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LEGO® X-MAS
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Svend Erik, the Danish LEGO® Ambassador and the proud father of 3 LEGO children and grandfather of 6 LEGO grandchildren, shares how 54 years of passion for LEGO bricks has become an integral part of his family’s Christmas tradition.
| Svend Erik ended his career as Colonel and Base Commander with the Danish Air Force in 2004, he now lives with his wife in a small village named Kundby in the western part of Denmark. He began building with LEGO bricks more than fifty years ago. Svend Erik dedicates one third of his time to building with LEGO bricks, another third to oil painting and the remaining third to his family – especially to honing the LEGO skills of his 6 grandchildren. ‘Space Brigadeer Saksun’ (his nickname in the Danish LUG Byggepladen) continuously tries new building methods and seeks new ways of using “unusable” LEGO bricks in his quest to build on themes such as Castle, Space, and Town. |
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What do you think is unique about LEGO bricks and how do you think playing with LEGO bricks has influenced your children and grandchildren?
LEGO bricks are eternal, endless, flexible and creative and have their own boundless logic. In other words LEGO bricks are not just a toy. It’s a lifestyle! Skill and ability-wise I think LEGO products stimulate physical dexterity and imagination. In addition, concentration and systematic thinking are being developed. And equally important is the excitement that playing with LEGO bricks generates after having completed a fantastic non-planned construction together. So LEGO products are also about feelings and emotions and being together as a family with a shared goal – to build and have fun! LEGO sets enable you to interact with your children and grandchildren on their terms. So get down on the floor, crawl on your knees, laugh together, and even cry together. These days my best playmates are my children and my grandchildren – and we love doing things together especially with LEGO bricks.
What role have LEGO bricks had throughout the years in your family life?
LEGO bricks are ideal whether you’re alone or together with others. Our children and grandchildren have learned that LEGO bricks mean cosiness and socialising in a way where you have the safety of the group, yet still have the independence to try new ideas and explore the numerous possibilities that LEGO sets offer on your own. LEGO sets are a rallying point. LEGO products have taught us the importance of being together across three generations.
On that note I would like to mention two LEGO Christmas traditions that bring my family together during the holiday season:
Christmas Tradition # 1 – family together Christmas LEGO building
In the early 1970s we started our first LEGO Christmas tradition. In the week between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve we cleared the living room of most of the furniture and the entire family got on the floor – mum, dad and 3 children – and discussed which theme we should build that particular year. The first Christmas we built an amusement park with merry-go-around, Paris wheel, shooting booth and much more. The following Christmas we built an industrial town with green plants, factories, and with machinery inside the buildings – e.g. an assembly line. And another Christmas the living room was transformed into a gigantic railroad landscape where we transported cookies and candy on the freight cars to each other.
Christmas Tradition # 2 – Christmas LEGO bingo
Nowadays I arrange a game of bingo the week before Christmas for the grandchildren. Actually, it is an evening for the whole family (all 14 of us), and one of my adult children arranges everything else in turn, but the LEGO bingo is my responsibility. I start the planning and buying LEGO sets during January sales, and I continue to buy LEGO sets every once in a while and put them aside until December. Then it’s time for LEGO bingo – exclusively for grandchildren! I am the bingo master of course, and it is fantastic to watch my 6 grandchildren before, during, and after the bingo – their eyes, their eagerness, their excitement, and cheers when they win. My rules make sure that they all win of course. Last year we had 12 sets and 100 Minifigures as prizes, and this year we will have even more. It is great fun to arrange and all my grandchildren love it and every time they visit us throughout the year they try to figure out what pieces I have bought for this year’s LEGO Christmas bingo. Their parents also love to watch and they alternately arrange an adult bingo afterward. It has now become a family tradition so important that all 14 family members must be present otherwise we’ll have to find another evening.
What advice and tips do you have for other parents or grandparents who would like to set up their own LEGO Christmas traditions?
1. First of all, it doesn’t have to be expensive.
A perfect LEGO buy is the set # 9247 – Community Workers – with over 31 Minifigures from all different occupations, animals, bikes and many other accessories. Also the small and very cheap sets in the 56xx series are very well suited for different purposes.
a. Christmas Bingo
Start your X-mas Bingo preparations in January and buy LEGO sets throughout the year when there is a sale or a special offer, and don’t forget to check LEGO Shop@Home frequently. If you have more than one grandchild then make sure that there are prizes for everyone, and it is a good idea to have some minifigures or small sets as extra side prizes. The children love when one of their grandparents act as bingomaster – and believe me, you will feel like being Santa Claus! Try to keep the X-mas bingo a secret and make sure that everyone can make it on the chosen day. Don’t let the bingo stand alone but combine it with other things such as making Christmas (tree) decorations. And of course you should serve something to eat and drink (traditional Christmas food) – before or after the activities.
b. LEGO Christmas Cake
There are many recipies on how to bake a LEGO cake (a birthday cake is presented on this site). Decorate the cake with LEGO minifigures – Santa Claus is obvious – and the LEGO Christmas trees. And don’t forget to let the children keep the LEGO bricks afterwards.
c. Christmas Scavenger Hunt
Set up a LEGO Scavenger hunt in your house. Use as many rooms as possible. Place LEGO minifigures in hidden places (the difficulty level should be determined according to the children’s age) and draw a map with the route they must follow. As an extra touch you could have extra LEGO prizes (e.g. the small sets) and let the child who collects the most minifigures choose first.
d. Tell fairy tales with LEGO
Tell your grand children a fairy tale while they illustrate the story with LEGO creations. An easy one to start with is The Princess and the Pea
. You will only need a few Minifigures, a 1x1 round green brick as pee and the bricks for the bed and the house. Always have as many different bricks available in order for the children to express their creativity and imagination. When you get more experienced, The Flying Trunk
and The Tinder Box
are very exciting and challenging to perform. You can build up the scenery first and then tell the fairy tale or you can tell the fairy tale while your grandchildren build and illustrate the story.
2. Don’t forget to use LEGO Shop@Home to buy the special LEGO Christmas Gift Wrap & Tags and wrap up your LEGO Christmas gifts.
3. Don’t forget to take photos.
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BUILDING TIPS:
My five best building tips all year round:
1. Provide sufficient space for LEGO in your house, i.e. shelves, boxes and other storage areas – and space where you can build.
2. Ask your grandchildren as often as possible if you could build with LEGO bricks together. They will love it.
3. Use your imagination and tell stories when you build with your grandchildren. The more imaginative the better.
4. Encourage your grandchildren to build bigger, better and bolder (the 3 Bs) each time, and they will feel more and more confident in their building abilities.
5. Praise them as often as possible and take photos of their constructions – and if you are a member of a LUG (if not then join one) put the pictures on the MOC pages and tell the rest of the world that this wounderful construction was built by your grandchild.
Remember: LEGO bricks are not just a toy – they are a lifestyle!
Email us YOUR ideas at parents@lego.com
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