22nd December advent calendar review
Day 22 – the big question from now on is ‘where is Santa?’ With only three flaps left in advent calendars, there are not many more options for when Santa appears! Logically, it will be on Christmas Eve 🙂
Neither calendar provided Santa or anything Christmassy… again, my daughter was upset at the non-Christmas element and was in tears because “a table is boring!” I explained the table suited last night’s Christmas pudding, but she remained disappointed.
The City calendar contained a husky dog, some bones and a water trough with bucket.
Finding and building a water trough for the husky
Three days to go in advent calendars!
Wow, we’re onto day 21 so there are only three more flaps to open – and school has now finished for the year around Australia so the excitement is definitely building now 🙂
Lego City now has a Christmas tree, complete with a star on top and some lights.
It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas…
Our Friends advent calendar now has a Christmas pudding to add to the feast – and it looks pretty good!
Time for Christmas pudding with some Lego Friends!
Advent calendars are up to day 20…
Day 20 of the Lego Friends calendar showed up a stove and a big chicken leg – even the chicken had to be put together in Lego fashion!
A Lego stove and chicken leg to go with the cooking utensils!
And day 20 of the Lego City calendar produced two presents – very different ones to those in the Friends calendar on day 17.
Two Lego presents under a decorated tree
Don’t forget you can go back and read day one of the advent calendars from this year, or from 2015!
We’re into the last days at day 19
Day 19 of advent calendars…
As predicted by my son, the bakery stall now has an oven 🙂
Interestingly, the Friends calendar produced a second turntable and three party hats (one each for Naomi, Emma and their pet!)
Christmas at the Zoo!
On Saturday night we were lucky enough to be amongst the Melbourne Zoo members who attended their Christmas at the zoo party.
It was a lot of fun!
Visiting Santa
For our turn with Santa, a Christmas fairy greeted us and took us into Santa’s cave for a personal chat with Santa then a chance to take a photo. Each child also got an early gift, but only if they could answer a special question from Santa (like “how many reindeer pull my sleigh” and “name two of my reindeer other than Rudolph“.)
Winter Wonderland
Within the winter wonderland, there were multiple snow machines, a couple of craft activities, a silent disco (we spent ages in there!), a family photo scene (complete with snow covered mountains and a Rudolph statue) and a chance to pose with the Penguins of Madagascar.
A jungle gym, festooned in tinsel and bells was very popular, as was an inflatable maze. There was also a little kids area with Christmassy playthings and dressups.
Zoo animals
We were at the zoo, so of course we also walked around to see some animals before enjoying the Christmas activities. Unfortunately, many of the animals had decided to have a nap or otherwise stay out of view so we didn’t see many, but it was nice to walk around in the evening and experience a different sort of atmosphere at the zoo.
Entertainment & other Christmas at the Zoo activities
To keep us all entertained outside of Winter Wonderland and Santa’s Cave, there were various entertainment options provided.
- on the main stage, the Party Animals played three sets of mixed songs
- children were able to write to Santa – there were child-sized tables and chairs, simple letter to Santa templates, pencils and a large red letterbox for mailing the letters
- train rides around the zoo
- wandering characters stopped and talked to children and had photos takes, and waved to other children as they walked around
- some performers on stage interacted with children, including teaching them dance moves and handing out prizes
The naughtiest reindeer at the zoo – Christmas book review
The naughtiest reindeer at the zoo
by Nicki Greenberg
Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2013
Age group: primary school
The story
It’s Christmas Day and a family heads of for Christmas with Granny and Pa. Much to the children’s horror, the parents won’t let them take Ruby the reindeer with them after the trouble she caused last year, so she goes to the zoo for the day instead.
My review
I really enjoyed this story book. It is Christmassy but has a very different story that is fun and keeps the kids wondering what will happen next.
The zoo animals are feeling sorry for themselves as they get lonely on Christmas Day (which led us to talk about the fact that Melbourne Zoo is open and has keepers on Christmas Day). Ruby had an idea of letting the animals mingle and party, which seemed to go ok at first but then the inevitable problems arise.
Ruby sees Santa’s sleigh go past and asks for help, naming all nine reindeer.
