PUT ON A MAGIC SHOW

AND OTHER GREAT LEGO® IDEAS

Pick an activity...
p4-5 1 Make an amazing drawing machine
2 Take the five-by-five challenge

p6-7 3 Go ten-pin ghouling

4 Take your pick with a spinner
5 Celebrate with a Chinese dragon

p8-9 6 Run an egg-and-spoon race

7 Restyle your sets

p10-11 8 Cast your vote

9 Build a 3-D butterfly picture
10 Photograph a UFO

p12-13 11 Mix things up with

a sliding puzzle
12 Play a game of LEGO® bingo
13 Build a super-bendy snake

p14-15 14 Play a LEGO logo game

15 Celebrate spring
16 Start a chain of creativity

p16-17 17 Put on a LEGO magic show

p18-19 18 Give yourself a medal

19 Find your fastest car
20 Solve the farmer’s puzzle
21 Make a seesaw for minifigures
p20-21 22 Create a friendly gnome
23 Play football with straws
24 Build a shark with bite
25 Organise your games

p22-23 26 Give a LEGO greetings card

27 Put your memory to
the test
28 Make a long-armed
grabber

p24-25 29 Keep yourself cool

30 Put together some
percussion
31 Build a paper aeroplane
launcher
32 Sort your LEGO bricks

p26-27 33 Brick-drop challenge

34 Build a pair of bookend
buddies

p28-29 35 Spot the difference

36 Take aim in tin can alley

p30-31 37 Keep the kitchen clean

38 Pull a building idea out of a hat
39 Try a pair of calipers for size

p32 Acknowledgements
4

Make an amazing
1 drawing machine
You can make all kinds of patterns with this
magnificent machine – all you have to do is
turn the handle! The gear wheels move the
pen and the paper, and swirling shapes
begin to appear before your eyes!
r
Use a marker for e re nt gea
if en
the best results
t w ith d appens wh
n th
ime s – wha all gear?
Turn this handle
to work the e r
These grey beams
mechanism Exp nation rns a sm
bi ar t
u
com ig ge
move the pen in
an oval shape
ab Pins with ball ends
stop the rubber band
from coming off

The drawing
board must
Panels make
have a smooth
sides for the
tiled surface
drawing board

Four plates with pins

underneath connect
a large gear wheel to
the bottom of the
drawing board
The drawing board
turns on this pin

A rubber band
pulls these two
beams together
Two rubber bands hold to hold the pen
a square of paper in place

CHANGING GEAR
The machine works because the gear wheels move the pen
in one direction, while the drawing board turns the other
way. Using different combinations of gears, or changing
Pins and angle
where the pen arm connects to, would create a beams hold the
different pattern. Try overlaying different patterns on frame together
the same piece of paper, using different-coloured pens.
 5

The handle is a
long pin piece

BUI
LDE
T I P R ’S
Ac
LEGO omplica
t
These bush pieces
like ® Techni ed
with long pin ends this c buil
mor c
raise the gears up a e fun an be ev d
layer, so that the pen grow if en
arm is above the n-up you let
help j oi a
drawing board
you n in to
perf
ect with
Stacking two gears
on one axle allows
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD func ing the
When you have mastered the mechanics of the drawing tion
the sequence of s.
gears to move machine, you could develop the idea with a bigger drawing
down a layer board, or by adapting the pen arm to hold two pens at once.
However you choose to make your patterns, keep them and
use them to make gift tags and greeting cards.

Take the five-by-five

challenge 2
Grab five lots of five different Don’t worry about what
colour the bricks are
types of brick, then see
he same mix of bricks
what you can build using e a friend t
Gi v
all 25 bricks in five minutes! ke a two-player game.
These models are made using to ma
five 1x1 round plates, five
1x1 bricks, five 1x2 bricks, five This house uses all
the round plates to
2x3 bricks and five 2x4 bricks. make a chimney

ER ’S
I L D
BU IP
T
to
b e a fraid into
t
Don’ our build way
half
y This poodle’s
g e
chan hing else inutes tail sits on
t m
some gh. Five e!
a single

thro u tim round plate

ong
is a l
6

Go ten-pin
3 ghouling
The pins rest in the dips
Ten-pin ghouling is just like ten-pin created by holes in
sideways bricks
bowling, only spookier! A ghostly figure
lurks at the end of this dark alley, and
the pins are a gang of scary creatures.
Try not to shake as you roll the ball,
and aim for a strike – if you dare!

The ghost is
mostly made
If you don’t have
from slope bricks
printed ghostly
pieces, you can
make your own pins

All the pins have

curved undersides
made with slide plates

The base is a
curved slide plate

This ghoulish
green arrow
helps you line
up your shots

Buil
d a lo
an e nger la
ve n ne for
tough
er game!

