SINGAPORE – Make family time all the more special with these ideas and activities.

Meet: New Lego Friends characters

Has it really been 10 years since Lego Friends was launched? The popular toy line is celebrating its milestone by welcoming eight new main characters.

Meet Nova, for starters. She has three million followers on social media but struggles to make real-life friends.

Then there is Olly, a one-kid production team who wants to be famous. And Zac, who is the life of the party but hates dealing with failure.

Sounds like a youngster you know? That is because the characters were designed to be more relatable to kids today, following feedback from participants of the Lego Play Well Study conducted in early 2022.

Three in four children had expressed that there were not enough toys with characters that represented them.

The Lego Group is big on celebrating diversity, too. For example, Autumn is born with a limb difference. Her mum is Mia, one of the five original Friends introduced a decade ago.

If you are going “huh?” at this point, stay tuned for an upcoming animated series in February that will support the storyline and brick sets.

Fans will have to wait till Jan 1 to buy the new Lego Friends sets, which include the Heartlake Downtown Diner ($44.90) and Heartlake International School ($159.90).

Shop: Pixar-themed hand sanitisers

The simple act of washing hands with soap and water remains an important way to keep germs at bay and prevent infection.

When that is not possible, remind your kids to practise other good hygiene habits, such as using alcohol-based hand sanitisers.

If they are fans of Toy Story, Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc., check out Lifebuoy’s latest range.

Its 50ml bottles now come with limited-edition rubber keychain rings featuring iconic characters from these Pixar animated movies. Hook one onto their backpacks so they can easily reach out for the hand sanitiser at all times.

There are eight to choose from, including Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Nemo and Mike. They retail for $4.80 each.

Shop the collection at major supermarkets such as FairPrice, Giant and Cold Storage, as well as online retailers including Shopee and Lazada. Refills are also available at $2.65 each.

Watch: Ghostwriter season 3

The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, Charlotte’s Web and The Mouse And The Motorcycle. If your children are unfamiliar with these classic novels, they might just be inspired to read them after watching Ghostwriter’s latest instalment.

This Emmy-winning kids and family television series returns with an entirely new cast, but it largely follows the same premise.

A ghost is haunting a bookstore and releasing fictional characters into the real world, and a group of young friends have to solve a mystery surrounding its unfinished business.

This time, they embark on adventures with protagonists such as the Tin Man from L. Frank Baum’s story The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz as well as Wilbur the pig from E.B. White’s book Charlotte’s Web.

A reimagining of the 1992 hit series from Sesame Workshop, all 13 episodes of the third season are now streaming on Apple TV+.