My kids reacted to “I don’t think [Santa] even believes we exist” – my six year old just could not understand how anyone could not know about zoo animals – and “Good tidings, good cheer! Mind the elephant poo!” (they may that hysterical, of course!)
The book rhymes throughout which delighted my seven year old and adds some rhythm and fun to the experience, too.
Pictures throughout are colourful and simple, matching the story perfectly. And some sparkly texture on the front cover makes it all a little bit more special, too. It’s all good fun and I recommend it.
Greenberg has written another naughtiest reindeer book and some others, and based on this one, I’ll be keeping an eye out for them 🙂
Advent calendar days 17 and 18…
Day 17…
My daughter was very excited to find a Christmas related set of Lego for day 17. She found two presents – she had to make the gift boxes and had little hair clips to put inside the gifts.
Gift boxes partially made and containing a gift
Her brother was happy to have the second part of the bakery stall to put together.
Day 18…
Both children found their advent calendars today built on what they found on day 17. Lego City’s bakery stall now has a uniformed firefighter serving biscuits!
The Lego Friends calendar produced a Christmas tree to put the presents under. The tree was a little difficult to build – pieces on different angles based on a single connection point made it easy for pieces to fall apart as we pushed on them (and I say we but my six year old couldn’t do it so I ended up making the tree, although she added the star!)
Previous days…
With only a week to go to Christmas, here are some of the previous days of the 2016 Lego advent calendars.
s
It’s Friday and day 16…
Ok, it is actually Saturday morning but I am sharing the Lego advent calendars fro Fridday as we lost power last night and I couldn’t access the internet to post this.
Again, my daughter was questioning the Christmas aspect of the Friends calendar so I am trying to explain that not everything in an advent calendar has to actually be about Christmas. But given her enjoyment of making things, she was very happy to put together a craft table and glue bottle.
My son found a plane in the Lego City calendar. I wondered if it would turn out to be a shuttle and part of a rocket (as happened last year) but we’ll have to wait until tonight to find out!
If you have enjoyed reading about day 16, you can go back to day one or even read the 2015 day 15 Lego advent calendar review.
Santa is coming to Australia – Christmas book review
Santa is coming to Australia%27%20fill-opacity%3D%27.5%27%3E%3Cellipse%20fill%3D%22%23c1bebd%22%20fill-opacity%3D%22.5%22%20rx%3D%221%22%20ry%3D%221%22%20transform%3D%22rotate(23.7%20-426.7%20878)%20scale(74.94973%2052.31525)%22%2F%3E%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%233e37a7%22%20fill-opacity%3D%22.5%22%20d%3D%22M393.3-11.2l-37.6%20122.9-154.3-47.2L239-58.4z%22%2F%3E%3Cellipse%20fill%3D%22%236ea31d%22%20fill-opacity%3D%22.5%22%20rx%3D%221%22%20ry%3D%221%22%20transform%3D%22rotate(174.4%2039.3%20148.2)%20scale(109.81543%2046.78062)%22%2F%3E%3Cellipse%20fill%3D%22%234f4b4e%22%20fill-opacity%3D%22.5%22%20rx%3D%221%22%20ry%3D%221%22%20transform%3D%22matrix(52.45375%20-17.65264%2013.6827%2040.6573%20193.3%2088.1)%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fg%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "Santa_is_coming_to_australia_cover | love santa")
by Steve Smallman
illustrated by Robert Dunn
AliCat, South Melbourne, 2012
Age group: early to mid primary school
Santa in Australia – you gotta love that 🙂
The story
The book starts with Santa and a little old elf preparing the sleigh and reindeer for his trip Down Under. It then covers the flight, including getting lost in cloud, and delivery of the gifts.
My review
Santa is nice and cheery, a young reindeer is bright and finds the way to Perth’s Bell Tower, and Santa’s magic is throughout the book. So it was a fun and happy read.
Interestingly, Perth got the most mentions but Santa then went onto the other major cities (though one does wonder why he went to Alice Springs, then the east coast before going to Darwin!) One spread includes many recognisable structures, although predominantly Sydney and Melbourne, and the last page sees Santa flying home over Sydney rather than Darwin…
As a positive, the Santa-nav uses kilometres and there is no snow in Australia, Santa refers to little Aussies, and ‘crossed the Equator and headed down under’. I was less happy with children leaving out ‘cookies and milk’ and a reindeer snack was left inside rather than out on the grass as I’ve always known to do.
