If you’re looking for the perfect activity to do with your family in the comfort of your own home over the Christmas holidays, you can’t go wrong with building a Lego set. Pop on some festive pyjamas and music, open a tub of Celebrations and get building a wonderful creation that can be played with and admired throughout the festive season and beyond.
Lego sells many sets suitable for different ages, including a variety designed for the whole family to enjoy. There’s a build to suit every household’s interests, including Disney, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Marvel and many more themes.
Reach Plc’s Head of Affiliates, Narin Flanders, thoroughly enjoys building sets with her family. She explained: “I’m a mum-of-two with children who have both gone through phases with Lego – my eight-year-old son currently has a frankly Wookiee-sized obsession with Star Wars sets.
“Having sat for hours watching them put together their creations, I found myself picking up bricks while they were playing, but Lego is very different to how it was when I was growing up. Rather than freestyling, it’s all about an instruction book that helps you build these amazing creations.”
Narin continued: “I ended up taking the plunge one Christmas when my husband bought me some Lego flowers to build and since then I’ve amassed quite a collection. Not only is it relaxing and satisfying to do but it’s lovely to sit with my children while they’re building their sets and work on my own.
“Discovering the new Lego sets this Christmas that allow us all to get our own bags/instruction manuals to work independently on one big set has been an absolute game-changer. Between us we’re currently working on a Christmas-themed Main Street set and I’m planning on Christmas Eve to ditch the usual boxes of tat and have us all enjoy mince pies and hot chocolate while putting together Santa’s Post Office – it’s such a collaborative and fun activity to do as a family and hours of fun.”
Check out our selection of Lego’s fabulous offerings below that are bound to keep the family entertained for hours if not days over the Christmas holidays. Ranging from £24.99 to £199.99, there’s a set for every budget.
1. Disney Hocus Pocus: The Sanderson Sisters’ Cottage – £199.99
Disney fans are sure to enjoy every second of building this iconic Hocus Pocus location. Comprising 2,316 pieces to create the cottage and graveyard, it’s guaranteed to keep your household entertained for hours.
This fan-inspired Lego Exclusive set is boiling over with nostalgic details from the 1993 film, including the huge water wheel that actually spins to make pink smoke puff from the chimney and the sisters’ cauldron. The set also includes several minifigures – Winifred, Mary and Sarah Sanderson, plus Max and Dani Dennison, Allison Watts and Thackery Binx.
A delighted Lego buyer awarded the set five stars and said: “Built the Hocus Pocus house last night with my family. It was very creative and a neat build. Very detailed and many hidden features. My daughters had the instructions book working on one bag and I had a laptop looking at the online instructions.
“We could all build at the same time without really interfering with each other… My only complaint is that it is somewhat dark and hard to play with some of the lower levels.”
2. Hogwarts Express Train Set with Hogsmeade Station – £114.99
Harry Potter fans will find Lego’s Hogwarts Express with Hogsmeade Station set is the perfect addition to their home. Made up of 1,074 pieces, families can recreate the memorable scene where Hagrid greets Hogwarts students as they arrive at the station, which features a ticket office, Owl Post, restroom and platform.
On the Hogwarts Express, you’ll find the Trolley Witch selling a variety of sweet treats, including Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. The set also comes with eight minifigures, including Harry Potter, Ron Weaseley, Hermione Granger and Hagrid.
One delighted shopper who has already built the set with their family commented: “Loads of detail and play opportunities within. The train is great with the two carriages and plenty of detailed minifigs to bring the set to life.” However, they did go on to say: “Our only negative is the train is too big for the track, so we had to add a few track pieces from our other build.”
3. Gabby’s Dollhouse – £69.99
Lego’s Gabby’s Dollhouse set is the perfect option for families with younger children, as it’s designed for kids aged four and over. The 498-piece set lets you and your little one build and explore eight rooms from the TV show using a sliding lift.
There are things to do in every room, such as bake, make music and pamper yourself. Head to the rooftop for a party on the rotatable dancefloor with the included Gabby, Pandy, MerCat and Cakey characters.
A thrilled Lego customer wrote: “Absolutely satisfied with this Lego Gabby’s Dollhouse. Such a fun activity to play with my four-year-old who loves the show. I would say that supervision is needed for a four-year-old as there are a lot of pieces and buildings to build.
“So many fun details and my child had fun playing with it afterwards. The product itself is quality and the directions were easy to follow. The bright colours and characters make this a great toy.”
4. Rocket & Baby Groot – £54.99
Marvel fans will get so much joy out of building Rocket and his trusty sidekick Baby Groot. Comprising 566 pieces, the set brings the Guardians of the Galaxy characters to life and lets families include the fully-jointed Rocket figure and his tiny companion in their adventures.
Kids can adjust Rocket as they recreate action-packed scenes from the films and create their own imaginative scenes. Baby Groot sits on Rocket’s shoulder while the racoon shoots the bad guys with his spring shooter and blaster weapons. A delighted shopper who has already built the Marvel set wrote: “My 15-year-old son is obsessed with Lego, this was such a cute set.”