SIDEWAYS APPROACH
The entire bowling alley is built sideways to
create the smooth, flat surface that the ball rolls
along. The easiest way to build it is as a high wall that
you lay flat afterward. If you are playing with a friend,
The LEGO® ball you could add a scoreboard at the far end, and – if you
rests on a sideways are not a fan of ghosts – you could build a bowling
brick with hole
game with a completely different theme.
 7

Take your pick

with a spinner 4
Twist bar The spinner is
to spin Don’t get in a spin when more likely to
the wheel
making a decision – let land on the
larger corner
The spinner
turns on a one of these handy sections
1x1 cone
gadgets help you out! First
decide what each colour
represents (such as yes, no,
maybe, not yet). You could
even make some outcomes
more likely than others.
Two layers of LEGO LEGO Technic
Technic® half beams angle connector
Coloured tiles attach to spins on a
overlap to make the
LEGO Technic half beams plate with pin
sides of the hexagon

Celebrate with
a Chinese dragon 5
In China, people see in the New Year and
other important events by dancing with life- Eyebrows are
size dragon puppets. Mark a special occasion made from wheel
arch pieces
of your own by building a miniature dragon.
The dragon’s back
is made with
curved slopes Horns slot
into plates
with side rings

Frilly crest is
made from
minifigure
flippers!

Bottom half is made

from slope bricks

Each section is
linked to the next
with hinge plates
8

Run an egg-
6
What would the LEGO®
Friends Heartlake Food

and-spoon race Market look like if it was

a LEGO® Pirates set?
Maybe something like
this! Using the instructions
Just two studs hold
the top and bottom for one of your sets as a
of the egg together starting point, see if
See how far you can run before you can build it as if it
your LEGO egg falls from the LEGO belonged to a different
spoon! Build two eggs and spoons for play theme, with different
a race, or take turns to see who can colours and fun details.
run the furthest.

Add a yolk and

white inside
ER ’S
Hold the your egg
I L D
handle part of
the spoon only BU IP
T
DO YOU Think
WANT BACON n a h ead! ds of
Pla t kin ou
WITH THAT? t wha y
abou d pieces u
e
the m re o
y
a ve befo ing.
h build
start
Overlap long plates
to make a sturdy
spoon handle

End of the spoon is

a large radar dish

Pirates prefer
plain benches
to pink ones!

The upper level is

a jail, rather than a
pretty apartment

THE SAME,
BUT DIFFERENT
This pirate blacksmith shop
is the same size and shape
as the Friends set it is based
on, but it looks completely
different. What would a LEGO®
NINJAGO® fire station look like?
Or a LEGO Friends spaceship?
Food for sale, just like
at the Friends market
BACK
 9

LE
7

GO
Frien
ds Heartlake F
dM oo
ar

Restyle your sets

k
et

A parrot is
a pirate’s
best friend

FRONT

They don’t dress

A robot arm and like this in
a shield make an Heartlake City!
old-fashioned sign

Defensive spikes
replace flowers
at this window

Heavy wooden
door instead of a
modern glass one

Base plate is the

same size as in
the Friends set,
but in an earthy
tan colour
10

The angled parts are

Create the butterfly
attached using jumper
first, then build the
plates and turntables
white background
around it

Are you a yes or a no?

Let everyone know with
your very own voting paddle!
With a tick on one side and
Cast your vote

an “X” on the other, SPREAD YOUR

it is perfect for judging WINGS
your own talent contests Start by building the
middle part of the butterfly
with friends, or simply from round bricks, and add
Front view showing your opinion in plates coming out in two
shows tick on no uncertain terms! directions to form an “L”
a bright-blue shape. Each wing should
background
look like a mirror image
of the other, and both are
built in the same way – just
at different angles.

Back view is
an “X” on a
dull-coloured This wing is made
background more realistic by
having one section
slightly higher
than the other

A frame makes the

build look more
like a work of art

CHOOSING SIDES
As well as the one shown
here, you could also make a
paddle with a smiling face on
one side and an unhappy

8 9
face on the other – or with
sides that spell out “YES” and
“NO”. For a strong handle,
thread a long LEGO Technic
axle through the round bricks
to hold them together.
 11

Photograph
10
This small
white plate
needs to be

a UFO
built into
the wing

Amaze your friends

This black plate
connects to with photos of
the red corner
plate below it
unidentified flying
objects soaring
through the sky!
Red corner plates and black round bricks
allow the two wings to be built at 90° Use a transparent
angles to each other, creating the 3-D effect antenna or bar to
hold a micro-scale
model in front of
your camera.
Dome pieces
make a hot-air
balloon shape

Use unusually
shaped parts like Transparent
this axe to make antenna piece
your UFOs look
Transparent
less like LEGO
radar dish
builds
piece

Blue bricks Wow! These butterflies really fly out at

make it look
like this
you! They would be great builds all by
butterfly is themselves, but by building them into
flying in a clear
blue sky a larger flat background they look like
pictures that have come to life. Be sure
to show yours off before it flies away!

