Today (11 June), LEGO celebrates the UN’s International Day of Play with its own World Play Day and Build the Change challenge.

After successfully campaigning with its global partners for the UN to adopt an International Day of Play (IDOP) last year, this year LEGO is celebrating its first World Play Day to inspire kids to imagine how to make their cities more fun and actualising their ideas in four locations: Berlin, Boston, London, and Shanghai.

With over a third of children globally living in urban areas, set to increase to 70% by 2050, LEGO believes it is vital for urban planners to create opportunities for everyday play and fun in cities.

Play is fundamental for children’s cognitive, social, emotional and physical development and helps them build the skills they need to thrive as they grow up. Urban planners and child development experts increasingly recognise the vital role of play in fostering creativity, social skills, and emotional well-being in future generations.

LEGO has previously challenged children, through Build the Change, to imagine what a sustainable city could look like, imploring them to use their creativity to solve real-world social and environmental challenges, such as protecting animals and designing places for people.

Children around the world have been taking part in LEGO-run workshops over the last few months as part of LEGO’s Build the Change social impact programme, where they were encouraged to design and imagine what a playful city could look like.

Through June, LEGO is activating some of theses ideas:

• In Shanghai various locations by the river will be turned into playful immersive experiences.
• In Berlin the LEGO Group will take over local Spätis to provide dynamic and engaging play opportunities, exploring kids’ passions like music and sport
• In Boston the LEGO Group will introduce interactive play moments inspired by local culture in a location where kids are encouraged to reimagine their city through hands on play.
• In London the LEGO Group in partnership with Serpentine will unveil the Play Pavilion, an immersive environment celebrating the creative power of play.

Products of Change spotlighted LEGO’s Build the Change programme as part of our UN Sustainable Development Goals activation at Licensing Expo last month, due to its alignment with SDG 4: Quality Education.

“LEGO are a key part of our POC ecosystem, from sharing their learnings across our platforms, co-building methodologies for the industry and being an integral part of our Advisory Council, and we are very proud to have them central to our POC community,” Helena Mansell-Stopher, founder and CEO of POC, commented.

To bring the children’s ideas from Build the Change to life, LEGO is collaborating with Playmakers – a group of global cutting-edge artists and creators – to actualise the visions into urban spaces.

Remi Marcelli, SVP global brand development at the LEGO Group said, “When children are free from the constraints of adult thinking they often conceive the most imaginative and groundbreaking solutions for making urban spaces more engaging and joyful. That’s why we’re providing children with a platform to share their innovative ideas on how they can influence the future of their communities. Play can spark imaginations and change cities for the better, so this World Play Day, we want to encourage families everywhere to join us and put their world in play mode.”

One of the Playmakers getting involved is Mark Rober, a former NASA engineer, turned science and engineering YouTube content creator, who’s repertoire includes giant slime volcanoes and dropping a car 150ft onto a steel trampoline.

Mark Rober said, “As a child, I always loved to tinker and build – play was how I learned to think outside the box. With the power of your imaginations and LEGO bricks, kids have the chance to rebuild the world.”

Children are invited to submit their ideas for a new Build the Change challenge, for a chance to be featured in LEGO’s global gallery and have their ideas shared with city planners and decision makers.

For more information on World Play Day, click here.