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Day 7: Weapons Rack Accessories Today is the day after a meet for our daughter, so we have a simple selection of accessories for the LEGO gym. Two new trophies, additional water bottles and another backpack for the lockers, and a chalk bowl. The chalk bowl is really part of the uneven bars we'll see soon enough, but also a kind of universal gym accessory, so it made sense to pad out today's batch.

Day 6: Lockers An important part of the gym, for the team gymnast, is the lockers. Just like school, it's a social hub, and a spot the gymnasts can keep their things and call their own. A couple of days ago my daughter asked if there would be lockers at some point; I demurred. But here they are, and she was excited to see them show up! These are blue and orange, with a touch of gray, to go with the team leotards. They're sort of a hybrid locker/cubby (at the gym, the cubbies are for the recreational gymnasts) and there's a team backpack and a lost water bottle on top. I admit it was kind of fun to use the old blue mailboxes I remember so well from my own childhood Space sets.

Day 5: Stall Bar My daughter and I had a disagreement about what to call this essential gym equipment. I initially called it a stretch bar, but she calls it a leg-lift bar (since that's mostly what she uses it for). After further investigation it looks like it's actually called a "stall bar." Either way she knew exactly what it was and is pleased to have another recognizable object. Two more light building days (including a gymnastics version of the all-important advent calendar "weapon rack") and then it's going to get into some serious competition equipment. Stay tuned!

Day 4: Folding Practice Beam For home use, there's a kind of half-length floor balance beam that folds in half. This is really handy in the living room, where it can be easily put away. I wanted to have something in the calendar to replicate this, as it's been an important part of our daughter's development over the last couple of years. What I designed is sort of a hybrid between that and what the kids call the "fat beam" at the gym; a much wider low beam for practicing new skills before trying them on the full-size equipment. A folding beam folds fully 180 degrees; I couldn't figure out how to do that easily in LEGO without making the build super-thick, and of course it had to have a flush surface when unfolded. So it goes a little more than 90 degrees with a click hinge. I think it gets the point across, and who knows, maybe some Friends animals can use it for climbing or something.

Day 3: Parallette Bar This has been done by LEGO in an official polybag once before, but not accurately. Today's build is an 8-piece version that is less cute but more realistic. Sadly, minidolls cannot really use this since their hands don't rotate (really, it would be great if that were resolved one day), but standard minifigs can, with a little finesse.

Day 2: Floor Exercise Surface Today the floor exercise was completed, with a tumbling surface, out-of-bounds line, and a nice border outside of that. Minifigs and minidolls (Mia & Stephanie from 41372) took turns running through some tumbling passes.

Last year I created a custom LEGO Harry Potter advent calendar for my wife, and it went over spectacularly well. So well that my daughter, now 8 and a budding gymnast, requested one of her own this year. She wanted a gymnastics-themed calendar, so last spring I set about designing one for her. Weirdly enough LEGO introduced their own gymnastics-themed set in 41372 Stephanie's Gymnastics Show, but there wasn't much crossover with what I'd planned. I did ditch the trampoline I'd already assembled, though! Last year I did a day-by-day posting in the Brickset Forum, and this year I thought I'd introduce it here. I hope everyone enjoys it and I'd love to hear feedback! I'll have a full album over at Flickr as this moves along. Day 1: Base & "Floor Springs" The first day sets up the "training center," with four baseplates and the substructure for the floor exercise. I though it might be fun to build it this way so my daughter can think a little bit about how the floor at her gym is actually built. Doing it this way might result in the surface having a little "give," too. We'll see!

Totally agree. This past Christmas I made a Harry Potter advent calendar for my wife, and it went over great. There’s huge potential for the idea—really hope it’s true. A no-brainer. I might save some money buying one instead! Flickr album of the one I made (I did a running post over in Brickset forums throughout December too): https://flickr.com/photos/96371713@N00/sets/72157676349608188