This LEGO® nativity is part of our Five (More!) LEGO Christmas Projects to Build, but since the instructions were getting a little lengthy, I decided to give the how-to part its own post!

How to Build a LEGO Nativity Set

For this nativity display, I chose to make the figures without faces.  We tried using the eyes that come with the new LEGO® Classic tubs, and they just seemed too goofy.  Even though we were using LEGO®, I still want to keep the nativity scene something that the boys take seriously.

We built Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus in the manger, and a shepherd with two sheep.  The wise men weren’t technically at the manger the night of his birth, so I didn’t build those (although you could certainly add them – they’re in many nativity scenes!).  A donkey would be fun to add or maybe another stable animal.

Mary and Joseph

How to Build a LEGO Nativity Set

How to Build a LEGO Nativity Set

Baby Jesus in the Manger

How to Build a LEGO Nativity Set

This shows the pieces that we used for baby Jesus.  We used a regular minifigure head, turned backwards to show the blank side, three round 2 x 2 bricks, and a 2 x 2 plate with a rounded bottom.

LEGO Nativity Set Instructions

Shepherd and Sheep

LEGO Nativity Set Instructions

Sheep Instructions

Gather these pieces:

LEGO Nativity Set Instructions

Start with a 2 x 4 plate and a 1 x 2 plate as the base of the sheep’s body.

LEGO Nativity Set Instructions

Add a  2 x 4 brick and a 2 x 2 inverted slope to the body.  The black face is a  2 x 2 round plate and a 1 x 2 plate, attached under the round piece.

LEGO Nativity Set Instructions

Stack two 1 x 2 plates behind the black round plate.  Add a 2 x 1 slope.

LEGO Nativity Set Instructions

Build the ears and head.  For the tail, use a 2 x 1 tile with one stud on top and attach the tail to that.

LEGO Nativity Set Instructions

Add the legs, and it’s finished!  For the laying down sheep, I used a 2 x 1 black plate for each leg rather than the white round bricks.

LEGO Nativity Set Instructions

Stable

We decided to go with an outline of the stable rather than trying to round up enough brown bricks for the whole building, and I think it has a simple, clean look. There are flat brown bricks holding the top together.

LEGO Nativity Set Instructions

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LEGO Nativity Set Instructions

More LEGO Christmas Ideas:

Christmas LEGO Projects

Five (More!) Christmas LEGO Projects

4 Comments

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  1. Lorie Dec 20, 2015

    Any chance these directions could be made printer friendly? Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Benjamin N Darby Dec 10, 2019

      I'm Tina. Mom to 2 young adult kids who have left behind lots of legos. I'd really like to try some of these nativity figures/scenes with my 4th grade sunday school class at church. IS there a print friendly version of the nativity directions? Thanks for sharing your wonderful ideas. Your children have a creative mom! :)

      Reply
  2. Colie Dec 3, 2017

    Where did you get all these legos for this nativity?

    Reply
  3. Heather Oct 4, 2020

    How creative of you to come up with this?! My husband and I sorted through our Legos and built the manger scene. We're going to let our sons build one item each day as Christmas gets closer. We had to use some substitutions, but we got it done! Your like a manger scene is very clever. Thank you for the idea.

    Reply
  4. Christina Nov 27, 2021

    Brilliant as always. Love love love this! Thanks for sharing your family’s creativity and congrats on the new book. I shared this to my FB timeline.

    Reply

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