Why LEGO Makes Such a Great Holiday Gift
For over 70 years, LEGO sets have delighted kids and adults alike with their ability to unlock creativity and imagination. Since the first LEGO bricks were released in 1949, these popular interlocking pieces have become a staple gift around the holidays for good reason – they provide hours of engaging, screen-free entertainment for all ages.
As many long-time LEGO builders can attest, there‘s something supremely satisfying about snapping that last brick into place and admiring your new creation. And the playtime fun has only just begun! Whether following the step-by-step instructions or inventing something uniquely your own, LEGO sets offer endless inspiration for creative minds.
Come Christmas morning, brightly wrapped LEGO boxes promise nostalgia for adults and excitement for kids who find their wildest building dreams inside. From kits depicting popular movies and TV shows to elaborate kits for car and train lovers, the options are virtually endless when LEGO is under the tree. Keep reading as we highlight 9 of the best LEGO sets that make perfect Christmas presents this year!
The Millennium Falcon
No LEGO collection is complete without the Ultimate Collector Series Millennium Falcon, which at 7,541 pieces is the largest LEGO Star Wars set ever created. This incredibly detailed replica of Han Solo‘s famous Corellian freighter features incredible attention to detail inside and out.
Fans of both the original and new Star Wars trilogies will delight in the included minifigures – you get old Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia and C-3PO from the early films as well as younger versions of Han, Rey and Finn from the recent movies. The intricate interior rooms and accessories recreate environments like the cockpit, gun turrets, holochess table and more for immersive play.
At over 33 inches long and an impressive 8 inches tall packaged in box large enough to use as a coffee table, the Ultimate Collector Series Millennium Falcon makes a statement under the tree. LEGO designers spent over two years ensuring accurate color schemes, proportions and features so this iconic ship can be proudly displayed for years to come. It‘s the perfect centerpiece gift for Star Wars superfans young and old!
Santa‘s Workshop
For a more festive Christmas LEGO package, look no further than the 883 piece Santa‘s Workshop. This delightful set features brick-built versions of Santa and Mrs. Claus, four toy-building elves, a teddy bear, robot, duck and penguin plus Rudolph and three reindeer companions.
The workshop itself sports elaborate details like a Christmas tree, lampposts, gift pile, ice cream cart and baking station where Mrs. Claus whips up cookie treats. Sliding doors allowaccess inside to Santa‘s office, bedroom and sleigh staging area in anticipation of the big night. LEGO designers even included their own special Santa minifigure with fur-lined coat and hat for added authenticity.
Because it incorporates advanced building techniques, Santa‘s Workshop is actually designed for LEGO fans 10 and up. But the step-by-step instruction manual breaks sections up for easier assembly, so the entire family can participate in putting together this merry North Pole display piece all season long.
Home Alone House
Speaking of iconic Christmas films, Home Alone fans will delight in recreating adventures from the beloved 1990 movie through the new LEGO Home Alone set. Over 3,900 pieces bring the McCallister family home to life in intricate brick detail, from Kevin‘s buzzing alarm clock to the elaborate furnace in the basement.
You can stage some silly hijinks with the included Kevin, Mom, crook and police officer minifigures plus accessories like Buzz‘s pet tarantula, passing vehicles, swinging paint cans for the sticky stair scene and more. Modular house sections and removable roof panels make it easy to act out various scenes from the movie plot. Interactive elements like light bricks for fire effects and gear functions to make things like the basement vise or attic Murphy bed move make the movie magic feel more lifelike.
Following rave reviews from LEGO Ideas members who proposed it, this nostalgic building kit makes a fun family activity for the holidays. Acting out iconic moments from everyone‘s favorite Christmas comedy while the movie plays in the background is sure to produce smiles and laughs with homemade entertainment.
Super Mario Nintendo Entertainment System
Gamers and Nintendo fans of all ages will appreciate the detail poured into the Super Mario LEGO set modeled after the iconic 1980s console. Two large-scale Mario and Luigi minifigures look ready to hop through their first side-scrolling adventures, while the brick-built NES console features controller ports, pop-up function for cartridge insertion and a retro CRT television screen.
For added nostalgia, LEGO designers even built a hidden play space inside the TV housing a brick-built Super Mario figure on scrolling diorama so he appears to move across the screen. It‘s a delightful recreation packed with Easter eggs devoted retro gamers are sure to appreciate. Interchangeable Mario toy packages allow you to customize which classic game gets loaded in as well.
This 2,646 piece set makes a nice display shelf piece for the office or gameroom. The interactive and visual appeal as TV Mario hops through levels while you manually slide the diorama screen makes this engaging decoration sure to impress guests. Relive some 8-bit nostalgia this Christmas with one of the most creative LEGO Ideas sets brought to life!
Eiffel Tower
If you can‘t travel to the City of Love this Christmas, bring some Parisian charm home with a LEGO Architecture model of France‘s iconic Eiffel Tower. Over 300 pieces stack neatly together to form a replica standing over 12 inches tall of the world famous iron lattice tower structure. This set would pair nicely with a LEGO Creator Expert Parisian Restaurant for a scene straight out of a French postcard!
