As in 2013, Lego offered two holiday “bonus” sets in 2014: one in October and one for “Brick” Friday in November. Mr. GeoK timed his online Christmas Lego shopping to take advantage of both offers.

K and I sat down to build them one Sunday morning in December, starting with set 40106 – a mini toy workshop. There are a few things I really like about this bonus set: 1) there’s one male elf and one female elf; 2) there are 3 miniature toys (a train engine, a bulldozer and a toy soldier) and 2 tiny parcels to complement the main part of the set; and 3) the mini toy workshop includes some great details (plenty of tools, containers of glue/paint, and a tool rack). I also think this particular bonus set is a great companion set to Santa’s workshop (LEGO Creator set 10245), the most recent addition to the LEGO Winter Village series.

Once we finished a detailed study of the first set, we turned our attention to set 40107 – a little skating rink. As with the other set, there were two minifigs – one male, one female – both with contemporary hair styles. Perhaps the most interesting parts were the skate blades, which attach directly to the bottoms of their feet. Although the hockey sticks are a little clunky in terms of proportions, the hockey aspect of this set warmed my Canadian heart!! Also appealing is that the set includes accessory pieces for sledding and snowball fights.

These are fun, quick builds and we had them on display for all of Christmas break.

Due to other things happening on the home front, we didn’t put our complete Lego Winter Village out this year. With four Lego fans in the family, it’s usually a main component of our holiday decorating. We all missed it, so I’ve already made a note in my calendar to set it up next December. What about you – any holiday tradition that you let get away from you in 2014 but you’re determined to revive for 2015?