Build a 3-D
butterfly picture
12

Mix things up with

11 a sliding puzzle
Each puzzle piece has two rails
created by overhanging jumper plates
When does a pattern
become a puzzle? When
you split it up into sliding
shapes! Each part of this
design is made from a
plate that moves on hidden
grooves and rails, so that
you can mix it up and
make a game. Time There are Each piece
grooves along slots into the
yourself to see how long the opposite pieces above
it takes to put the pattern sides, which
the other
and to the left,
or into the
back together again! pieces slot into outer frame

Leave one free square so that the

puzzle pieces can move around

PIECING IT ALL
TOGETHER
Start by building 12 puzzle pieces,
but don’t decorate the tops yet.
Slot the 12 puzzle pieces into the
frame in three columns, and then
Slider bricks run build three more puzzle pieces
along the inside inside the frame. When all 15
of the frame on Plates with side
the top and rails run along puzzle pieces are in, decorate the
left-hand sides the right-hand tops with round plates. Scramble
side and bottom
the pieces to create the puzzle!
Make sure you take a photo of the
completed puzzle first or refer to
this page when putting the T HE
pattern back together again. SPEC
BR IC IAL
K
Slid
groo er bricks
The bottom of each
puzzle piece is held ve al have
that o
together with a 2x2 plate
rails ng one si a
or til d
Four 2x2 jumper plates are into
t h es ca e so
sandwiched between another layer from e m and n slot
si m
of jumper plates and a 4x4 plate can b de to sid ove
e
mov e used to . They
ing p m ak
l
slidin atforms a e
g do nd
ors.
 13

Play a game of
12 LEGO® bingo
It is very important to
use pieces that you
have more than one of!

HOW TO PLAY Mark off

pieces you
have matched
Once you have made the grids, with round
nominate someone to be the bingo bricks in the
1 caller, who will pull random LEGO corner of
pieces out of a box. the section

Whenever a piece matches the

shape of one on a player’s grid
2 (don’t worry about the colour), the To play, make a grid with
player can mark it off. nine sections and place a
The first player to mark off a row of different LEGO piece in each one.
3 three (in any direction) on their grid You can make grids for any number of players,
shouts “Bingo!” – and is the winner!
but no two grids should have exactly the same
bricks. Who will be the first to shout “Bingo!”?

TIME TO DO MY
SSSTRETCHES!

The base of
Slopes each segment
connect to is made from
jumper plates two hinge
plates arranged
back to back

Tongue is a red
plate with clip

This slithering snake’s

segmented body can
stretch, shrink and make
lots of different shapes.
It might just get away if This snake is made with seven
you’re not too careful! hinge plates, but you could use
more for a longer snake!

Build a super-
bendy snake 13
14

Play a LEGO
14 logo game
This LEGO
The world is full of logos – on Exploriens
The Octan logo has
storefronts, billboards and even been used in LEGO®
logo (a 1990s
LEGO Space®
LEGO sets! See how many logos Town and City sets subtheme) is built
since 1992
you can build from LEGO bricks, flat using plates

and then quiz your friends to see This logo is built upright,
using layers of bricks
which ones they can name. and plates

15 Celebrate
spring
The cute bunny
ears are slope bricks Spring is a lovely time of year.
mounted on single bricks Both arms are
half arch bricks
When it comes around, why not
make some LEGO models to
mark the occasion? If it seems
a long way off, you can build
The carrot is something that reminds you of
built around a
plate with a ring it! The rabbit, chick and egg
that looks like a are all symbols of spring.
clutching paw
How would you represent it?

Each leg connects

to a LEGO Technic
Fluffy tail is pin with an
Slope bricks axle end
a large flower
make wide
bunny cheeks

LEGO Technic pin

sits inside 1x6
brick with holes
 15

Start a chain
16
The next player

of creativity
adds another 10
pieces that they
grab from the pile!

Player three sees

how the horns
The first 10 could become
pieces make arms and adds
a simple car a head and tail

HOW TO PLAY

Sit around a big pile of LEGO bricks

with your friends. Set a timer to
1 1 minute. Each player selects
10 bricks and starts to build.

