Friends

Adventure Camp Water Sports

Two kayaks, a curious bear, and a dock that actually launches boats.

Brick Rated Score

3.9/5

Set 42626 · 2024

Pieces628

Minifigs3

Year2024

Set number42626

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The verdict

This is the water sports corner of the 2024 Adventure Camp lineup, and the two lavender-and-coral kayaks are what won me over, they photograph beautifully and the launch dial genuinely works.

The play features punch above their weight for a set this size, with a stone-skipping mechanism tucked under the dock and a bear sniffing around for fish. The only thing that gives me pause is the price, because 628 pieces for around seventy dollars asks a bit much. If a kid in your life is into camp play or you just love a summery build, it is easy to recommend.

Best for: Friends fans who love summery camp play and functional water builds

The full review

What it is

The two kayaks are the whole reason I fell for this one. LEGO gave them a fresh lavender hull and a coral partner, threw in colorful oars, and set them on a little dock with a launch dial that actually sends them sliding into the water. It sounds like a small thing, but the first time I turned that dial and watched a kayak glide off the ramp, I grinned like a kid. This is the water sports slice of the 2024 Adventure Camp range, and it leans all the way into the fantasy of a summer camp by the lake, kayaking, fishing, raft building, skipping stones, even a quick shower station for climbing out of the water. There is a bear wandering the shoreline hunting for a fish lunch, which is exactly the kind of gentle chaos that makes Friends play sing.

The catch

I will be straight with you about the value, because it is the one place this set stumbles. At roughly seventy dollars for 628 pieces, you are paying closer to eleven cents a brick, and that is a touch rich for what is a fairly breezy build. There is not a lot of structural meat here, no clever engineering that will make an older builder sit up, and if you are the type who lives for a satisfying technical puzzle you may find it over a little too soon. It also lands in a crowded camp lineup, so the value math gets harder when the neighboring sets offer more brick for the money. None of this makes it a bad set, it just means you are partly paying for the play functions and the printed pieces rather than raw part count.

Who it's for

Who should get this one? Anyone building for a child who loves imaginative camp play will find it near perfect, because the functions are the point and they work. The launch dial and the stone shooter give a young builder something to do long after the last brick is placed, and three of the Friends regulars mean the stories write themselves. Parts hunters after those lavender kayaks and summery recolors will also be tempted. The people I would gently steer away are collectors chasing a display centerpiece or builders who want an evening of real engineering, because this is a bright, playful, fast build and it never pretends to be anything else.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

Building this is a light, breezy afternoon rather than a proper sit-down project. The instructions are clear and generously illustrated, the pieces snap together cleanly, and an experienced builder will be done well before the fun runs out. Most of the joy is in the assemblies rather than the structure, the dock with its dial-driven launch ramp, the little shower station, and the tile shooter tucked underneath that skips stones across the water. It is the kind of build that is genuinely more rewarding to play with afterward than it is to assemble, which is exactly right for the audience.

For parts people there is more here than the size suggests. The 2 x 15 kayak hull shows up in a fresh lavender, and there are matching oars in lavender that also appear in the campfire set, so it is a useful color to have doubled up. New Elementary flagged a medium nougat 6 x 10 plate, a dark azure prosthetic hand with bar holder, and reddish brown foliage bits as the pieces worth digging for. On top of that you get printed merit badge tiles for kayaking and archery plus nature-themed printed tiles that drive the play features. It is a nicely stocked little parts pack wearing a summer camp costume.

Fun facts

01The set is part of LEGO's 2024 Adventure Camp wave alongside 42622, 42624 and 42631, all sharing the same summer camp world.
02It includes three of the core Friends characters, Autumn, Zac and Liann, plus a bear figure hunting for fish.
03The dock hides a dial that launches the two kayaks and a separate mechanism that skips tiles across the water like flat stones.