Lego Vacation

I didn’t think it was possible, but this summer vacation has managed to out-Lego our spring break trip to Legoland. And I’m not just talking about all the hours of free time and playdates spent building with Lego bricks. It seems like everywhere we’ve turned this summer, there’s been some Lego-themed attraction.

The Boy’s school offered a Lego day camp during the first weeks of vacation.



When we visited my parents in Pennsylvania, there was the Creatures of Habitat exhibit at the Philadelphia Zoo.



We went down to the DC-area to see my sisters the following week, and there was the Lego Architecture: Towering Ambition exhibit at the National Building Museum.



And just about every friend and family member we dropped in on had an abundant supply of Legos and/or Lego-themed Wii games to amuse the young ones.

Not surprisingly, the presence of Legos at the zoo was a bit overshadowing. The Boy practically ran past actual creatures in search of the next of the Lego-brick endangered-animal sculptures that were scattered throughout the park. “You’re on a mission,” one docent observed, and he took that to heart.



The National Building Museum’s exhibit was smaller and nicely contained, with an impressive hands-on area for patrons to create their own buildings and add them to a “city.”



My sister and I didn’t mind when our kids breezed right by the impressive exhibit of landmark buildings made entirely of Lego bricks, heading straight for the hands-on area. We only wished there was a nearby espresso stand for the parents, because the kids were busy and happy for hours. One dad actually tried to drop his kids off there, and when the docent told him he couldn’t he gave me the parent-to-parent eye roll (which I did not return).



Another dad was frustrated with his son’s intent focus in the building area, badgering him peevishly “Will you at least come look at Fallingwater while we’re here?” I felt his pain, remembering a few years back when The Boy (age 3 at the time) dashed through the Smithsonian, right past all his beloved dinosaurs, in favor of running up and down a ramp. Kids these days. But now, at age 6, The Boy eventually emerged from his pile of multi-colored bricks and asked to see the actual exhibit. He took in each building with amazement and remarked “I’m getting inspired here.”

Heartwarming.

But also a bit perplexing for me as a parent and erstwhile against-the-grain cynical type. I’ve got this nagging sensation that I shouldn’t like the infusion of a particular brand of toy into our day trips and family visits – not to mention Lego’s own rampant cross-marketing usurpation of such pop culture icons as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Toy Story (how meta!), and now Harry Potter. There’s a part of me that just wishes books could be books, museums could be museums, and toys could be toys. I never needed a sugar-coated brand tie-in to get my kids to a museum before. Suppose they come to expect it? Think of the children!

And yet, I can barely summon the outrage to shake my cane, much less raise an eyebrow. I’m a willful participant. When I heard there were Lego exhibits at the Philadelphia Zoo and National Building Museum, I was writing them on our calendar in felt tip. I guess that’s just one of those universal truths of parenting. When your kid loves something so purely, it does tend to melt one’s cynical resolve and override one’s better judgment. Disney princesses. Baby Einstein videos. We’ve all been there.

But with Legos, it runs a little deeper for me. Maybe my fellow parents with kids of a certain temperament will understand. The Boy doesn’t just love Legos. He breathes Legos. Those multi-colored bricks are his morning coffee; his relaxing bubble bath after a hard day’s work. At Lego camp, his teacher couldn’t believe the change in his demeanor from his typical ants-in-the-pants classroom behavior. “He’s really in his element here,” she remarked. On our first day at my parents’ house, my dad presented him with a simple box of plain old build-anything Lego bricks. The kid put in a full eight-hour day just building and building, happy as a clam.



“Someone should develop a Lego-based curriculum,” I said only half-jokingly to a good friend, who’s also a long-time homeschooler and teacher.

Turns out, such a thing actually exists. Lego apparently has a whole set of educational materials available on their Web site, focusing mainly on robotics and machines & mechanisms. And without a trace of Star Wars characters, from what I can tell. I’m not big on using a branded toy in a school classroom, where the kids are a captive audience. But I could see using it at home, maybe for summer enrichment or homeschooling.

Something about Lego just works for The Boy. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s a very positive and powerful force in his life. So, at least for now, I’m welcoming our Lego overlords with open arms.

Just don’t ask me about Pokémon.

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