After 1 minute, each player passes

their model to the player on their Can you be creative under
2 left. Reset the timer to 1 minute. pressure? Play a timed
Each player adds another 10 pieces
to the model now in front of them. building game with your
friends and find out. Watch
Repeat steps 1–2 until eveyone has
added bricks to all the models. as your models get
3 Admire the bizarre models stranger and stranger!
you have created!

Offset slope
Bands of colour looks like T HE
spiral all the way messy feathers
SPE
BR I CIAL
around the egg

The
CK
min
can i
be u antenn
of th sed fo a piec
in ra e
Both feet are inse gs – wh ll kinds
ct is
a single plate wea antenn kers,
Wings are pon ae
slope and s, arm ,
bricks mor s
e!

SIGNS OF SPRING
Other springtime builds could involve flowers and
blossom, lambs, new green leaves, blue skies and
sunshine. But the most important thing is what the
season means to you, so be imaginative – all year round!
16

Put on a LEGO
17 magic show
Come one! Come all! See a minifigure
disappear before your very eyes! Gasp as
rabbits are pulled from a hat! Question
everything you thought possible as a pizza
is shrunk to the size of a coin! Ladies and
gentlemen, boys and girls, see all this and
more with your very own LEGO magic models!

Doors have grey

plates with side rails
at the tops and T HE
bottoms, which
SPE
BR I CIAL
allow the doors to
slide open and shut

Plat
CK
are es with
p
Dazzling slid erfect side ra
stars distract ing for ils
the eye slid doors. making
e al T h
with ong br e rails
a gr icks
oov
e.

pen the minif ig

MINIFIGURE MAGIC r so ur
d oo e
Make a minifigure disappear!
ha
he

You’ll need to build a magician’s

sd
nt

isa

cabinet with closing doors and

Ta da! Whe

p p e a re d !

a revolving wall. The minifigure

stands on a platform attached
to the revolving wall. When
the wall is turned, an identical
platform is revealed – but there is no
minifigure! A successful magic
trick is all about distracting the Bricks at the
eye, so make sure your cabinet is as end stop the
doors from
colourful and creative as possible, sliding out
and remember to wave your magic too far
wand with one hand as you turn the
Doors slide along
revolving wall with the other! bricks with a groove
 17
The revolving wall
turns on LEGO
Technic pins at the
top and bottom

The cabinet is wide

and deep enough for
the revolving wall to turn
without hitting the doors
The minifigure stands on Both sides of
a brick platform – her legs the wall are
attach to hidden studs on decorated
the wall, which stop her from with the same
falling off as she is turned! red tile pattern
You c
o
uld als
to pe o use two diferent minifgures
rform
a minifgure changing trick!

Angled ears are created The brim is built in four

with click hinges Curved pieces
sections, which attach to
give the hat its
bricks with side studs
rounded shape
Cute rabbit nose
is a tooth plate

MAGICIAN’S BUNNY
Every good magician has a rabbit
in a hat! You could turn these
great props into tricks by
building your hat with a hidden
compartment, or by making the WAND WIZARDRY
rabbit with lots of hinge pieces, Wave your magic wand to distract attention as
so that it folds down inside the you make this pizza build disappear (slip it quickly
hat and seems impossibly large Begin the into your hand or up your sleeve!). Then find the
hat by
when it is lifted out! building
tiny pizza tile behind an audience member’s ear.
a box The trick is to have the pizza tile hidden between
two of your fingers until you slide it up to your
Thread LEGO Technic forefinger and thumb. What else could you shrink?
axles through the wand to
stop it from coming apart

2x2 brick
with hole
Four curved
A white round plate plates make up
with curved underside the pizza base
completes the end
18

Give yourself
18 a medal 19
Do you know someone who RAMP IT UP
deserves a medal? Maybe it’s One way to build a racing
ramp is to link together
you! Make first, second and LEGO base plates and prop
third place medals and award You could thread them up with a shallow
Use two layers a ribbon through stack of books. If the studs
them for the games in this book. of round plates to this curved plate
create the numbers
slow things down too
with hole
much, turn the base plates
upside down. Don’t make
the ramp too steep, or the
cars will simply fall off it.
Here is a puzzle to build, solve – and then set for your friends!
A farmer needs to get a fox, chickens and some grain across a
river – but he only has room in his boat for himself and one of
those three things! He will have to make several trips, but he
knows that if he leaves the chickens behind with the grain, they
will eat it – and if he leaves the fox with the chickens, it will eat Small front wheels
them! In what order will he get everything across? for extra speed

Both arms are built

sideways and connect
to a 1x2 brick with
four side studs

Chickens are built

around small bricks
with four side studs

The farmer’s feet The fox’s back

are spread apart is made from
for stability curved plates

Solve the
farmer’s puzzle You can find the
solution on page 32
 19

Find your fastest car

I’M GO
DOWN ING What’s the fastest LEGO car in your collection?
HI
FAST! LL
Large back
wheels Find out by running two cars down a slope and
for grip
seeing which one reaches the finish line first!
Pit the winner against another car and keep
Every race car
needs a driver adapting your builds – or build a new car –
until you find a car that no other can match!

the wheels and tyres you

Try all have
t o f n d t h e fa s t e s t c o m b i n a t i o n
.

