I Gave My Nephew a LEGO Minecraft Advent Calendar, and He Said It’s the “Best Gift Ever”

Some holiday presents are such no-brainers that they feel too good to be true. I often feel like it should be hard to find the perfect thing (and sometimes, it is!), but when the stars align and you find something 1) perfectly tailored to their interests, 2) that they don’t have, and 3) is within your budget, the holiday magic is real, I’m telling you.

That’s exactly how I felt when I heard about the LEGO Minecraft Advent Calendar. I have an 8-year-old nephew who, like many 8-year-olds, loves LEGO and Minecraft. Put those two together?! He is in heaven. So when I asked my sister if he’d want to test it out, she didn’t even need to ask him. And spoiler: Heaven is real for 8-year-old LEGO lovers.

This advent calendar is truly a dream come true for combining real-life building with Minecraft. Like most advent calendars, it has 24 compartments to open each day leading up to Christmas — though if you’re my nephew and his (almost) 6-year-old brother, it’ll be hard not to open them all at once. Each day contains about 10 little pieces to assemble into seasonal items like Santa and a campfire, and Minecraft-specific items like “Christmas Steve,” “Alex,” and a “Creeper” (I didn’t ask for clarification on who they are, but they were confident and excited in showing them off to me). 

The box comes with a play mat to make the figurines even more interactive, and has a fun holiday theme and punch-out tabs that contain the bags of pieces to open each day.

I’ll let 8-year-old Tommy explain here in his own words: “It’s awesome super mega.” I can’t really top that, but if I have to, I’d say what’s great about it (aside from the clear appeal for fans of both LEGO and Minecraft) is that it easily combines with other LEGO sets. My younger nephew proudly showed off several of the new figurines set up in his other LEGO setups, and he’s having a blast finding new ways to move them around.

The box says it’s for ages 7 and up, which is the average of my nephew’s ages, and that seems right — assembly was pretty quick for them, but has since provided lots of fun. And let’s be real, people well over 7 will also get a kick out of the Christmas cake, red and green sheep, and polar bear figurines. I know literally nothing about Minecraft, and I loved getting to see all of the little assembled pieces.

Most importantly, I felt pride in feeling like the best aunt ever (my words, not theirs) for finding something so perfect for Christmas. My nephews thanked me a zillion times, and Amazon reviewers are having similar success. “Both of my boys reported it was the best day ever when they received these,” one says, while another is thrilled to have found it for themselves: “Lego Minecraft Holiday?! My inner child is screaming right now like Will Ferrell in Elf.”

Be sure to snap one up now in case it sells out like a lot of other popular LEGO products!

Buy: LEGO Minecraft Advent Calendar, $38.49