The Play-Well LEGO birthday party for the kids built itself-and was great

We were provided with product to review. All thoughts are our own. When it comes to a child’s birthday party there are two ways to proceed, have it where you live or have it at a facility. Each option has its own pros and cons; and as hard as parents try to organize it, there will be a cost, either in time or money. For our 8 year olds birthday party we did something that involved the theme of this party, kept the party at home, was something that everyone enjoyed and didn’t have the parents flittering about to ensure that things were moving smoothly. The kids have been attending Play-Well LEGO Camps that they have in the summer for year. But, did you know that they also have the ability to do a more concise LEGO workshop and take said presentation to your home?

As a parent who loves LEGO and whose children love LEGO we were full of questions. Let’s get the low hanging LEGO fruit out of the way and say that, just like the Play-Well LEGO Camps, you do not get to keep your creations. Our house had thousands of LEGO pieces brought in by the play coordinators and there wasn’t a single brick left by them when the party ended. That was a testament to how well they organized the different bricks, motors and pulleys, as well as, how engaging they were in dealing with a pack of 15 eight year old kids.

We were also concerned about the different LEGO abilities of all of the kids. What would the kids be building? What if some kids just didn’t have LEGO mojo and could only build square things? It turns out that the Play Well counselors had planned for any contingency and arrived at the house with boxes upon boxes of kits to help the kids build, compete and battle.

The LEGO theme for the party was one that they came up with. It was essentially a LEGO jousting battle and each kid would customize their battle LEGO. There were some examples of completed battle tracks already built and some of the jousting creations were already roughly formed. The kids were then free to customize theirs, attach the gears and then find someone else whose creation was ready to battle.

Hold on, I thought. Our kids aren’t playing with gears AND LEGO creations yet. Their LEGO creations are all cool, but they don’t have gears or require battery assistance. As I watched the party unfold I realized that the ones that were already fully built, in addition to the hands-on assistance from the Play-Well counselors helped the kids easily overcome what I thought was a hurdle.

Moreover, they loved every moment of it and relishing the challenge of building something that was new and just outside of their comfort zone. Some of the kids built otherworldly front heavy creations that looked cool-and did move along the battle track, but were easy beaten by their lighter and quicker opponent.

As a LEGO fan I was in the mix of their building, but only to see what they were doing and possible built my own thing. The rest of the adults were in the kitchen, amazed at the silence, ease and overall fun that this party was becoming. It’s not that a ‘calm’ birthday party is more fun, just like the fact that a chaotic, noisy party is not guaranteed fun.

It was the fact that the kids were having a blast, but were doing so in a manner that balanced individual work, team work and then group competition. Some of the kids did need help building their LEGO battle vehicle and the more advanced LEGO kids helped without being prompted. If there’s one thing a LEGO dad knows, it’s that building them and offering to help others build cool LEGO things is an easy offer to make.

As a parent having Play-Well organize a LEGO birthday party at our house was effortless and combined the best elements of having a party at home without any of the downside. We didn’t have to oversee any games, worry about kids not playing by the rules or be stressed out at all. The party was completely, 100% on autopilot. All we did was serve the cake, get the drinks ready and greet the parents as they came and went.

Most importantly though; all of the kids loved it and it provided something that they all thought that was cool. One of the attendees had their love of LEGO reignited. This particular child liked LEGO, but thought that they were just for little kids or required a kit to build a spaceship from a movie. The fact that they can be used as a free range building tool to create battling LEGO ships that move on a static track blew their mind. This kid has since become a LEGO fan and often speaks of the more complex LEGO sets or asks about the STEM mechanics involved in building stuff.