The wheels are

attached to a
plate before the
car body is added
A slim car will slice
through the air with
ease, but if it is too
thin it will tip over!

The grain is
stacks of small
round bricks

The minifigures
add equal weight Hinge cylinder The seesaw
at both ends pieces hold the balances on a
two sides at LEGO Technic pin
the same angle with ball connector
These two minifigures rock
back and forth on one tiny The base
ball, but they don’t tip over! is a large
radar dish
Can you add more or
different pieces and still
make the seesaw swing?

20 Make a seesaw
for minifigures 21
 20

Create a
22 friendly gnome
Hat is made from Spectacles are
rocket and nose transparent
cone pieces round tiles
THERE’S GNOME Feel like giving a gnome
PLACE LIKE HOME! a home? This gnome will
look great watching
over your pot plants
or window boxes.
Gnomes are friendly,
but they can get up
Hoe for to mischief, so don’t
cutting weeds
leave them outside
Toadstool cap
is a construction or you might find they
worker’s helmet Lance makes a wander off!
perfect fishing rod

Play football
with straws 23 MAKE IT SNAPPY
The build is really one big
hinge, linked by LEGO Technic
pins at the back of the head.
The two halves of the mouth
are built separately, and then
Challenge your friends with this scaled- connected by the pins. Add a
down football game. Two players each long brick coming out of the
have a straw, which they use to try to back of the top half – when you
push down on it, the shark’s
get the ball into their opponent’s jaws will open wide!
LEGO goal – just by blowing!
You can’t touch
the ball with
your straw Both goalposts are
or hands the same number
of studs wide

24
See
w
goa ho can
ls in score
If you find it too a 60 the most
easy to score, -seco
nd mat
you can make ch!
the goals narrower
 21

The cases rest

KNOW YOUR GNOMES on smooth tiles
Most gnomes are short and plump, Why not mak
e dife
with pointy hats, beards and brightly rent
diferent kinds rack
coloured outfits. They like to help out in of vid s fo
eo g
the garden, so they often carry shovels ame r
or push wheelbarrows. If there is water s?
nearby, they also enjoy some fishing.
What will your gnome be doing? Put your video game
collection in order with
a LEGO rack for your
game cases. Place what
Slope bricks for you’re playing at the
sides of hair
front, so you can see
its stylish cover art.

This rack has Add a decoration – this

room for three musical note shows that
video game cases this rack is for dance and
karaoke-style games

Base created using

four angled plates
25 Organise
your games
Press here
to open
Don’t be scared by this great white
shark – all it eats is paper clips!
LEGO Technic pins
connect the two
Press the lever at the back and its
halves of the mouth mouth opens wide. Reach inside and
claim the clips you need before its
shiny white jaws snap shut again!
Curved pieces
The teeth
add a smooth
sections fit
finish above
and below
sideways onto
T HE
the teeth
angle plates at
the front and SPEC
sides of the
BR IC IAL
K
mouth

1x1 t
o
just oth plat
for m es
They akin aren’t

Build a shark ice, c c a n g tee

a
laws lso look th!
and , noses, like
muc
h mo beaks

with bite
re!
22

Give a LEGO
26 greetings card
Show someone how much you
care with a greetings card to mark
a special occasion – or just to say
hello! These cards aren’t for sending
in the post, so you get to give them
in person. You could also leave one
on display, so the lucky person you
made it for gets a surprise!
Both cards open on hinge
bricks at the top, middle
and bottom

Bright, colourful
decorations will make
your card stand out
A message is spelled out
s with LEGO plates inside

rg e plate .
two l a rd
You will need e y o ur ca
k
to ma
the same size

Rubber bands
give extra grip

Leaf is made from Two short beams

two curved plates create the top
held together part of the pincer
by a round plate at the end
The round
plate attaches

