Just like the last time LEGO was in town, there’s a Model Gallery filled with (hollow!) life-sized characters made from LEGO bricks, like Lightening McQueen (360,000 bricks), The Incredible Hulk, Woody and Buzz Lightyear, and Darth Vader. Take your kids’ pictures next to them! They’re amazing. There are also murals of characters like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that look real!
Creation Nation lets you build a custom creation and add it to a map of the United States. My son decided to build the Golden Gate Bridge and was so excited to see it placed in California!
The LEGO Challenge Zone is a timed activity where you can build something—quick—with your kids. They take about 40 people at a time, set you up at tables with lots of LEGOs, and give you an activity. Our challenge was “build a playground in five minutes.” We divided up the parts and made a playground with a little play house and a slide. It was a lot of fun and all kids who participate get a prize at the end!
If you think you have a lot of LEGO bricks laying around in your living room, then you should see The Brick Pile! LEGO estimates that there are close to 1 MILLION pieces in the brick pile. Sometimes, my kids ask me what a million looks like. Well, it looks like this:
Yep, that’s a WHOLE lotta LEGOs. I watched the first group of kids who entered the KidsFest run to the pile and take a flying leap into it!
The Lego Master Builder Academy is a workshop lasting 35-40 minutes, where kids can learn skills that will make them better builders. Dan and Chris Steininger are LEGO’s father-son master building team and in the session that my kids attended, this team taught kids how to interlock pieces to create sturdier shapes. Both love interacting with kids, so if yours have any questions about how best to build something—anything—have them ask Chris and Dan. They get paid to play!
There’s a LEGO Ninjago area that was very popular with the boys and a Lego City: Undercover area that showed brickscapes of cities.
The LEGO Art Gallery is new for this year. Take a white LEGO base, lots of small, colorful LEGOs, and create a picture! Here are some great pieces of artwork:
Race Ramps is a favorite of kids young and old. Build your own car and race it down a ramp. Broken car? Grab some more pieces, add them on, and start again.
LEGO Friends, my 6-year-old daughter’s favorite, is perfect for girls! They have pastel colored LEGOs with lots of accessories. You can try out some LEGO Games including Minotaur (similar to Sorry!), The Hobbit (a memory game), and Creationary (a bit like Pictionary). Also, there are several Wii U stations set up where you can play a preview of LEGO City: Undercover, which isn’t even in stores yet!
For smaller hands, the Duplo area is a perfect play to play. The LEGO Construction Zone is where kids five and up hang out and build their masterpieces.
There’s also a LEGO Activity Area with LEGO Master Builders, games, trivia and contests. When we were there, kids were (literally) screaming their approval while a builder showed how strong some kids’ LEGO creations were by stacking 80 pounds of weights on them! There's a climbing tower sponsored by the Boy Scouts, a reading area if your kids need to unwind after LEGO madness, and lots of vendors too! If you go, be sure to stop by the Macaroni Kid booth and sign up to win some great prizes!
And don’t forget to buy some LEGO sets while you’re there! The retail store carries many different LEGO sets. It’s an easy way to shop for this holiday season.
There are two sessions for Saturday, Dec. 1 and BOTH ARE SOLD OUT. However, there are PLENTY of tickets for both Sunday sessions. To buy tickets for Sunday, Dec. 2, go to www.LEGOKidsFest.com. LEGO KidsFest tickets are $20 for adults and $18 for children.
Session information:
Friday, Nov. 30: 4 pm - 8:30 pm
Saturday, Dec. 1: Session I--9 am - 1:30 pm; Session II--3 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. SOLD OUT
Sunday, Dec, 2: Session I--9 am - 1:30 pm; Session II--3 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE
