50 years ago this week, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen filed the patent for a plastic interlocking brick. The brick consisted of a unique stud and tube coupling system which began a building revolution. Years later, people of all ages share in the excitement of building simple creations to space ships as wide a dinner table. The LEGO timeline on Gizmodo shows the history starting with a modest brick.
LEGO Trivia
Here are some fascinating numbers regarding the global popularity of LEGO.
- 7 LEGO sets are sold by retailers every second around the world.
- 19 billion LEGO elements are produced every year.
- More than 400 million people around the world have played with LEGO bricks.
- There are 55,600 LEGO videos on YouTube.
My LEGO Collection
I was first introduced to LEGOs when I was given the Alpha-1 Rocket Base. It was a simple set that had enough pieces to keep my imagination on full tilt for weeks that led up to Christmas. For Christmas, I received more of the Space sets, and my collection grew from there. My collection consists of Space, Expert (Technic), and Town series. The years went by and slowly the LEGOs made their way to storage bids that now rest quietly in the attic.
These days, I am partial to the LEGO Mindstorms NXT Robotics set. It’s a a “grown-up” LEGO set that provides the components for creating complex automation and purpose.
LEGO as a Learning Tool
My three year old son is now starting to play with the “real” LEGOs, not just Duplo pieces. He is a slowing learning how to stick the small pieces together and making an undefined cluster of pieces. He is starting to think abstractly, and I think that is a great first step.
I am a firm believer that LEGOs helps to challenge the mind fuels the imagination. Give a group of kids/adults each a set of the same bricks without instructions and tell them to create something. I promise you, there will be a diversity in the creativity between the creations.
February 1st, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Happy Birthday, LEGO.