’S to a jumper plate,

DER
connecting the

B U I L leaf to the card

TIP A CARD FOR ANY OCCASION

also
As well as birthday cards and season’s AARGH!
ould greetings, you could also make get well
You c card from g messages, thank you cards and cards that
a sin
build tom up u ates, congratulate people on passing school
o t pl
the b stead of tes tests or getting new jobs. Make the picture
si n pla
brick h hinge the on the front reflect the kind of card that Long LEGO Technic
wit nne c t you are making, or add the favourite things pins connect the beams
to co sides. of the person that you are making it for.
two
 23

Put your
27 memory to the test
Use pieces that are easy
to name, such as a
skateboard or snake

Take on your friends with this tricky

memory challenge! Spread 20 or
30 pieces out on a table and ask all the
players to study them for one minute,
then cover them up. Next, everyone has
two minutes to write down as many pieces
as they can remember. Whoever lists the
most correct pieces is the winner!

This pin must be

Here is a great way to keep your room placed off-centre
neat without having to break a sweat! for the handle to work

Grasping the end of this extending arm

makes it reach out for almost 30 inches
(76cm), grabbing onto whatever it finds in
its path. Nothing can escape its clutches!
Squeeze the top
and bottom handle
beams to extend
the arm

PLACING THE PINS

All six yellow LEGO Technic beams
and the three dark-grey beams
are connected by long LEGO
Technic pins at both ends and in
s their very centre. However, the
beam
Use more LEGO Technic
middle pins in the blue and red
r!
ev e n longe beams are offset from the centre
to make your grabber to create the pincer at the front
and the handle at the back.

Make a long-armed
grabber 28
24

Keep yourself
29 cool

Smooth tile
decorations stop
Hinge plates Each section is
sections from
link each a long angled
getting stuck to each
section plate
other when the
fan is folded in
Hand fans have been used
Tile is on top
throughout history to
section only keep people cool and
help them look cool, too!
THIS What colours and pieces
TRULY IS MY Wall panel pieces below will you use to decorate
BIGGEST FAN. each hinge stop the sections
from opening out too far your folding LEGO fan?

Put together some

30 percussion
Make some noise with these builds! Make
Plates seal the stick at
a shaker by placing loose small bricks the top and bottom

Leave plenty of room

inside a simple container. To expand your
for the loose pieces to band, add a rain stick – a tall tower with Pieces knock
move around inside against obstacles
loose pieces that sound like falling rain to make sounds
when they knock against the hidden
obstacles inside.

There is still
room for the
loose pieces to
move through

This small
shaker fits
easily in
one hand
 25

Build a paper
aeroplane launcher 31
Give your paper aeroplanes an extra boost with a smooth Watch your paper
runway and a flick-firing launch mechanism made from aeroplane soar
through the sky!
LEGO Technic pieces. Use a small piece of paper to make
an aeroplane and then take turns with a friend using the
launcher and see who can make their plane fly the furthest.
Long LEGO
Two grille slopes When released, the Technic pin
support the plane lever pushes the limits the
before launch aeroplane up from movement of
the bottom the beam The plane sits
Flick here to loosely within
send your this channel
plane up, up
and away!
Tyres attach to long
LEGO Technic pin

Use
you
bes r
t pa launche
per r to te
aero st your
plane
designs.
The lever is a LEGO
Technic beam that
fits onto an axle

Sorting your bricks by size and type

can make building even more fun
because you can find the parts more
quickly and easily. Collect small
plastic tubs to store all your different
parts. Try organising parts by shape
The axle slots into a
first. Sorting by colour can make
brick with a cross hole, finding things harder – imagine
which is built into the stand
Clear containers
trying to find a particular yellow
LIFT-OFF LEVER make it easy to piece in a box full of yellow pieces!
tell what is inside
The firing mechanism is a
lever that pivots on a LEGO

32 Sort your
Technic axle in the base of the
launcher. The lever’s length
adds to its power, while the

LEGO bricks
tyres make it easier to flick
and give it extra momentum
when it is in motion.
26

Test your nerves in this exciting two-player

game! Inside the brick-drop tower are lots of
LEGO Technic
loose LEGO pieces, supported by sticks made axles overlap
from LEGO Technic axles. Players take turns to create a
lattice to hold
removing the sticks – and then watch as the the pieces
loose pieces take a tumble!
Brick-drop challenge

HOW TO PLAY

Place all the sticks in the

1 tower, then pour a handful
of small pieces into the top. Transparent
rock bricks let
Each player sits in front of players see
one of the two trays. Take
2 turns removing a stick from
inside the
tower
the tower – gently!
Layers of bricks
As sticks are removed, the with holes
bricks will start to fall and Pieces on the
allow sticks to end of the
land in the trays. Peek
3 through the sides of the
cross through
the model
sticks stop
them from
tower to guess which way sliding through
you think the pieces will fall. the model
When all the sticks have
been removed, the winner is
4 the player with the fewest
pieces in their tray.

