What started in a Danish carpenter’s woodshop has become an institution of creativity in toy stores around the world and much of that creativity was on display this past week in Seal Beach this week.
With America in the throes of its “Great Depression in 1932,” Ole Kirk Christiansen began making wooden toys in his workshop in Denmark. Two years later, his company came to be called the “Lego” company, which is derived from the Danish word leg godt, literally meaning “play well.”
A decade later, Lego expanded into interlocking plastic toys and the rest, as we know, is history.
In fact, according to Wikipedia, “Lego” replaced “Ferrari” as the number one brand in the world in 2015.
None of this is big news to Lisa McHenry, the owner of KnockKnock Toy Store on Main Street in Seal Beach, who announced the winners of her Lego creativity contest this week.
For the past few years, she has seen some “clever work” by Lego enthusiasts who compete in her store’s annual contest.
“The entries were amazing,” said McHenry. “The contest is designed to get the community involved,” she added.
In a sign of the times, one of the winning entries this year was a homeless shelter.
Yes, the winner of the 8-9 year-old division built a home for the homeless; and won.
“What interests me is to watch the reaction (amazement) of total strangers as they walk by the store,” said McHenry.
Each of the contestants are free to bring in their own Lego blocks, she said, and the only limitation to the creativity is that final entries, once constructed, must fit within a space of two feet square by two feet tall.
The Lego contest gives entrants the chance to actually do something with their hands, which is perhaps becoming a rare event as the world goes increasingly digital.
“It’s a lot of fun,” says McHenry, who added the entrants were not just kids, as one of this year’s winners was “40+ years old.”
McHenry said the store’s annual contest is growing and she thanked both the entrants and customers who helped judge the winners.
Here are the 2018 Lego Building Contest winners:
Ages 6-7
1st place: The Laboratory by Tucker Nelson
2nd place: The Seal Beach Car Shop by Brooklyn Chesnut
Ages 8 -9
1st place: Homeless Shelter by Camrynn Fellers
2nd place: LEGO Kid Billboard Construction by Kevin Fellers
Ages 10-11
1st place: B-25 Mitchell by Tyler Babikian
2nd place: Starbucks by Nora Lee
Age 40+
1st place: Yellow Submarine by Anne Marie Ashley
