We've been to the Discovery Centre many times, but this is only our second visit since they had a massive refit, rebuilding the entire soft play climbing area to create the Ninjago City Adventure. My boys were delighted to be back and it was almost a struggle to stop them playing in order to take part in the challenge.
LEGO MASTERS took teams of 2 LEGO enthusiasts of any age and pitted them against each other (you can catch it on 4OD, so I won't spoil it and tell you who won). The mix of kids and adults is to find out if creativity fades with age. If so, is that reversible? Can we bring back the sparks of imagination through play? I'm sure you can guess my opinion - I've never stopped playing and I think when we let ourselves relax and enjoy ourselves, we're capable of all sorts.
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| Some of the LEGO builds in the Discovery Centre resident MasterBuilder Alex's Office |
Our 7 year old wanted to team up with his 19 year old brother, but our 8 year old wanted to go solo - so my partner and I also worked alone. The staff member tipped a selection of bricks and other random elements onto our tables, set the 5 minute timer, and said "go".
This was a completely free build and making a decision on what to make is really hard! When you are in the spotlight your mind goes blank. Something you can usually casually do while fidgeting and barely paying any attention becomes really tricky.
Bizarrely we all had a tree in our builds - but aside from that they were quite different. I'm not ashamed to say my garden was naff - I'm more of an Emmet than a Wyldstyle and I realised pretty quickly that there weren't the pieces needed for the grand bridge I had planned in my head.
Everyone else had grabbed all the branches, so I had to go old school with my trees. It was worth it for my partner's desert island though. That poor castaway has been through a tough time!
Winner was the joint project and it was beautiful. A Tomb Raider inspired scene with a crumbling ruin overrun by jungle plants. The photos don't do it justice, it was very clever.
We all got a certificate for taking part and our 7 year old joint winner was ecstatic. Our 19 year old was too, he's just a teenager and unable to express emotion before noon on a Saturday.
The LEGOMASTERS was a temporary event, but LEGOLAND Discovery Centre run all kinds of special and regular events, including the AFOL evening for adults, which we thought was brilliant. It is a great place for a few hours visit and perfect for one of you to visit with the kids, while the shoppers sort out Christmas inside the rest of the Trafford Centre.
Entry to LEGOLAND Discovery Centre is much cheaper in advance - you can book tickets online from £11.50 per person, or buy combi-tickets with the Sealife Manchester next door for an even better bargain. Find out more about special events on the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre website.
We were given free entry to LEGOLAND Discovery Centre to take part in the LEGO MASTERS Challenge.
This looks like brilliant fun. We are hoping to visit there in November x
ReplyDeleteOooh really! The new Ninjago play area is awesome, and the LEGO 4D movie is my favourite - it's a good time to visit :)
DeleteThis just goes to show that Lego is indeed for all ages. It is a great way to inspire and enhance creativity regardless of your age.... Lego is such an impactful product to many people, and it is considered to be the building blocks of some people's childhood. (See what I did there) If you wanna learn more about the history of the company behind your toys, you can go check out The Toy Report Great article btw, thank you!! :)
ReplyDelete:)