Lego Trains Expected to Draw Record Museum Attendance

The first year the New England Lego Users Group brought the Lego trains and Lego city to the , museum staff  saw record attendance - 1,500 visitors in one weekend. That was three years ago.

This weekend they are hoping to see record attendance again when the Lego display visits the museum, according to Mary Barthelmes, the museum's marketing manager.

The New England Lego Users Group, a group of full-time volunteers, planned to arrive Friday morning to assemble the display. It takes about a day to set up even though many of the pieces, such as the buildings and carousels, are pre-assembled. 

"They are a wonderful group of volunteers, highly creative and fun people to work with," said Barthelmes. "The museum is very grateful for their donation of time as they are on-hand throughout the event to answer questions too."

Legos and model train construction teaches children patience, creativity, engineering, architecture, sculpture, math and more, Barthelmes said. It’s a toy rich in history that has survived the test of time because of its simplicity and ability to allow for children and adults to work their creations into imaginary stories, she said.

Every creation, whether it is a a toy, vehicle, building or robot, is a unique piece of work that can be a conduit that connects children and adults of all genders and ages through play, according to Barthelmes.

"The museum celebrates creative play and the importance of collecting toys throughout history; Legos are a toy that today’s children’s parents and grandparents may have played with and which can begin a conversation between these generations," said Bethelmes. "Often we hear parents and grandparents talking about what it was like when they played with a particular toy; This connection helps children understand history, be it their family history or the history of our society, from a child’s perspective."

Additional Lego events are planned for this winter and spring, including the annual on Tuesday, Feb. 22 where children and adults can dig into piles of hundreds of Legos and sit together and create whatever they can imagine.

The Lego Design Workshop is on April 19-21, 9 a.m.-noon. The workshop, led by Lego engineering instructor Jo-Ann Gorell, leads children in building a Lego city complete with trains, buildings, vehicles, tunnels, mountains, towers, bridges and moving structures.

The New England Lego Users Group display is open this weekend - Feb. 12 and 13 - during the regular museum hours of 10 a.m to 4 p.m.