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THREE LEGO-loving youngsters enjoyed winning an awesome array of prizes and the hearts of City Centre Bahrain shoppers with their block-building techniques and creative modelling.
The shopping destination’s Central Galleria was transformed into a LEGO heaven for fans of the top toy brand, featuring a fire station, jail cell, police station and construction site where visitors could also have their photographs taken with creative characters.
To enhance the plastic mania, mall management also unveiled an Unbox Your Imagination contest in which children had the chance to build their own creations brick-by-brick and have their colourful constructions displayed at LEGO City for all to enjoy.
Soon a section of the giant city of blocks was covered with an array of 40cm x 40cm model designs including helicopters, giant houses, boats, parks and animals.
According to senior mall manager, Duaij Khalifa Al Rumaihi, out of the 40 participants that entered the competition, it was Mohammed Kader Ali, Aseel Samer and Ali Alsatrawi’s works of art that stood out from the rest for being ‘creative and unique’.
Mr Al Rumaihi said: “As part of this year’s ‘LEGO City Event’, City Centre Bahrain was delighted to announce the three winners of the ‘Unbox Your Imagination’ competition.
“We were overwhelmed by the number of entries received and have selected the work of three participants whose LEGO models stand out for their uniqueness and creativity. As part of our commitment to create great moments for everyone, every day, the young artists will receive certificates and gift cards to enjoy a future shopping and leisure experience at City Centre Bahrain.”
All participants received certificates and BD10 vouchers to be used in the mall. First, second and third place were awarded BD70, BD50 and BD30 vouchers along with certificates.
Mohammed, 14, won first place for his superhero battlefield featuring the likes of Iron Man, Spiderman and the Hulk fighting villains such as Ultron and Electro. The Al Noor International student, from Gufool, heard about the contest from his father, Ali, a 53-year-old businessman.
Mohammed has been a Lego fan since the age of three, building terrain vehicles as well as other fun models. His dad and mum, Fatema, 45, are proud of his achievement and believe all his brick building over the years has finally paid off.
Mr Kader Ali said: “Mohammed has always loved the toy and when he can’t find a specific collection in Bahrain then he searches online. I usually order them from the US for him. His room is covered in different sets and models.
“At the rate he is going, I am 99 per cent sure that he will be an engineer one day. He can spend hours playing LEGO and building new things. He doesn’t create what he sees in a catalogue or in a box. It’s all from his imagination. His mum and I are very proud of him.”
Mohammed’s inspiration for this latest offering came from his family. He said: “I had all these superheroes and my mum and brother said why not design a battle concept with them. It was a great idea and it took me hours to put the different villains up against the superheroes. You need to find the right connective block and so on.
“The fictitious characters are positioned as if they are in the midst of battle. I will definitely enter more competitions like this in the future.”
While Mohammed chose fiction for his entry, second place Aseel used her love of architecture as her source of inspiration.
The seven-year-old, from East Riffa, who goes to Al Mustaqbal Primary Girls’ School, took two days to design her Bahrain World Trade Centre.
Aseel said: “That is my favourite tower in Bahrain. I wanted to design something about the country. This is my first LEGO competition and I am very excited to have taken second place.”
Aseel spends a lot of time playing LEGO with her sister Bushra, 13, and brother Khalil, nine, who also entered the contest. Bushra built a large villa and Khalil constructed a supercar.
Their mum, Salma Mohamed Al Asadi, 34, was thrilled to see Aseel win. She said: “The entire family loves LEGO so it was no surprise that they were going to enter when they saw the sign at the mall. I am proud of all of them for entering and am especially happy to see Aseel win because she was inspired by Bahrain. It’s not easy to design something that big into something so small just from seeing it.
“LEGO is a great toy and I am happy they play with it. It teaches kids how to play together and use their imagination as well as keeping their minds nimble too.”
Ali used his love of dinosaurs to win the third place prize. The seven-year-old St Christopher’s School student, from Zinj, said: “My design is of a park and I got the idea from the new movie Jurassic World.
“I put a cage in the middle, a guy and a Velociraptor model. My love of dinosaurs started from watching the first Jurassic Park movie.”
Ali dreams of someday becoming a designer and his psychiatrist mum, Maisa Al Khunaizi, 35, thinks he can do anything if he puts his mind to it. She said: “He plays with LEGO all the time; on the way to school, on the way back home, before lunch and even before bed-time. He really does have an awesome imagination and is always designing new things. I am thrilled at his success as this was the first contest he has ever entered.”
Since the launch of the brick paradise at the popular mall, it has put Bahrain fans in a frenzy with kids as young as five playing in the DUPLO area, along with building instructions for older children in the LEGO City section to help them design models such as police cars, trucks and helicopters.
Youngsters who successfully build a LEGO City model are rewarded with a ‘Junior Master Builder’ diploma as a memento of the day. The event runs until Saturday.
LEGO was invented in 1932 by Danish entrepreneur Ole Kirk Christiansen and is inspired by the Danish ‘leg godt’ which means ‘play well’.
It is manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately-held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company’s flagship product consists of colourful interlocking plastic bricks accompanying an array of gears, figurines called mini-figures, and a variety of other parts.
The plastic pieces can be assembled and connected in many ways, to construct objects such as vehicles, buildings and working robots. Anything put together can then be taken apart again, and the pieces can be used to make other objects.
The group began developing the interlocking toy bricks in 1949 and since then it has created a global subculture with supporting movies, games and competitions. Six LEGOLAND amusement parks have been developed under the brand name. In February 2015, Lego replaced Ferrari as Brand Finance’s ‘world’s most powerful brand’.
As of July 2015, 600 billion Lego parts had been produced at a rate of 5.2 million per hour.
Guests visiting one of the top hotels in the kingdom can build themselves a guide to the good times during their stay in Bahrain as their children enjoy a toy treat.
Le Méridien is providing a Discovery Guide which outlines some of the top attractions to explore in the country. Younger guests are also presented with a check-in LEGO kit to encourage them to get creative and have an educational experience while staying at the popular mall hotel.
“We strive to provide our guests with an inspiring stay and with the launch of this programme, we are able to facilitate families in providing an enriching and entertaining stay to their children as well,” said Klaus Niefer, the general manager of Westin and Le Méridien Bahrain City Centre.
Places listed in the guide include Al Areen Wildlife Park, Dolphin Park and Wahooo! Waterpark, as well as Bahrain’s national museum.
In support of the launch, a mascot from the mall’s LEGO city also made an appearance at Le Méridien’s hotel lobby. Younger guests were presented with little edible chocolate blocks and a complimentary toy set. Parent company, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, has recently announced a global partnership between Le Méridien Hotels and the LEGO Group.
