Star Wars Lego Advent Calendar: Info and Ideas

Attention Star Wars fans everywhere! The hottest Christmas item this year will be the Star Wars Lego Advent calendar. My 8 year old has carefully counted his money and then asked me to order it from Amazon (it was a dollar cheaper than Wal Mart and no California sales tax- smart boy did his homework!) It will be here in time for the Advent season, so he will use it as a countdown. However, here is another idea if you don’t want to spend so much money on an Advent calendar. Last year Santa brought the Lego City Advent calendar to my two boys with instructions to use the calendar during the 12 Days of Christmas to count down to Epiphany, the day Christians honor the Magi or Three Kings. Being that some of our family is of Mexican descent, we do celebrate Epiphany and Los Reyes Magos deliver three gifts to each of our children. Even if you don’t celebrate Epiphany with the Three Kings, it is still an excellent way to understand the history of the 12 Days of Christmas in which the 12th Night was historically the big Christmas celebration day with feasts, dancing, and gift giving.

So back to the Star Wars Lego Advent calendar. This is a perfect gift for children who love Legos, but find it frustrating to piece together big ships and buildings. Although my son has lots of Lego sets, his favorite things to play with are the characters. Both he and his little brother will bring them out, set them up, and role play scenes from books and movies, or simply make up their own play scenarios. Each day in the calendar is filled with a little Lego set to put together. This is easily done by a 6-8 year old and easy enough for smaller children to complete with help. The Star Wars Lego Advent calendar includes eight mini-figure characters. Other daily “gifts” include a Christmas tree and Star Wars ships. The highlight is a Yoda mini-figure in a Santa outfit. “Bring you presents, I will. “

The Lego Advent calendar is a great reinforcement for counting and number learning with little ones. As a parent I love how Legos require children to use their imagination to play. Sound effects and action come directly from the little ones. Not to mention, building Lego sets help children develop fine motor skills, spatial skills, and patience.

This is the first year Lego has introduced a Star Wars themed Advent Calendar. With the million of Star Wars fans out there, young and old, I encourage you to get your calendar quickly, no matter how and when you decide to use it. Another option would be to save it for July and countdown to Christmas in July! A less expensive alternative to the Star Wars Lego calendar is the Lego City Advent calendar which includes six mini-figures and other winter and Christmasy building sets.