I cannot believe that it is almost December

This Sunday is the first of advent

Advent is a bit funny for us this year as we will be away at Center Parcs for the start

I am not taking all of our bits away with us and so we have decided that this year

For one year

Our advent will start on Tilda’s anniversary

Monday 2nd December

We will put up Tilda’s star on the top of our house

Put up our advent calendars and open two days from each

A bumper beginning for our first advent without Matilda Mae

Also on this day we start our advent reading

And every day of advent we enjoy at least one new Christmas story

We have so many now that I think most days we will have two or even three

I adore Christmas stories

I adore advent and the build up to Christmas Eve

The lights

The music

The magic of the season

This year will be hard for us

But it will be special too

We have Tilda’s garden to adorn

And turn into a wonderland of winter

And we have Esther and William

Who now truly understand that the season is special

And they love all the trimmings

Just like me

Last Christmas was Tilda’s first

I did not know

How could I?

That it would be her only

And so in the sales at the start of the year

I bought 3 Playmobil Advent Calendars

I had forgotten about them until earlier this year

When I stumbled upon them in the loft

And crumbled at the pain of our loss

There will be no Matilda Mae this Christmas

But we do have an advent calendar to open for her

And I think there is something wonderful about that

A way to connect the siblings at this special time of year

The Playmobil Advent calendars are wonderful

Each day behind the door is an accessory, a model

That is part of a scene

We have been looking at a farm scene

With riding stables and horses

We had advent in one day

Esther and William loved taking turns to open the boxes

Behind the doors were horses, people, a cart, a hay stack, two little dogs, feeding trough, a tree

All the elements came together to make a busy working farm scene

A pony farm

Esther and William were brilliant at counting up to 24

Knowing which door they had to open next

They were good at taking turns too

There was a lot for them to take in

As we opened the calendar in one session

I think the intrigue of opening just one door a day

Would be wonderful

More special

Slowly building up the scene

Working out how the characters interact

What the different vehicles and tools can be used for

I would say Esther and William

At three and a half

Are just about the right age for a first Playmobil Advent

So perhaps they would have taken charge of Tilda’s

Even if she were still here

The Playmobil figures are great for small world play

All the figures in this set would work well with others from other sets

I think we will play with this over the advent period as it is

And then integrate with our growing box

Growing mish mash of animals, people and things

Esther and William love Playmobil

As Playologists we have had a few Playmobil 123 sets which are great

I think next year they will be ready for the next level

Esther in particular adores the Playmobil swimming pool

Her Godmother bought it for her birthday

She loves it and plays with it really well

If you have not chosen an advent calendar for a little one aged 3 and over

Then a Playmobil one would be be popular I am sure

They are not cheap to buy

But they are an investment

An early Christmas present if you like

One that will provide hours of fun

For all the family

We are going to make some stop motion animation with ours

How will you use yours?

The holidays are coming!