unleash their competitive side with discount games like checkers, Operation and other board games. Find the games kids like at the prices you want at Dollar General. Video Games & Electronics Active and Outdoor Play Dolls & Stuffed Animals Baby & Preschool Toys Puzzles Games & Books Vehicles Trains & RC Aleve Pain Relief - Tablets- 24 ct Downy Unstopables In-Wash Scent Booster - Fresh Scent - 9.7oz
Carefree Pantiliners Unscented - 36 ct Sparkle Paper Towels Print 6 Rolls - 209.7 sq ft Mr. Clean Multi-Surface Cleaner - Meadows & Rain Scent 40 oz Snuggle Fabric Softener - Blue Sparkle- 50 fl oz Bic Flex 4 Flexible Blades Shavers - 3 CT Meow Mix Poultry & Beef Variety Pack - 12 CTFind the games kids like at the prices you want at Dollar General.Image credit: LEGO City Advent Calendar 2010 – Day 21/24 by Kenny Louie Given that there are more than five million Lego bricks being made every hour (yes, really!), there’s a good chance there will be a box of them under your Christmas tree this year. But why just wrap them up in paper when you can get more creative with your Lego gifting? Here are four ideas to try: Lego sells ready-to-go Advent calendars. Each day you open a panel and get a minifig or tiny set. They come in a variety of themes, including Star Wars, City, and Friends. This year there’s also a Minions-themed Mega Blocks calendar.
But I’m more of a DIY-er. There are two ways you could go to build one on your own. You could get small sets, like minifigs, Mixels, and the small polybag sets. It won’t be a cheap Advent calendar, but it’s an option! Or you could split up a set and dole out a few pieces each day. The most straightforward way would be with the Creative Supplement (which also comes in the bright Friends-set colors). It’s a box of 303 basic bricks. You could either put a dozen or so in the calendar each day, or you could use it as a countdown or count-up. With 303 bricks, you could give 1 on December 1, 2 on December 2, and so forth all the way to Christmas Eve (or vice-versa with 24 on December 1 counting down). If you’d like to build anticipation a little more, you could do the same with an actual set. To reduce the torture, be sure to give out the pieces in the order it takes to build the set! A few sets with just about the right number of pieces for the countdown method are: If you don’t already have an Advent calendar, there are lots of ways to make them.
You can buy them or find instructions for making them all over the internet. Last year I used 24 of these stackable storage boxes and put anything too large to fit in them in our “magical monkey box” (a gift box shaped like a monkey) with a note in the storage box to ask the monkey. This year I’m making this gingerbread house calendar. One of our favorite holiday traditions is the Christmas morning scavenger hunt. It started when I had a large gift for one of our kids when she was little, and I didn’t want it to dominate the morning and make her ignore everything else. So I hid it upstairs and sent her on a scavenger hunt to find it after everything else was opened. Every year since, we’ve done this, and as the kids get older, we’re able to make the hunts more difficult. For the 2014 hunt, I had a Lego set that I’d bought on clearance because the front of the box was ripped. I took advantage of that by pulling out all the bags of bricks and replacing them with the first scavenger hunt note.
Each subsequent note had a few more bricks until finally at the end, the whole set was back together. This one is for the people who give a lot of Lego sets. I was inspired by the assortment of book trees I’ve seen floating around. You could add in some Lego books (or other books—make a whole gift tree!), wrap it in lights and tinsel. Who wouldn’t want to wake up to that on Christmas morning?! The boxes do slide a bit, so stack carefully. If you’ve got freely roaming pets in the house, this might not be the best plan. As a tangible part of an intangible gift I’ve noticed a trend in the last few years of families gifting themselves a big trip for the holidays. It’s a great idea, especially when your kids already have way too many toys. But there’s also something to be said for having a tangible thing to unwrap. With the wide variety of Lego sets available, there’s almost certainly something relevant. This idea was inspired by the Flatiron Building in the Architecture line.
For my family, this set was a good way to reminisce about our 2015 trip to New York, but in the reverse, it would be a great gift as a preview of a trip to the Big Apple. It’s a distinctive edifice in a city that can start to look like repetitive buildings after buildings to small eyes. Bonus, they’re likely to recognize it from TV shows and movies, including Spider-Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I found the Flatiron somewhat more difficult than other Lego sets to build, so you may need to offer some assistance for smaller children with less dexterous fingers. The Architecture line is perfect for this trip-previewing gift project. There are sets available for Paris (Eiffel Tower and Louvre), Rome (Trevi Fountain), DC (Lincoln Memorial and White House), Seattle (Space Needle), London (Big Ben), and more. There are a few older sets no longer in production that you can still find, but you’ll pay a premium for them. You could use other sets more creatively for specific types of trips.