In a joint celebration for both World Play Day (August 10th) and LEGO’s 90 Years of Play, Darling Harbour is set to become a temporary home for 20 life-sized LEGO Minifigures next week with the aim to just encourage people to play, and particularly to play together. The event is entirely free, and will showcase huge and familiar figures like Benny the Robot and the Ballerina, as well as a special addition created by Ryan “The Brickman” McNaught, which each figure accompanying a special play moment for attendees to enjoy. Each of them is designed to be simple and activities include things like dancing, moonwalking, or playing hide and seek, so they are accessible to as many people as possible!
Joining in the fun at Darling Harbour isn’t the only way to get involved with the celebrations. The goal of World Play Day is to get people playing – whether that be at home, or on site in Sydney. Data gathered this year in LEGO’s Play Well Study shows that 41% of parents admit that their family doesn’t play enough together, and that nearly 8 in 10 children wish they could play more with their parents – which is understandable, given the hectic state of the world. So the hope of Troy Taylor, Vice President and General Manager of LEGO Australia & New Zealand is that this event should simply encourage play and connection.
“Amidst a global pandemic, we’ve learnt that play matters more than ever before which is why we want to bring back more play throughout the day than ever before. We’re encouraging all fans and families to find some time to play, whether that is discovering our magical array of Minifigures playing at Darling Harbour, or spending time getting back to the basics of play at home through fun activities with the family!” noted Taylor.
Other findings from LEGO’s Play Well Report show that play is important to everyone. 9 in 10 parents think that play is important in helping children learn new things (almost as important as school!), and 6 out of 10 parents believe that both them and their children spend too much time online – which might mean that something like LEGO could be the answer.
The event will run in Sydney from August 10th – 14th, but no matter where or who you are, try to put away 90 mins just for play on World Play Day. By yourself, or with friends and family, use it as an excuse to just have a great time (but in the spirit of LEGO, maybe try to make it happen in a wholesome way?)
Some fun ideas on how to spend the day and more information on LEGO’S 90 Years of Play event can be found on the LEGO website! And if you want to see a brief timeline of how LEGO has contributed to fun over the past 90 years, here’s one we prepared earlier.
