HOGOKIDS, calendrier de l'Avent maison 1572 briques

These advent calendar type sets are a great way to count down to the big day as they gradually come together with each passing day. My kids have built similar sets as this in past years and so long as turns are taken responsibly, they have enjoyed building the various festive themed surprises on offer and contributing to the overall build. This set builds a colourful and attractive multi story house with many little details waiting to be discovered. There are also various side builds like Christmas trees and Santa's sleigh. At the end, you have a festive decoration that can be displayed over the holidays before being disassembled and rebuilt next year. The only thing to be aware of with this set, although the blocks are good quality, they are a slightly smaller scale to those from the leading brand and most other similar ones. Due to this the construction may be slightly fiddly for younger children and (unless you want a frustrating experience) you won’t want to mix the blocks from this set in with your existing collection. As long as you are aware of this, the set is definitely good value.

If you are looking for a proper activity-based advent calendar instead of just scoffing cheap chocolate every morning before school, this would be a great buy! It looks like a really magical way to build up to Christmas, and the idea of opening a new numbered box each day to slowly construct a light-up festive house sounded brilliant. For forty quid, you get over 1,500 pieces split across 24 individual daily boxes, which makes the whole month feel like a genuine project. The finished house looks lovely with all the snow-covered details, Santa's sleigh, and the Christmas tree, but the real highlight is the included LED light string. Once you weave the lights through the rooms and turn them on in the evening, it casts a really warm, cosy glow that looks amazing on a bedroom windowsill or even on a primary school teacher's desk for a daily classroom activity. The one huge thing you need to know before buying, though, is that these are 3.6mm mini bricks. They are not compatible with standard LEGO, so you can't mix them into your existing brick bins at home. Because the pieces are so tiny, snapping some of the smaller architectural details together requires quite a bit of patience and decent fine motor skills. If a piece drops on the floor, it's a nightmare to spot, and younger kids will definitely struggle without an adult nearby to help. If you keep in mind that it uses miniature bricks and isn't going to fit your standard LEGO collection, it is a fantastic holiday kit. It turns the usual Christmas countdown into an engaging daily routine, looks great illuminated at night, and gives you a lovely festive decoration to display every December. Lire la suite

from Hogokids in their advent calendar range, which there is also the gingerbread house rollercoaster. This takes a more traditional approach to the calendar, with a fold down flap that the house can be built and displayed on and with the doors of each day to be opened on the vertical box.  The days are sequential rather than random as is normal. At 1562 pieces it is very good value and its built size is 28cm x 19.3cm x 32.8cm and will take that twenty four days to complete as long as you are patient.  For me the whole point of an advent calendar is to open each window every day and the idea of building a complete project over the Christmas period is very innovative, I have always enjoyed the branded single build per day and this is a month long build. Inside the first window is a cellophane bag with the build pieces and instructions, which seems to be a Christmas tree, so there will be another 23 after this. The box design is really nice and reflects Christmas and something that can be left out on display for the whole of December, along with somewhere to store and keep it during the build.  I am not building it until December as I really do want to enjoy the whole experience at the right time of year, and having made other Hogokids sets I know they are well made, designed and the instructions are generally easy to follow. And the pacing of each day will also allow it to be fitted into small time periods each day, instead of one massive 1562 piece build. Ages - anyone who likes building bricks and no one is ever too old for an advent calendar. From the images - It looks great and I look forward to completing it.  Once it has been made I will need to find a box to store it in in the loft, as I will look to add it to my historical Christmas decorations to bring out every year, which is not something I have ever considered with the single day sets I have bought in the past. The only problem will be the space to be able to display this and the gingerbread house. Lire la suite

I was actually surprised at this calendar. As these countdown calendars go - this one is substantial. The set contains 1572 pieces. Suitable for ages 8+ largely I would say because of the size of some of the pieces - micro sized! I think this is fantastic as a tool for building fine motor skills. A great target for everyday / so much better than a chocolate sweet! I’m planning to give this to my son - he loves building and I think this is the next step in his journey. I think this will put his dexterity to the test. The blocks are bright and fun colours and I think the finished piece will look amazing. I’m really looking forward to seeing his reaction to the sheer volume included in this calendar. I think for the price tag of £40, this is great value for money. And I think the addition of lighting will make the finished piece amazing!

It's difficult reviewing an Advent Calendar before the first window is opened. I mean, you can hardly break the perforations yourself to view the contents, and some have the box itself stuck down. Fortunately, this one has a flap either side, so you can slide out the tray. Don't tell Santa, but let's see what's inside. First of all, this might seem expensive, and it is at the higher end of the market, but you do get a lot for your money. With 1,500+ pieces, it can be looked at as a LEGO, though not compatible with it, and jigsaw puzzle alternative and will keep the end user occupied for a while. With the cheaper Advent Calendars, once the days have been opened, that seems to be it but this one will make them feel as if they're actually doing something, as it has a purpose. Whilst many of the pieces are tiny and fiddly, they all play an intrinsic part of the whole thing. (The large Christmas tree has a lot of pieces on its own.) It may be small but everything is included, viz. Santa, sleigh, reindeer, gingerbread men, wreaths, snowmen, etc. And when complete, it can be lit up. It's a pity the boxes are numbered 1-24 left to right instead of randomly placed. There will be no "so what" with this set; rather a "what's in the next box?". And afterwards when most things found in an Advent Calendar have been eaten, lost or chucked in a box somewhere and never to see the light of day again, this mini house will/can be used in other scenarios, depending on the age of the end user. Forget the cost; it's what they get out of it that matters. Lire la suite