There are other versions available, such as Santa is coming to Perth, Santa is coming to the beach, various parts of the UK and USA, and even the outback and ‘my house’!!
Astute children may ask why Santa went straight home after Darwin rather than delivering gifts to children in other countries (and my seven year old did notice!), but that didn’t detract from the overall story.
As always, it’s nice to see a book centred around places you know, so Aussie kids are bound to enjoy this book. And children elsewhere may well enjoy the story in its own right and get some interest out of seeing some views of down under!
Would I recommend Santa is coming to Australia? For Aussie kidswithou a lot of Aussie Christmas books, aboslutely this is worth getting. For kids interested in Australia, yes this ig a good book. For older Aussie kids, you may be better getting a more localised version of “Santa is coming” but they will still enjoy this one.
Day 15 in our advent calendars…
Tonight, the Lego City calendar joined in the food theme with a cake stall! At least, it is the physical part of a stall and some cash – my son believes it will be followed by an oven and some food 🙂
Emma and Naomi discovered a camera and tripod in their calendar so took a shot of themselves having afternoon tea in front of the piano, and some of their new pet.
If you have enjoyed reading about day 15, you can go back to day one or even read the 2015 day 15 Lego advent calendar review.
All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth – Christmas book review
All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth
by Don Gardner
illustrated by Katz Cowley
Scholastic Australia, Gosford, 2011
Age group: preschool
With a cute monkey on the cover and the title (I sing the chorus of ‘all I want is my two front teeth’ when my kids are missing teeth!), I decided to give this book a chance.
The story
Based on the song “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth“, this book shows an unhappy baby monkey hoping for new front teeth.
My review
My reviewThis book has some very cute pictures of the monkey and his gappy mouth. It also has the added dimension of a Santa snail and a teeth police officer being in the background for children to find (note the police officer is not on every page) – in the way that Graeme Base hides images although much easier to find.
The monkey asks Santa for front teeth, substitutes a drawing of teeth for his teeth and then discovers his front teeth are regrowing – my son certainly saw a connection between the Santa request and the teeth regrowing 🙂
I wasn’t engaged or overly impressed with this book, nor was my six year old – but my eight year old was enthusiastic about having enjoyed it so maybe it’s just a matter of personal taste.
Advent calendars are up to day 14!
“Mummy, would you love a cup of tea?”
My daughter was quite excited tonight to find a teapot and mugs with a table in her Friends advent calendar. The table nicely matches the seats from last night, although the tray of cupcakes won’t fit on the table if the mugs are already there!
Following all the cooking utensils, the cupcakes and Santa’s snack, my daughter asked “why is Lego giving me a feast?” to which my son answered “Well, Christmas usually has lots and lots of yummy food you know!” So it was established that the calendar is fitting the Christmas spirit!
Meanwhile, in Lego City for day 14, a helicopter was revealed for the remote control discovered yesterday. My son is very happy with and enjoyed flying it to the top of advent calendar itself and then having the ice hockey players admire it!
If you have enjoyed reading about day 14, you can go back to day one or even read the 2015 day 14 Lego advent calendar review.
BROWSE BY CATEGORY
- About Love Santa
- Baby’s first Christmas
- Children’s craft
- Christmas activities
- Christmas books
- Christmas cooking
- Christmas crafts
- Christmas gifts
- Christmas humour
- Christmas Lights/Decorations
- Christmas Memories
- Christmas spirit
- Christmas today
- Easter
- Green Christmas
- Happy kindness
- International Christmas
- Santa letters
- Santa Memories
- Santa’s snacks
- Christmas elf fun
- Uncategorized
Start your Christmas kit gifts
Â
Â
Order Cut Off Dates
Please note that Love Santa letters need to be ordered before December 18Â to be delivered before Christmas!
Order now to be sure of delivery before Christmas. Keep an eye on our blog for final ordering days as we get close to Christmas Eve.
Â
Privacy Policy
Under no circumstances, not even under threat of having to fill in for Santa on Christmas Eve, will your details of any kind be given, sold or lent to any other party.