Ninety years ago, a Danish carpenter crafted a line of small wooden toys in his Billund Denmark workshop. Ole’s first collection had a modest 36 items that included cars, aeroplanes, and yoyos, all carefully crafted to help local children learn about the world.
Twenty-six years after Ole made his first wooden toy, his son Godtfred patented the LEGO® brick we know today, with its interlocking tube system offering endless creative building possibilities. Since then, the LEGO® brick has been busy. From a few simple bricks in primary colours, the humble brick has formed the basis of over 18,000 LEGO products, received the Hollywood treatment in THE LEGO MOVIE™, helped children learn about robotics and coding through LEGO® MINDSTORMS®, and inspired hours of playful digital adventures in over 180 LEGO® video games.
Throughout time, Ole’s passion for fun and high-quality toys has endured as his legacy. In fact, the “LEGO” name comes from two Danish words “Leg Godt”, meaning “Play Well”.
And now, new research from the LEGO® Play Well Study shows play as not only fun, but also integral to childhood development, overall happiness and family wellbeing.
A Family Affair
Family values have always been at the heart of the LEGO® Group, which is still headquartered in Billund, Denmark, where Ole started making his first toys. To this day, it is still owned by Ole’s family with grandson Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen recently passing the helm to his own son, Thomas Kirk Kristiansen.
When my great-grandfather founded the company 90 years ago, he recognised that play could change the lives of children – it brings families together and helps children develop skills that can enable them to reach their full potential. He only had a small workshop, but he had big ambitions to ensure as many children as possible could experience the benefits that play brings.
There are hundreds of ways to play. Here are some simple and easy activities for families to kick-start the fun.
1. LEGO game – Grab and Go
Grab a handful of 10-20 LEGO pieces from whatever you have at home and see what you can create. Set a build theme or, for an extra challenge, try timing this game. This is a great activity for all ages!
2. Back to Back with Six Bricks
Can you explain how to create a model you’ve designed without letting the other player see it first? Give it a shot! Give each person a set of the same LEGO bricks and challenge the other to build the same model with on verbal instructions
3. Balloon Car Game
Follow this guide here to build a car out of LEGO with wheels and leave a ring in the car to fit the thread of a balloon through. Blow up your balloons and race your LEGO cars to see who is the fastest.
4. Build your own: awesome LEGO jumping car ramp
Take the balloon car game to the next level by building your own car ramp!
5. Parachutes
Spark that engineer inside and design a parachute that gets your LEGO minifigure passenger safely to the ground. Get creative with tissue paper, string, sticky tape and scissors!
Building a Brighter Future
The past nine decades have reinforced just how important play is to all children. That’s why 25 percent of the LEGO Group’s profit dividends go to the LEGO Foundation, giving millions of children the chance to play and learn – including those who are disadvantaged and impacted by crises. Last year, the LEGO Foundation committed over $440 million USD (over $650 million AUD) to help children around the world reach their full potential through play.
Fun Facts about the LEGO brand
It’s all in a name – Ole turned to his employees for help naming his company, offering a bottle of his home-made wine. Perhaps luckily for his employees, he came up with the winning name himself!
Only the best is good enough – Ole’s motto still sets the bar for quality and safety. LEGO elements are dropped, crushed, heated, and tested with artificial sweat and saliva to check they can withstand being a child’s favourite toy. Butter is even used to replicate greasy fingers.
Splitting hairs –Each LEGO brick is moulded to the accuracy of a hair’s width (5my/0.005mm) to ensure the perfect ‘clutch power’ that holds LEGO creations together.
An enduring appeal – The LEGO Brick was voted Toy of the Century in 1999 – over 40 years after it was first designed.
The brick blueprint – The design of the LEGO brick we know today has remained the same since 1958 meaning bricks produced over 60 years ago fit with those made today.
A model makeover – By 2030, they are aiming to make all core LEGO products from more sustainable materials without changing the design or compromising on quality or safety. Around 150 LEGO elements are already made from sustainably sourced sugar cane and a prototype LEGO brick made from recycled PET plastic bottles was unveiled in 2021.
Big bricks for small hands – LEGO® DUPLO® was introduced to help toddlers play creatively in 1969 – DUPLO bricks are exactly double the size of LEGO bricks in all dimensions.
Standing tall – Each LEGO Minifigure measures four bricks high without its hair or any hats or accessories to ensure it matches the proportions of buildings in the LEGO System in Play.