Lego KidsFest: Cleveland

Last weekend, Cleveland hosted the LEGO KidsFest at The IX-Center.  I was lucky enough to win tickets from Clue Into Cleveland.  My husband and daughter went out for a Daddy/Daughter date and pretty much had a blast.  (He's super excited that she loves LEGOs so much.)  When they got home it was hard to tell who had more fun.

Information from the KidsFest website says: "LEGO KidsFest is a three-day show filled with hands-on, interactive and educational activities for the whole family. Get creative in the construction zones, meet LEGO Master Builders, help build the Creation Nation and Mystery Murals, experience LEGO Universe and LEGO Games, and see dozens of life-sized models made entirely from LEGO bricks." Additionally, my husband read (he can't remember where) that cities are selected for the tour based on LEGO sales.  So, go Cleveland!

There were a variety of activities and stations for guests to participate in.  Because our daughter is only 3, there were a couple my husband found to be just a little out of range for her understanding or ability.  He thinks 5 or 6 years old would probably be the perfect age to enjoy all the activities offered.  One station allowed builders to make a bridge then test its strength with weights.  Another area featured all the LEGO games that are available right now.  And I can't forget the the mountain of LEGO bricks (and a seperate Duplo mountain) set up for free-building (wishing my husband had taken a picture of that, just so I could have seen it!)

For their first activity, Johnny and the All Star made a flower from LEGO Bricks.  For each flower created, LEGO donated $1 to Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital.  Because she had to leave her flower in the garden, All Star was rewarded with a helicopter packet to build at home.

The All Star with her donation flower.

Another activity gave them two minutes to build a creation based on a topic given by the facilitator.  My girl needed to create something that annoyed her.  Based on the picture, I think they created something that annoyed Mommy!  For this activity, All Star was rewarded with a build your own race car packet.

Bugs annoy Mommy!

Creation Nation was a favorite for my husband.  It's so large that he couldn't even get the whole thing in one frame.  Apparently it travels from location to location so people all over the country have contributed to it.  I do wish I'd seen this in person.  It looks impressive!

LEGO Nation

 By far, for my family, the highlight was all the statues and creations displayed around the event floor.  They saw Indiana Jones, Batman, Sponge Bob, the cast of Harry Potter, dinos, sharks, aliens, and of course, LEGO minifigures!  Here are just a few pictures.

Buzz and Woody

The All Star loved the LEGO minifigures the best!  Johnny tells me there was one with a lumberjack beard that she insisted on visiting 3 different times.

Dinos!

Sponge Bob

In posing for the picture, All Star went to rest her elbow on the ninja, but bumped it on a corner of one of the LEGO brick edges.  As Johnny snapped the picture, she yelled, "Hey!  The ninja poked me!"  Much to the amusement of the adults around her, I'm sure.

Lightening McQueen.  I love the lady behind M checking the undercarriage.  As if she doesn't have faith that it really is ALL LEGOs.  But then again, she is also wearing a Steelers t-shirt.

Fun facts from the lanyard each attendee received (too funny not to share):

 "With a production of about 306 million tires produced every year, the LEGO Group is the world's largest producer of tires."

"The LEGO minifigure represents the world's largest population of people!  Over 4 billion minifigures have been produced in the last 30 years.  This is almost 12 times the population of the United States."

"There are 915 million ways to combine six eight-stud LEGO bricks."  WOW!


LEGO KidsFest is in a league of its own and we sure hope they return to Cleveland next year!