photo credit: Travis Isaacs
Is this a familiar scene? It sure is in my house where we have $200 in storage bins that hold an enormous, expensive Lego collection that has been growing for the last 6 years. Lego is one of my most loved brands. Not only for the amazing skills it brings my kids (patience, engineering skills, cooperation, and so many more), but for the way the brand “gets” kids.
What started out simply has turned into one of the few things in our house that all the kids can play with. The 12 year old should be named LegoBoy, the girls love to create things and make stories up about their creations. And the baby, my 4 year old has been building (and smashing) Legos since the time he could crawl.
While I am not a fan of stepping on the occasional misplaced Lego, I do adore the peace and calm that comes over the house when everyone is busy building.
My main criticism for Lego is the lack of sets for girls. My girls are avid Lego builders and would love to see more girl driven sets that don’t involve girl mini figures, in settings they want to see more of. Fairies, unicorns, houses, etc. Yes they can play with Bionicles, and the primary palette bricks, but they would much rather have something a little more girly while still being Lego.
When I visited Toy Fair I had the opportunity to take part in an event held at the Lego “booth” after hours. We were introduced to the new line of Lego games that has recently hit stores. Playing with other bloggers with drinks in hand was a really fun Mom’s Night Out experience.
Lego recently sent us the Lava Dragon game to play, and below are some photos of the game. I have a video but I’m have issues editing and uploading it, so will add that soon.
Upon my return from my recent trip to LA a package arrived courtesy of Nana (my mom), the Lego Minotaurus game. While we liked the Lava Dragon game it was tougher for the little kids to play. The Minotaurus game has been a huge hit though with everyone from me down to the 4 year old. There are a few tears when someone rolls a black square and the Minotaur comes swooping down and flies one of the little kids back to start (complete with hilarious sound effects from the other kids) but in the end we all have a good time.
I especially like to see the little kids faces when they get to attack their big brother’s “guys” with the Minotaur. They can be so vicious!
We can’t wait to try out the Creationary game, that looks like another winner! Interested in learning more, seeing the full line or showing your devotion to Lego? Please stop by their Facebook fan page!
We’re also really looking forward to the launch of Lego Universe. More info below from a recent update I received via email. My son signed up months ago, and can NOT wait for this to launch.
What is LEGO Universe?
LEGO Universe is the first MMOG for LEGO fans! It’s a giant new online world where players from all over Earth can safely, build, play and pal around together! The game will offer endless building opportunities, both solo and cooperative, to casual enthusiasts and the most advanced LEGO builders. It has no “shelf-life”because the storyline, characters and other content change continuously and evolve over time!
The LEGO Universe Story
Create your own LEGO Universe Minifigure and become your character in an epic battle between good and evil! The in-game action takes place in a world where a dark and destructive force, called the Malestrom, threatens to forever extinguish the light of pure imagination!
Do you love Legos? Hate stepping on them? Remember playing with them as a kid?
Kelly
Disclosure: I was wined and dined at the Lego event, and received some awesome schwag to make our game nights more fun. Lego sent us Lava Dragon, but Minotaurus was purchased separately by a Nana who likes to spoil her grandkids. All opinions are our own. Otherwise I wouldn’t have invested a small fortune in Legos.
My son's passion is Star Wars Legos, we have soooo many spaceships and tanks!!! I was hoping he would outgrow them. Unfortunately, he has started to expand into other areas, like Fire Engine and Police Station legos…
I'll have to check out that Minotaurus game you were talking about. Sounds like a great way to loop the entire family in!
LEGOs ROCK!!!!
I think one of the coolest things about Lego is its longevity. I loved it as a kid myself and now my children enjoy playing with Lego as much as I did when I was their age.
Yesterday we had dinner with some friends whose 4 year old has a HUGE stockpile of legos collected over generations. My husband spent a good amount of time playing with him–incidentally, so did his teenage sister. How often do you see adults, teenagers and kids playing together? They have some pretty cool stuff to build: cathedrals, castles, some adventure land thing that I didn't quite get.
I think my parents still have the giant tub somewhere in the basement! Great memories indeed, and looking forward to when my own kids can enjoy LEGOs.
It sparks the imagination, which many toys don’t seem to capture these days. You’re active in other charitable programs – I wonder if there’s some sort of Intl Legos Foundation to get less fortunate children creating and playing using the toys.
Kelly, too bad you couldn't make it down to San Diego County to see Legoland. It's geared to families with kids under the age of 12 and has incredible lego creations (along with rides, etc.).
We adore LEGOs and have the accumulated collections of my husband, his brother (15 years younger), and now my 2 boys. Our greatest challenge has been finding a storage system that works, something that keeps all the pieces accessible and is simple enough to maintain. We're still working on it…