In this article (part 2 of 2) I share 6 more reasons that I’ve thought of on why I like to build Lego and why I find the hobby and experience to be so enjoyable. The idea behind this ‘thought bubble’ style of article is to prompt you to think about why you personally like to buy, build and collect Lego models.

Are there one or more the reasons that I’ve listed that you relate to? Or are there other reasons that I’ve not listed that you can think of?

Reason 7: It allows you to express your imagination

In part 1 of why do we like to build Lego as adults I talked about enjoying the pure creative feeling and creative process that Lego fosters.  Expanding on this is a related reason on why building Lego is so enjoyable to us as Adults, being that it provides us with a physical medium to express our imagination!

When you think about it, Lego is unique in this aspect, by its very design given the huge range of different shapes, colours and types of Lego parts that you can connect, you are able to build almost anything you can conceive of, from Lego.

To me this is what makes Lego so special!

I can dream something-up and then make it a reality in Lego form. There’s so much joy in this and I think this aspect of Lego is one of the key reasons that it is appealing and enjoyable to people of all ages.

Reason 8: Increase fine motor skills, concentration, patience and focus

As experienced Adult Lego builders we often take our ability to build Lego models for granted. 

If you have ever observed a young child build Lego over their development from infant, to small child to teenager, you’ll be reminded via their struggles and challenges with building Lego that there are hand fine-motor skills, hand-eye coordination, skills of observation and concentration abilities that must be learned and developed over time to be able to build Lego with proficiency.

In this regard, I think a benefit and enjoyable aspect of building Lego is that even as adults, Lego teaches us and helps us to maintain our: hand fine-motor skills, concentration, patience and focus.

Is this aspect of building Lego something that you’ve thought about and appreciated before?

Reason 9: Experiment and fail in a safe-space

Trying new and unfamiliar things, experimenting, and learning from failure is critical to a balanced and healthy life, but can be daunting at times.  Lego allows us to experiment, stuff things up and fail in a safe way where there is no real consequence.

Have you experienced Lego fails like:

  • Discovering you’ve made a mistake in the early stages of your build that requires you to partially disassemble your model, correct the mistake and re-commence your build from a much earlier point? (This fail can be particularly tough to swallow when building complex Lego Technic sets like the Bugatti Chiron pictured above.)
  • Accidentally dropping or knocking a completed Lego model off a table, shelving or where you have it displayed requiring you to re-build the model?
  • Or perhaps you’ve come up with a great idea for MOC (my own creation) but on trying to design it digitally, or make it in person in Lego, you are unable to realise your vision or just can’t get the outcome to work or look good?
  • Or maybe you’ve taken on Lego build, like a highly complex custom Lego project, where it is simply too complex and too long of build for your level of building skill at that time?
  • Or have you botched placement of stickers on a Lego model where correct placement of stickers really matters? (I can think of several Lego Technic sets that have 40-50 stickers where this fail would easily occur.)

For the record I’ve experienced every one of the ‘Lego fails’ I have listed above during my return to building Lego as an adult!

I think experiencing Lego fails and recovering from them helps us to more readily accept that failing is ‘ok’, we all experience it, and like recovering from a Lego fail, all that is often required in the face of failure is for you to learn from it, re-group armed with new knowledge, and try again.

Reason 10: Connect to the objects and pop-culture we love

Over our lifetimes via the experiences we have, places we visit, people we interact with, books we read, tv shows and movies we watch and so on, we develop connection and affinity to particular places, objects, stories, lore, people, and characters.

Being able to build representations of these things or people or characters in Lego enables us to connect to them all over again and/or at a deeper level. To me this is highly enjoyable and is definitely one of the reasons for why I think we like to build Lego as adults.

Are you a car person and build and collect mainly vehicle related Lego sets like the beautiful 1:8 scale Technic Supercars?  Or are you a Star Wars fan and your Lego collection expresses your love and connection to that universe?  Or are you into architecture and your collection of Lego building modulars, or a Lego city or collection of Lego Architecture sets expresses your love of the built environment?

Think about your own Lego collection.  Do most of the sets you own correlate to, and link you to, something or a place or people or characters or even a particular interest of hobby that is personal to you?

Does looking at them from time-to-time put a smile on your face and reconnect you to memories and thoughts of something?

Reason 11: Build awesome stuff to display & show-off in your home

Building cool things from Lego allows us to have and display interesting things to decorate and show-off in our homes.  If you are a Lego person, you’ll definitely relate to what I’m about to write next.

How many times have you had a friend, relative or family member come over to your home and they have gawped at your Lego collection or one of your latest builds and exclaimed something like: “ OMG that looks amazing!”?  …and then you’ve had a fun conversation about your experience building it, or where you can buy it or you’ve talked about the source material like a TV show or movie that the model originates from.

If you relate to this and can think of when this has happened for you, I bet you are smiling!  To me being able to show and talk about my Lego models and collection to others who are interested is a source of delight.

Do you feel the same and can relate to this?

Reason 12: Mental stimulation!

Tucking into building Lego can be the perfect cure for boredom! 

I often find it incredibly enjoyable to engage my mind in a creative task like building a new Lego model, or figuring out how to modify and improve an existing Lego set.

Perhaps weird, but I even find the process of ordering Lego parts on BrickLink to be mentally stimulating. Where I’m trying to find the most cost-effective set of orders to place with different BrickLink sellers to get the parts I need for a custom Lego build project.

Do you agree and find building Lego to be mentally stimulating and enjoyable?  Do you like to build highly challenging Lego sets like some of the very complex large Lego Technic sets where you have to focus and pay attention during your build to avoid making mistakes?

…and that’s a wrap!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading both parts 1 and 2 of my take on why we like to build Lego as adults and that it has made you reflect in a pleasant way on the reasons why you personally enjoy being a Lego hobbyist.

I encourage you to share these articles with other Lego enthusiasts that you may know.  My hope is that they start interesting conversations!