Atlanta LEGO KidsFest Review

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LEGO® KidsFest has been touring the USA and Canada for several years bringing with them tons of LEGO fun for children and adults of all ages! This year there are 7 cities on their tour list. LEGO KidsFest is a three-day show filled with hands-on, interactive and educational activities for the entire family. You can get creative in the construction zones, meet LEGO Master Builders, help build Creation Nation, experience LEGO Games, and see dozens of life-sized models made entirely from LEGO bricks.

A moms review:
Last night we had the opportunity to attend the Atlanta LEGO KidsFest and had an absolute blast. LEGO KidsFest will be in Atlanta at the Cobb Galleria Centre until Sunday, June 29th. In order to keep crowds down to a minimum and make sure all children are able to have fun building and playing KidsFest breaks each convention up into 5 sessions. There is generally one session offered on Friday and two sessions on Saturday and Sunday. Each session offers the same activities so just pick the one that works best for your family's schedule. Their next stops for 2014 will be Texas, Virginia and Indiana.

Checking into LEGO KidsFest was super quick which was great because a certain little boy was REALLY excited. I mean, who wouldn't be excited about 3 acres of LEGO fun? When we walked into KidsFest the first thing the children saw was the Model Museum which contains life-sized LEGO models of several very well know characters including: The Incredible Hulk, Darth Maul, Lightning McQueen and more. These made a great photo op. It was at this point I realized I had a HUGE blogger fail moment...I forgot my camera battery! So sadly my picture quality is not super amazing!

After prying them away from the models we headed to the LEGO Super Hero booth where the children built their own super hero emblems using base plates and 1x1 bricks. Rowyn made an R, Gwyn made a cat and I made ATL with a peach!

While Rowyn was waiting on his perfectionist sister to finish her emblem he went over to the LEGO Technic booth where he got to race a TECHNIC 4x4 crawler. His reply after completing the race was, "mommy that was super awesome, I want one."

Next we headed the Mixels booth where the children got to create their very own Mixel creations. There were several bins filled with various Mixel parts. They could have spent hours creating little Mixel creatures but the next LEGO Challenge was about to start so we headed over there.

At the Challenge Zone we joined some friends to compete in a friendly competition against several other teams. The challenge announcer with the help of the teams came up with an object for the build challenge. The object chosen for our challenge was a goal post and all teams had 2 minutes to construct it. Using their best building skills, imaginations and of course team work the 5 children in our team came up with a pretty awesome design. The announcer/judge was so impressed by all of the teams designs he declared everyone was a winner and handed out a special LEGO surprise to all participants.

It was at this time we found out from our friends that there were lots of other LEGO goodies being handed out at the various booths so we decided to hit up those booths next. Our next stop was the LEGO Club booth where we handed in a LEGO Club mailer to get an exclusive Max Minifigure. We also completed a fun scavenger hunt for a special LEGO Club brick. We also picked up a LEGO Movie poster.

We then popped over to the LEGO Friends and LEGO Disney booths to grab a Disney Friends mini set and play for a little bit. Rowyn and his friend were not to thrilled with the girly stuff so they went to another booth while Gwyn played.

Afterwards we met the boys at the LEGO Hero Factory booth where they were having a blast building some really unique creations.

Oh I totally forgot to mention that after children create their masterpieces at the booths they can proudly display them for all to see! Each booth has display cases or dioramas where children can place their creations. It was so much fun to watch LEGO City, Makuhero City, Heartlake City and Disney Princess Universe come to life with all of the children's creations.

At the Hero Factory booth we met up with my LEGO KidsFest ticket giveaway winners. I was so glad we bumped into them. Seeing the joy on their faces made me remember why I love blogging so much! They informed us of a few more booths where we could get some more FREE mini sets.

So the next stop was Creation Nation. We have done this before at our local mall, but it was not nearly as big as the one at KidsFest. The goal of this booth is to build a LEGO nation!!! Each person builds a personal LEGO creation to add to the basketball-court sized map of the United States. Anything goes! After your creation is complete you give it to a staff member to place on the map in the state of your choice. Each person that participated got a special LEGO prize too!