5. Star Wars TIE Bomber – £59.99
Star Wars fans can recreate scenes from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back with Lego’s TIE Bomber 625-piece set. It’s packed with cool features, such as a stud shooter and the ability to release four torpedoes at a time.
That’s not all, as you can build a cart to help you load up your ship with ammunition ready for action. The set also comes with four Star Wars characters, including Darth Vader, Vice Admiral Sloane and a Gonk Droid.
A Lego review reads: “My eight-year-old and five-year-old put this together and said it was a bit more difficult than building the TIE fighter, but not too hard for them to do without help. Their favourite parts are the bombs that drop from the centre and the little green laser beams that can shoot out the front.”
6. Disney Pixar Up House – £49.99
Bring Carl Fredricksen’s colourful home from the film Up to life with this 598-piece Lego set. Children and adults can enjoy recreating their favourite scenes or create new adventures of their own.
From the vibrant balloons to the cute porch, there are so many details waiting to be built. There are four rooms to explore and the set also includes three figures – Carl, Russell and Dug.
Sadly some Lego fans are disappointed that the set doesn’t include some details from the film, such as Ellie’s chair, however others are thrilled with it. One person explained: ” I love this set. The colours are beautiful and bright. The interior is filled with Easter eggs from the movie. I especially love the figures – they all look amazing .”
7. Passenger Airplane – £89.99
Families can jet off on their own adventures with Lego’s Passenger Airplane set. You can operate the ground vehicles to prepare the aircraft for departure, which includes an apron bus, pushback tug, catering truck and baggage truck.
The plane has a detailed interior with a cockpit, seating and passenger aisle, and includes seat-back screens, a food trolley and a toilet. The 913-piece set comes with nine minifigure characters, so you can play out your own airport and mid-flight scenarios.
A happy customer commented: “My family spent the evening putting this Lego airplane set together and we had such a fun time. This was my first time doing a Lego kit and it was a blast… The instructions were so easy to follow that even our young children could build it just by looking at the pictures.”
8. Disney Princess Market Adventure – £89.99
If you have a child who adores all things Disney Princesses, this Lego set is the perfect choice. You and your family can build your own magical market made up of 817 pieces and have endless fun shopping and socialising.
There are four buildings to create, including a restaurant and tailor’s shop, so you could each be responsible for a building. The set also includes four Disney princesses – Tiana, Aurora, Cinderella and Ariel.
A Lego review reads: “We loved that this set comes as four mini play sets, each with their own easy to follow instruction guide. This meant my seven-year-old could build and start playing much more quickly than usual Lego big builds which can take time and be frustrating for a younger audience. It does contain a fair few smaller bricks, so adult help was still needed.”
9. Monster Truck Race – £24.99
Fans of the Lego 2KDRIVE game will be delighted with the Monster Truck Race set. Build the taco-themed and pirate-themed monster trucks using the 309 pieces which come complete with two driver minifigures.
Once built, you can play out epic moments from the game and stage your own races. The set also features a toy guacamole launcher and mix-and-match elements for endless fun. A Lego shopper noted: “Love this product, it was easy to assemble and the older brother was able to help. Great experience.”
10. Mini Disney Castle – £34.99
This cute Disney Castle set is made up of 567 pieces and is one of Lego’s ‘hard to find’ creations. It was made to celebrate Walt Disney World Resort’s 50th anniversary and allows Disney-obsessed families to recreate the iconic Walt Disney World Resort Cinderella Castle.
The set also includes a cute vintage-style Mickey Mouse minifigure. It’s bound to look fabulous sitting on a sideboard in your living room or on a bedroom shelf.
One happy Lego shopper commented: “Lots of fun. Great little build with a few extra touches inside. Easy to put together. More of a display piece than to play with.” Sadly someone else was less impressed, as they noted: “Set and base keeps falling apart, bits are randomly falling off.”
11. Wednesday Addams Figure – £44.99
Families who enjoyed watching Netflix’s Wednesday series are sure to love building the Wednesday Addams Figure set. It’s made up of 702 pieces and allows you to pose the iconic character in various ways.
You can dress Wednesday in her uniform or black dress from the Rave’N Dance. Her loyal sidekick Thing is also included, alongside more fun accessories.
One thrilled shopper awarded the Wednesday set five stars and noted: “It’s a really cute statue and a fun build. I love the two outfits you can choose from.”
While all of the above sets are suitable for families to build, it’s worth noting that some include small pieces. Adult supervision is recommended at all times if young children are taking part in the build.
Explore Lego’s full collection of family-friendly sets here. You can also shop Lego sets at Very, with the retailer currently offering some great discounts on a variety of family-friendly builds. This includes Star Wars R2-D2 which is currently £66.99, down from £89.99.
Amazon also has several Lego sets currently on sale, including The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell. This epic build has 15% off for a limited time, now costing £364.99, down from £429.99.