The colorful plastic bricks known as Legos have entertained children (and adults) around the world for nearly 70 years. Legos are used to make toy buildings, vehicles, creatures, machines, anything imaginable — and they can be taken apart and put back together as often as you’d like. That means endless creative play. National Lego Day, on January 28, celebrates these incredibly ingenious and enriching toys.
National Lego Day Activities
Build a Lego toy
Dust off your old Lego set — or use your kids' — and tinker around for a while. It's good for relaxation and mental stimulation. Lego even sponsors corporate retreats for adults.
Plan to visit a Legoland theme park
They're located in Carlsbad, California, and Winter Haven, Florida. There's also a Legoland Discovery Center in Tempe, Arizona. If you're looking for more of a day trip, you can visit one of the 132 Lego retail stores across America.
Watch on the big (or small) screen
The Lego Movie (2014) scored 96 percent "fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes, with many praising the movie's irreverent tone and colorful action. The sequel, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, was released 5 years later in 2019. You can also head over to YouTube and watch a Lego creator build breathtaking structures.
5 Startling Facts About Legos
Each Set Contains Trillions of Combinations
Two eight-pipped Lego bricks can be combined 24 different ways. The number goes up exponentially with the addition of other bricks; only six of the same bricks can be combined in over 900 million unique ways.
Lego Is The World's Largest Tire Manufacturer
Lego makes 400 million tires a year for its various vehicles, far outstripping any real-life tire maker.
A Man Made A Real House Out of Legos
The UK's James May built a house out of 3.3 million bricks. It contained a working toilet, shower, and bed.
There's A Surprising Reason Behind Minifigure Design
That iconic hole in the head of a Lego minifigure is not there, as many of us suspected as kids, so you can attach a head to a brick. It's there so a child can continue to breathe in case he or she accidentally swallows it.
Legos Are A Perfect Fit
The injection molds used in creating Legos have tolerances of less than two micrometers — meaning that today's Legos still fit perfectly with those from 60 years ago.
Why We Love National Lego Day
Legos are good for the mind
Research suggests that Legos and other construction toys can improve a wide range of mental aptitudes in young children, such as spatial intelligence and hand-eye coordination. (It should be noted that Legos are intended for kids old enough not to swallow them — and wise enough not to leave them out on the carpet!)
Legos are a highly cost-effective toy
A Lego set isn't one toy — it's hundreds! Legos have some of the best "mileage" out of any toy on the market. It'll be years before your child (or you) can exhaust all the possibilities of even a small Lego set.
The story of Lego is inspiring
The Lego Group has made Lego bricks since 1949. The company rebounded from a major sales slump in the early 2000s, becoming the world's most valuable toy company. It's also the world's most powerful brand. All this, while remaining privately held and run by the same family that founded it.
