First Impressions

We already have a lot of DUPLO in our house, so I was conflicted about adding this set to our collection. I ultimately decided to buy this set because I want to share diverse cultures and people with our family, it includes a lot of new parts and accessories which we do not have, and offers a lot for the cost.

#10943 Happy Childhood Moments – Box Front and Back.

At first, I thought this set only included parts to build the kindergarten playset, but quickly learned that it’s actually a 2-in-1 set which also includes a family home decorated for the Chinese New Year. While I’m all about encouraging him to build his own creations, including multiple suggested models with the set offers a great way to kickstart creative play and storytelling.

Related Sets

This set is a playset focused on DUPLO figures, accessories, and a selection of small scenes for the figures to play. That’s why I’ve highlighted a few similar sets to see how well this set compares.

Related Sets:

• #10929 Modular Playhouse
  $60 (at Amazon | LEGO.com), 129 pieces, $0.47/piece.
  3-in-1 with a vertically focused design, about half the price and half the number of figures, similar price-per-part.
• #10889 Mickey’s Vacation House
  $50 (at Amazon | LEGO.com), 57 pieces, $0.88/piece.
  Licensed set with a huge Disney premium, very small building offers more limited play features, switch between summer and wintertime.
• #10933 Tower Crane & Construction
  $130 (at Amazon | LEGO.com), 123 pieces, $1.06/piece.
  Two designs that focus on bulky vehicles and cranes, includes a light brick, and a wildly inflated price.
• #10840 Big Fair
  $80 (at Amazon | LEGO.com), 106 pieces, $0.75/piece.
  Single design with five DUPLO figures and lots of play features that move.

#10943 Happy Childhood Moments compares favorably to these similar sets. That’s because it offers two significantly different design options enabling diverse learning and play experiences, a lot of DUPLO figures, and a great price-per-part. (In fact, even the basic DUPLO “Brick Box” sets are around $0.50/part, too.)

Contents

Unlike most LEGO packaging, it is a fully double-sided box with each of the two sides featuring one of the two different models that you can build. That’s pretty cool, since the set allows you to build two fairly different playsets, a Kindergarten, and a home decorated for the Chinese New Year. It comes in a surprisingly large box. At 22 ¾ × 18 ½ × 4 3/4 ” (57.8×47.0×12.0 cm), it’s large enough that it might be a little difficult to carry home.

There are a ton of great parts in this set.

Build Process

Since this is a 2-in-1, we will look at each of the models in sequence. Unlike my reviews of larger LEGO sets, I didn’t think a step-by-step analysis of the build process was necessary.

Lunar New Year Home

The star of the show is a simple but beautifully decorated home, all ready for Chinese New Year celebrations. The new piece featuring three red lanterns is my favorite detail, but you will find an excellent selection of decorated parts used throughout the model.

The Lunar New Year Home represents four rooms and a play area.

Matching my (admittedly limited) knowledge of the holidays, there’s a ton of delicious looking food for the family to share in this festive season. I’m especially teased by the Steam Buns, which I miss during COVID lockdown, since steaming frozen buns at home just isn’t the same.

Closer look at the largest module containing a kitchen and bedroom.

Other fun details include the red rocking “horse” which, if you look closely, is actually a dragon! Additional play features include a slide for the children to play, which allows you to pretend that the figures are going indoors to eat and slee, and outdoors to play.

Smaller modules containing the living room and bathroom.

Because this model is the focus of the set, there aren’t very many parts left over when you are done. This includes the three printed parts used to create the kindergarten for the second model.

Extra parts after building the home.

Kindergarten

Slightly smaller of the two models, the kindergarten is clearly intended as the “B” model based on the flaps of the box cover. Nonetheless, the kindergarten still offers a satisfying build experience and is a great alternate dollhouse for kids to play and tell stories.
While intended to represent a single building, it is designed as a collection of smaller modules that you can re-arrange as you see fit. The modules are: a bathroom, kitchen, dining area, classroom, nursery, and playground.

The Kindergarten consists of six play areas.

After you are done, you do have a lot of extra bricks, most notably many extra black inverted curves, which are not needed for rooflines, and the bathtub which is only used in the model of a home. The instructions also exclude the older man from this model—I guess an older woman can work in a kindergarten, but an older man can not?

Lots of extra parts after building the kindergarten.

Parts

The selection of fabric elements in this set.

New parts:

• 1x – Serving Tray (part 27372) in 21Bright RedRed.
• 3x – Steamer with Dumplings (part 72601c01).
• 1x – Chinese Lanterns (72418c01).

New parts (new moulds) included in this set.

DUPLO Figures

I love that this set includes a lot of DUPLO figures, and includes not only young people, but older people as well. (In many ways, DUPLO figures are more diverse than their LEGO Minifigure counterparts.)

The set includes seven DUPLO figures representing three generations.

Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, this set includes a ton of interesting parts (including a Panda, Slide, and several cloth pieces). They can be used to build the models depicted on the box, or creations of your child’s imagination. Furthermore, the set includes a ton of parts for the $100 price tag, making it one of the best values of any current DUPLO set.

#10943 Happy Childhood Moments is an excellent DUPLO set.

Having researched hundreds of DUPLO sets, and built about a dozen of them, I feel like I‘m ready to give out a well-deserved Must Have (5/5 star) rating for this set. #10943 Happy Childhood Moments offers a tremendous diversity of play scenarios due to the two-in-one design and interesting parts.

I love that it includes plenty of DUPLO figures, especially the range of both younger and older figures for re-creating a multi-generational household. Most of all, it features a range of Lunar New Year traditions to re-create with your family, including the traditions of gift giving and of sharing traditional meals with family.

Even the alternate model on the back of the box is great.

In our home, we are combining this set with several books about the Chinese New Year to introduce our two-year-old son to this global holiday. You can buy it from Amazon or LEGO.com. (Please consider using our referral links, it helps!)