In my continuing search for creative distractions as part of the COPE campaign, I find myself regularly looking in the strangest places.
Unsurprisingly, with a 6 year old at home we’re not short of toys. In fact, despite me craving a tidy house straight from the pages of Country Living, in reality I have one massive game room with bits of plastic and books hidden in every corner.
As any guardian knows, when you have kids around you either get stuck into the world and remain part of their lives or you very quickly get left behind. In an effort to stay current with our daughter I’ve watched the crappiest films, read the weirdest books and played the strangest games. Thankfully with her around everything remains a joy to do.
Sometime at the start of this year I was reintroduced to Lego. Our girl likes super Mario, so for Christmas she got one of the Mario Lego sets, and I sat with her to put them together. I found myself getting jealous as she did the lions share of building and I had to watch on, only getting involved to turn the pages of the instruction book. I was hooked. We found some smaller cheap sets called ‘brickheadz’ that worked well for her. Being neurodivergent means her imagination isn’t too wild yet, so being free to build anything isn’t really an option. She likes following a plan, so these small sets that produce a popular Disney character like Moana, are perfect.
Problem is, I still felt very selfish and left out. The solution? Grown up Lego!
Yes, it’s a thing and, despite my partners parents thinking I’m too old for the hobby, I know there are millions of other adults who, like me, are loving these giant Lego projects.
If money isn’t a problem you can get anything from a piano to a scaled down titanic. Fans of marvel and Star Wars won’t be disappointed either with various movie memorabilia available to make.
But for us, affordability is a problem, because the bigger sets can run into hundreds of pounds. I also don’t recommend fake Lego, because the pieces don’t seem to slot together as well and I’ve found the attention to detail and instructions to be lacking. But there are many tutorials online to build grown up sets up using normal set of Lego bricks, so you can build, destroy, then build something new to enjoy again.
Buying one ‘creative’ set to build as many times as you like is much more cost effective. It’s also a good starting point to see if you really want to re-invest in your childhood hobby.
Amazon in the U.K. have Lego creative sets starting at around £18 and if you need build inspiration there are some websites with excellent projects (including Lego themselves), large and small…
https://www.lego.com/en-gb/themes/classic/building-instructions
https://momlovesbest.com/lego-building-ideas
YouTube has lots of walkthrough videos and Pinterest is a great place to find inspiring designs you want to try.
I think I’ve learned something really important having grown to love Lego again – there’s a good reason why childhood is so carefree and imaginative hobbies are a big part of it. Going back to basics and learning to nourish the child within (sorry to sound like a therapist) is actually a positive and fulfilling way to relax…as long as you can find enough space the house your creations!
The picture
I had to draw Bowser because I’ve wanted the bowser Lego set for so long, our daughter is obsessed with Mario, and it was massively reduced just before my birthday.
So I created my own little Kawaii version of the angry, princess kidnapping boss to share with you here!
Now go enjoy being creative. Relax.
Thanks for reading 💜
Creative Steph 