Planning the ultimate 4th birthday surprise....Lego style!

Well, I don't know about you but at the moment we are going through what I call a "play phase" in our house. It's a phase in a pre-schooler's life where they become obsessed with a certain play thing and spend every waking moment of the day totally consumed by this one play thing. Well, the "play phase" we are right in the middle of is one which we started over a year ago and I honestly don't see any end end in sight.

Lego. Lego. Lego. Everywhere, and I mean everywhere.

We first purchased Charlie's first box of Lego when we visited Center Parcs the Christmas before last. Tom took him to the onsite toy shop and they picked the Lego Junior Construction Box. Ok, so at not even three years of age there was no way he could follow instructions and build the diggers, but he watched, and he watched in awe. Within a couple of minutes and with help from Daddy he started to pop the wheels together, small steps and all that for a little person. The diggers were constructed and we had a very content little boy who spent hours just driving the little men around his make believe little world.

Lego Junior Construction - Charlie's first Lego set

And that's where his love affair with Lego began.

What I love about Lego is the ability it has to bring people together no matter what age or gender they are. Daddy and Charlie now spend hours constructing the different versions and he's even built him his very own bespoke Lego play table with interchangeable base plates which according to Charlie is "amazing!".

Lego is ageless. Timeless in fact. From your very first Duplo set to your brother in law asking for a Lego Campervan for his 40th birthday. It's ageless and timeless. I challenge you to find someone who has never ever played with Lego, Charlie even plays with Lego that my brother had over twenty years ago, not a lot has changed. Did you know that Lego are the largest manufacturer of tyres world wide? No? Well you do now.

The "amazing" Lego table that Daddy built

I love Lego for a number of reasons. The happiness it brings Charlie when he plays, the delight when he's made something super cool. I love the fact that it's a pretty clever piece of kit too for a little brick. You can construct amazing things, it improves hand eye co-ordination and can even help with teaching little people fractions.

Teach your kids the art of fractions with the help of Lego - ingenious!

I also love Lego for bringing me the Lego movie and for one of the loveliest film quotes of all time.

Loveliest film quote ever?

In my house, I'm not allowed to touch the Lego. Lego is a mummy free zone. "Don't touch this, don't touch this" I am forever being told, hey the most I am ever allowed to do is open the different bags and lay the pieces out ready for construction.

This year Charlie turns 4. Goodness knows where an earth those four years have gone but I have to acknowledge that he's growing up and that's why I want plan what I believe is the ultimate weekend away for a Lego loving pre-schooler. We want to go to Legoland Windsor and I want to stay there.

Being in Cobham, Windsor is a forty minute drive away so is super convenient for us to make our getaway. Situated in 150 acres of beautiful parkland this place really is the ultimate family resort.

The Legoland Winsor hotel is a must for this special birthday. Imagine his face when we pull up to the Lego themed hotel to be checked into a Lego themed room!!! I mean c'mon you only turn four once right??

Charlie and Daddy are huge fans of the Lego Movie, if you haven't seen it, a) where have you been and b) you'll never use the word super glue again!

Well this Spring sees the arrival of Emmet and the gang for 4d The Lego Movie Adventure - so we will not be able to escape seeing this when we visit the park!

There are so many rides to do I question whether we will fit it all in one day so probably best we buy a two day ticket so we can come back the following day!

There are a huge amount of rides aimed at pre-schoolers and looking online the driving academy and the fire academy I know will be a HUGE hit! What four year old wouldn't want to learn how to drive or put out fires using giant fire hoses?!?

Now, whilst there are loads of fun rides for the kids and adults I might add, the one thing I cannot wait to see is the mini world where those clever people at Lego have designed and built mini replicas of famous landmarks from all over the world!

Now, we've not really hit the Star Wars phase just yet (to be honest I've never seen a single film), but I have a sneaky suspicion that when Charlie sees Legoland's latest exhibition we will be heading straight to the gift shop to purchase some Star Wars inspired Lego! If you are a Star Wars fan you are not going to want to miss this one. According to their website...

One of the most impressive and biggest models ever created for the LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort will be revealed in March when a 500,000 brick LEGO® Star Wars™ recreation of Darth Vader’s ultimate super weapon,The Death Star, becomes the centre piece of an epic new finale at the hugely popular LEGO Star Wars™ Miniland Model Display.

The new 2.4 metre wide, 3 metre high Death Star will be the focal point for a thrilling, engaging scene depicting the Rebel Alliance attack on the moon sized space station in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. As well as the gargantuan 860kg spherical Death Star model, the scene will also feature 16 Alliance ships swooping to destroy it with sound and light effects triggered by guests.

Sounds pretty cool to me and I couldn't even tell you the difference between a storm trooper and a Chewbaca.