Fun-Filled Lego Weekend at New Lego Store

Lego is big in our house, especially for my 6-year old son. It’s been a great tool for helping with math, encouraging reading, even for teaching patience and problem solving. My son owns so much Lego we had to build a special storage and play area in his room to keep it under control.

So you can imagine how excited he was when we heard about the Lego Store coming to Canada, the first to open in Ontario (at Sherway Gardens).

To celebrate, the Lego store is hosting a Lego-filled weekend of fun, including a giant build project and prizes, from May 13 until May 15.

To get a jump on what promises to be a crazy weekend, the kids and I dropped by Sherway Gardens on the Friday, right after school. Even at 4:00 p.m. on a sunny Friday afternoon, the store was packed. The line to purchase items was snaked around the inside of the store and later it ended up out in the mall but the staff was great at keeping everyone organized.

In the store you’ll find the walls lined with all sorts of Lego kits, grouped by theme: Space Police, Harry Potter, Creator, City and even the new Pirates of the Caribbean sets. You’ll also find Lego and Duplo for the younger ones. The kids in the store, mine included, loved the little portals that appear along the walls, all around the store, at kid height. Peek in and you’ll discover spaceships, cars, streetscapes, all built out of Lego.

But our favourite area within the store was at the back, the Pick a Brick wall. Grab a bucket and fill it from the wall of individual bricks. You can pack your container like my son, looking for specific pieces like extra tires or triangle pieces for wings, or you maybe fill it like my youngest daughter who shops by colour (pink, purple, pink, another pink). I have a feeling we’ll be visiting this store often.

But the real reason we headed over to Sherway Gardens was to participate in the giant Lego build project planned as part of the store’s opening celebrations. Master Builder, Steve Gerling, was on hand to build an 8 foot LEGO R2D2 model starting Friday and continuing through the weekend. The build area is located in Sherway Square, in the center of the mall. It’s hard to miss. The whole square was set up with 8-10 tables and a 4-foot platform in the middle, where the Master Builder would be working on the model. There was a mini model already there as a guide.

At each of the tables, kids were invited to take mini bricks and make a larger brick that the Master Builder would actually use in the model. The tables were colour coded based on the Lego brick colours needed to build the R2D2 model. Along with buckets of Lego pieces, there were also instruction cards for the kids (and adults) to follow. My son had his first brick done in a flash. Even my 4-year old daughter enjoyed making a brick.

After turning over their completed bricks, each one of my kids received a certificate stating they helped contribute to construction and were now Master Builders themselves.

Certificates will be given out all weekend during the build hours (while supplies last) and there are a number of giveaways planned too. Visit our event page for more details and hours.

Some additional photos from Friday's event:

About the Author Managing Partner and Editor-in-Chief at one of the best social networking and lifestyle sites for moms, EverythingMom.com. Trying to balance life at home with my 3 kids (all under 8), while building my business, working at EverythingMom.com and developing my writing. Oh and throw a load of laundry in and a dinner that isn't burnt. Wasn't working from home suppose to be easier? Posted by Carrie Anne in toronto on May 13, 2011 More from this author  |  Author Website Follow Carrie Anne on:  |  |  |