From the graceful archways to delicate railings tapering towards the top, this display model reflects Gustave Eiffel‘s 19th century architectural marvel in remarkable detail. The kit incorporates some interesting building methods as upper layers taper and angle inward, bound to captivate experienced LEGO builders. The completed tower makes an elegant decorative accent to place amidst other Christmas village buildings.
Architecture sets like this make fantastic gifts for travel enthusiasts or anyone passionate about civil engineering and design marvels. As one of the most instantly recognizable landmarks across the globe, the Eiffel Tower set has broad appeal and provides a sophisticated building experience requiring attention and care worthy of the legendary structure it reflects.
Galaxy Explorer Space System
For LEGO fans who dream of exploring the cosmos, look no further than the Galaxy Explorer Space System. Paying tribute to a cherished 1980s LEGO Space theme, this re-released set contains three astronauts, a vintage robot sidekick and 1,254 bricks for constructing a stellar spaceship ready to roam the galaxies!
From the iconic red, white and blue space fleet color scheme to the six wheeled rover buggy, this blast from the past overflows with galactic charm. You‘ll feel like an intrepid space captain steering the ship‘s cockpit complete with revolving chairs, navigation computer and engine power functions. Special bricks containing embedded lights allow the alien world diorama below to glow for an out-of-this-world effect!
The adventurous astronauts minifigures can live comfortably aboard their interstellar cruiser thanks to a sleeping quarters area with two beds and a food supply stocked with vibrant brick-built treats. Extend their mission by connecting other modern LEGO City Mars exploration sets and Discovery space shuttle kits from the new LEGO Space theme relaunch.
LEGO Classic Build Together
For LEGO traditionalists who prefer freebuilding creativity over kits, look no further than boxes packed with an assortment of bricks like LEGO Classic Build Together. This substantial 1,601 piece set lets imaginations of all ages run wild constructing anything they can dream up.
Vibrant bricks in a variety of colors and shapes spill out in neat trays, begging to become castles, vehicles, creatures and more. The packaging itself transforms into a convenient builder‘s box with sorting compartments and lids that double as building surfaces. Inspiration guides offer snapshots of various creations the bricks could produce, from robots to jets to bustling cityscapes.
Part of the joy with LEGO Classic kits is embracing sheer possibility, deftly stacking bricks into whatever fanciful designs develop. This guided open-ended play promotes spatial reasoning, fine motor skills and problem solving across ages. Gather the family around to build holiday constructions together or let young LEGO fans develop their own impressive scenes. LEGO Creative Building sets remain timeless gifts sure to delight under Christmas trees!
City Police Mobile Command Center
Younger builders eager to construct action-packed LEGO cities will appreciate the City Police Mobile Command Center. This 374 piece set allows kids to imagine themselves as both cunning crook and enforcer of justice as scenarios unfold!
The mobile command truck features a high-tech surveillance center and locking jail cell for capturing naughty robbers. But never fear – those crafty criminals travel the city outskirts in their awesome red ATV, plotting ways to utilize the safe cracker tool and dynamite stick from their loot backpack. Who will prevail when the cops‘ high-speed motorbike gives chase?
This easy to assemble LEGO City set promotes engaging storytelling for kids around ages 6 to 12. The familiar good guy bad guy dynamic gets an added twist from the mail carrier and female police minifigures joining in the fun! Accessories like a flashlight, road blockades and traffic cones help set the scene as kids‘ LEGO cities surge with both troublemakers and heroes keeping order.
City Cargo Train
All aboard! Aspiring conductors will delight in the LEGO City cargo train rolling under the tree this year. This remote control train lets kids build over 4 feet of track with a motorized engine hauling boxcars, logging cars and a caboose around the room!
A control center featuring a crane and truck ramps gives cargo loading some extra excitement. Emergency building techniques allow kids to create a derailed train car scene, calling the forklift staff into action to reroute shipments. The set comes complete with six minifigures like train drivers, yard workers and a crafty crook trying to infiltrate shipments – perhaps with the help of dynamite in their loot backpack!
With over 1,200 LEGO pieces, kids can connect other LEGO train tracks and accessories to create an elaborate home railway system. Interactive play features like remote control elements give the set added play value that will power kids‘ imaginations for years to come. This dynamic train set provides engaging STEM building fun for young conductors as young as six!
Wrap Up the Perfect LEGO Gift
Few toys inspire wonder and excitement across generations quite like LEGO sets. With themes spanning popular movies, nostalgic throwbacks, intricate cityscapes and more, their universal appeal makes LEGO an easy crowd pleaser under Christmas trees year after year.
Hopefully this gift guide provides plenty of inspiration highlighting memorable LEGO sets guaranteed to delight LEGO lovers in your life. Despite the vast catalog of kits available, the nine featured here offer engaging, screen-free fun for all interests and ages. They introduce creative play opportunities, problem solving skills and good old nostalgic joy across generations.
Thanks for reading – now start dreaming up some bricktastic building adventures waiting to emerge this holiday season!