Lid rests on
a layer of
smooth tiles

Ornate pillars
are decorative
– but not
essential!

Slope bricks
help hold the
tower clear
of the base

Add
the br
icks with
levels holes at diferent
on alterna
te sides.

33
FROM TOP TO BOTTOM
The brick-drop tower is hollow and open at both ends so that the
loose pieces can be added, and can then fall through to the trays
Tray is a
below. The trays slot neatly into place between decorative tiles on
Tiles stop the tray from square wall the base, but do not attach to anything. They are easy to remove so
sliding on the base element that you can pour the loose pieces back into the top and play again!
 27

Build a pair of
34 bookend buddies
Ears are
grill slopes
BEING A
BOOKEND IS A This friendly fox and wise old
REAL HOOT! owl are great pals. They never
let anything come between
them – unless it’s a good
Layers of book! They spend their days
curved plates
surround back to back, guarding all the
the eyes knowledge and excitement
that is found on a bookshelf,
and making any room much
more colourful!

The backs of the

bookends are
completely flat

Make sure your bookend can

support one or two books
before adding more

The tail is made

from a mixture
of angled plates

The owl’s feathery

front is created with
croissant pieces

BALANCING
BUIL
DER THE BOOKS
T I P ’S
Both animals are built sideways
from a base of thin plates using
curved and angled bricks to
Con
st make a simple outline. Make
of th ruct the
e m sure the bookends are deep
the b tower a ain par enough not to tip over.
a w t
to th se, the ay from
e red n att Adding bricks all through the
be m le ach
ore s gs. This it insides, rather than having
buil ta w hollow space, also gives them
ding ble tha ill
up fr n the solid weight they need
the l o
egs. m to support real books.

Key details are

created with a
top layer of plates
28

Challenge your friends and family with a pair

of near-identical LEGO scenes and see if they
can spot the differences against the clock! Ten 1
things have changed in each of these scenes.
Can you identify them all in three minutes?
Try to build your own pair of scenes, too.
Remember to include lots of small details!
Spot the difference

Keep key pieces, like

this blue base plate, the
same in both builds LEGO Technic
connectors
create a curvy
tree trunk
Hide differences
Build in lots of inside compartments
opportunities for an extra
to add detail, challenge!
like this brick 2
with clip

35
WHAT TO SPOT
A good spot-the-difference game will have lots of detail, with things
added, things taken away, things that have changed colour, and
items that have been swapped for other things. Don’t forget to let Find the full list of differences
people know how many changes they are looking for! for each model on page 32
 29

Take aim in
36 tin alley
Bring all the fun of the fairground into your
own home with this classic tin target game.
Take turns with your friends seeing how
many tins you can knock down,
or try to hit them all in 30 seconds.
The launcher can
swivel from side
to side on this Look through
turntable this LEGO®
BIONICLE® sight
to take aim

Turn the cogs

to tilt the
launcher up
and down

Use this
handle to aim Top your tins with
the launcher smooth tiles so
left and right they stack loosely Log bricks look
like wood panelling

T HE
SPEC
Move the launcher
FAIREST OF THEM ALL
Fancy stalls in carnival colours add BR IC IAL
closer or further
away to make
to the excitement of funfair K
games. Make your tin can alley This
the challenge ch
easier or tougher stall as appealing as the real has a unky ho
thing by adding decoration mech spring-r using
a e
and detail all over. miss nism tha lease
ile w t fires
at th he
e bac n the lev a
k is p er
ulled
Tall round
.
bricks look like
wooden poles
30

Keep the
37 kitchen clean
Thinner end
sections slot
into the sides

A single-stud
connection makes it
Create a build that’s not only bright and attractive, easy to change the roll
but really useful, too! This practical paper towel
dispenser is a quick and convenient way to keep
your kitchen neat, and the LEGO frame itself is Eight layers of long
overlapping plates
easy to clean with a little warm water. make a strong rail

DISPENSING ADVICE
Build your dispenser with a rail that slots into
You could use
the sides from above, rather than sitting on top
colours to match the
of them. That way, it will lift out easily when you decor in your
want to change the roll, but won’t come off when kitchen
the towels are pulled forward. Build it with a broad
base, so that it doesn’t tip over when pulled.