Oops one more side note. The LEGO Master Builder Academy takes place as certain times during the session so be sure to stop by their booth when you arrive to grab your workshop ticket and raffle tickets to be entered to win an awesome LEGO set (you must be present to win). Workshops are limited to 130 kids per workshop.

While we waited for our LEGO Master Builder workshop to start we decided to do another fun challenge. This time the children completed in a Pizza Relay Race. The children had a blast filling their LEGO pizza with anchovies, mushrooms, pepperoni and more! All pizza makers received a special LEGO prize for participating.

We still had a little bit of time to kill so we headed over to see our friends at the LEGOLAND booth. There the children got to help build a LEGO City masterpiece, rock out on a LEGO guitar and grab some LEGOLAND coupons!

Finally it was time for the much anticipated raffle drawing and LEGO Master Builder workshop. Sadly we didn't win a LEGO set but a certain little boy did get some inspiration from the Master Builder who actually got to work on Bricksburg (from THE LEGO Movie). The workshop was about 35 minutes long. The Master Builder discussed with the children what it takes to be a Master Builder, how the life-sized models are created and more. He answered lots of questions from the children and most importantly inspired many little boys and girls who have dreams of becoming Master Builders when they grow up. Afterwards the children created spaceships.

Sadly the evening was coming to an end and we had about 1 hour to get to the rest of the booths. But first we buried Rowyn and made LEGO angels in the massive Big Brick Pile. Next we created ninjas and learned the art of Spinjitzu in the battle arenas. The children loved this booth so much! Next we got our family photo taken in the LEGO Friends Photo Booth. You even get a special keepsake to take home.

The night was just about over so we breezed through the rest of the booths on our way out. We still had tons of fun, but we didn't get to stay and play at them as long as we would have liked. The booths we hit up included Race Ramps, Monochromatic Build, Chima, The LEGO Movie, Star Wars, Mindstorms and Art Gallery. We were doing really well breezing through and playing quickly until we reached the Mindstorms booth. This booth sucked the children in and I thought for sure we would be spending the night at the Cobb Galleria. There were 6 LEGO Mindstorm EV3 robot creations that the children got to control and play with.

Other booths at LEGO KidsFest included Honest Tea, DK Reading Rest Stop, Connections Academy Construction Zone, Cartoon Network, DUPLO Build Area (children ages 1.5-5), Kids Fest Marketplace and LEGO retail store.

So doesn't that sound like a blast? The children could have played at KidsFest for 8 or more hours without ever getting bored. If you can make it to a KidsFest event near you I HIGHLY recommend doing so. It is totally worth every penny, especially if you have a LEGO addict like I do!

Please note: Activities may vary from city to city and all content is subject to change without notice.

Tips:
-Arrive a few minutes early so you can get in right at the beginning of your scheduled time...believe me you will need the entire 4 1/2 hours to see and do everything.
-Walk through the entire exhibit very quickly when you first arrive so your children can see all of the booths available. This will give them a chance to decide which booths are a MUST see (in case you do run out of time). Next hit up the booths with the FREE LEGO prizes. I was told (though I am not sure if it is accurate) that they sometimes run out of prizes.
-Make sure you stop by the Master Builders Academy when you arrive to get your workshop and raffle tickets.
-Don't forget your camera, memory card or battery!
-You can use your LEGO VIP points and reward dollars at the LEGO retail store.

Where and when to visit:
Cities and dates vary. Check the website for details.

Cost:
Children under 2 are FREE, Children (3-17) $20, Adults $22 and Seniors (65+) $20.

Links to follow:
-LEGO KidsFest Website
-LEGO KidsFest Facebook
-LEGO KidsFest Twitter

Now time for the giveaway: 
As a thank you for stopping by I decided it would be fun to offer a little giveaway with this review. I am offering two of the mini sets we received at LEGO KidsFest (Creator Cat set 30188 and Star Wars Headhunter set 30240) as well as 2 great coupons for LEGOLAND Discovery Center Atlanta (Buy 1 adult ticket get 1 kid FREE exp 5/31/15).

Only the first entry is mandatory. Other entries are optional and give you extra chances. This giveaway is not affiliated with Facebook in any way. The winner will be posted on the blog and will be emailed. Winner must reply within 24 hrs with their contact information or another winner will be chosen. Prize will be mailed by me. 

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*Prices indicated in post are subject to change.