Make sure your build

is tall enough to hold
a full roll of towels

’S
U I L DER
OOPS! I SPILLED B
MILK AGAIN! TIP
h
engt
u re the l els
s
Mea oll of tow ld
i
o r e you bu be
f a
r
bef ail should n
o
rr tha
– you ly longer
t
sligh the roll.
 31

Pull a building
idea out of a hat 38
Someone came
up with an idea
to build a lobster! LOOK WHAT
I BUILT! Play a game that is great for getting
ideas and sharing inspiration with
your friends! Ask players to write
five building ideas on pieces of
paper and fold them up. Place
I’M RUNNING
OUT OF TIME! them in a bag and get everyone
to select one at random – without
showing it to the other players.
Have a random Give everyone five minutes to
selection of
bricks on hand build the idea they picked. When
the time is up, see if you can all
guess what everyone has built!

Try a pair of
39 calipers for size

Make a tool that will help you get

the measure of your LEGO bricks!
These calipers will tell you how This round
many plates it takes to span any brick is nine
plates across
brick, which is especially useful
for sideways building.
Bricks with side
studs hold the
tiles in place
Build the m ely
oving part separat
and slide it on from the bottom. Units of five are marked
The sides of the
moving part are
with a bigger black plate long tiles
 Senior Editor Helen Murray This edition published in 2020
First published in Great Britain in 2017 by
Senior Cover Designer Mark Penfound
Dorling Kindersley Limited, One Embassy Gardens,
Senior Designers Jo Connor, David McDonald, 8 Viaduct Gardens, London, SW11 7BW
Anthony Limerick
Editors Pamela Afram, Beth Davies, David Fentiman, Contains content previously published in 365 Things to do with
LEGO® Bricks (2016)
Laura Palosuo, Natalie Edwards, Matt Jones, Helen Leech,
Clare Millar, Rosie Peet 001-322977-Jul/20
Designers Ellie Boultwood, Rhys Thomas, Thelma Jane- Page design copyright © 2020 Dorling Kindersley Limited.
Robb, Gema Salamanca, Abi Wright A Penguin Random House Company.
Pre-Production Producer Kavita Varma LEGO, the LEGO logo, the Minifigure and the Brick and Knob configurations
Senior Producer Kathleen McNally are trademarks of the LEGO Group. ©2020 The LEGO Group. Manufactured
Managing Editor Paula Regan by Dorling Kindersley, One Embassy Gardens, 8 Viaduct Gardens, London,
SW11 7BW under licence from the LEGO Group.
Design Managers Jo Connor, Guy Harvey
Creative Manager Sarah Harland All rights reserved.
Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved above, no
Publisher Julie Ferris part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into
Art Director Lisa Lanzarini a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior
Publishing Director Simon Beecroft written permission of the copyright owner.

Models built by Joshua Berry, Jason Briscoe, Stuart Crawshaw, Naomi Farr, A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Alice Finch, Rod Gillies, Kevin Hall, Barney Main and Drew Maughan ISBN: 978-0-24148-463-0
Photography by Gary Ombler
Printed in Slovakia
Dorling Kindersley would like to thank Randi Sørensen, Paul Hansford, Martin Leighton
Lindhardt, Henk van der Does, Lisbeth Finnemann Skrumsager, Michael Madsen and Jens www.dk.com
Rasmussen at the LEGO Group. Thanks also to Julia March at DK for editorial assistance www.LEGO.com
and Sam Bartlett for design assistance.
For the curious

Solutions
20 SOLVE THE FARMER’S PUZZLE 35 SPOT THE DIFFERENCE P29
P18–19 1 Different-coloured 1
1
walls 2
• The farmer and the chickens cross the river (the Different bird 2
Frying pan 1
fox and grain are safe together). He leaves the 2 in tree
missing from wall
3
chickens on the opposite side of the river and Missing brickwork
Different pan 2
goes back across to the fox and grain. 3
on cooker detail behind tree
3
• The farmer then takes the fox across the river, Different-coloured Different windowpane
4 3
cupboard door 4 design
but because he can’t leave the fox and chickens
together, he brings the chickens back. Different-coloured 4
Pirate has different- 4
5 coloured pants
floor pattern 5
• Again, because the chickens and grain can’t be
Different-
left together, he leaves the chickens and he takes 5
coloured chest
5
the grain across and leaves it with the fox.
Goblet added
6 6
• He then returns to pick up the chickens and to row of mugs
7
6
heads across the river one last time. 7
Different-coloured
can in corner
Different-coloured
7 6
Different- flag
8
coloured faucet 8
Fewer leaves
7
Different utensil in on tree
9
mini-doll’s hand
9 10 Different item
8
Different carton in in pirate’s hand
10 8
bottom of fridge
9
Extra barrel
behind tree
9
Different treasure
10
in chest
10