Time lines

In most cases, the LEGO aspect of a party is usually 1 to 2 hours, depending on the age of the children and the rest of the party plan. For children roughly 5 to 7 years old, 1 hour is usually just right. For children 7 to 10, a longer party up to 2 hours might make sense. Of course, there are many 5 year-olds who love LEGO and have the attention to play for 2 hours, but it’s rare to have a whole group of these kids in one party.

Set-up Time

Set-up takes me about 30 minutes and Clean up  45-60 minutes. I will arrive 30-40 minutes before the party start time to set up.  During this time, I prefer not to have a lot of children around the space, but 1-3 children who want to be helpers (and who wouldn’t?) are fine.

Timing

It’s generally best to start the party with the LEGO, then move into other activities, food and presents. Having a warm up activity before the LEGO portion of the party can be a good idea if you don’t trust that your guest will arrive on time for the LEGO, but this can make setting up very difficult for me, if the children are all near the LEGO space. When the LEGO part of the party ends, getting kids away from the play area can be tricky and packing up difficult. Bringing out food and cake after the building may help to provide an easy transition.

Ages and groupings of children

Generally the minimum age that children will appreciate a LEGO party is 5 or 6 years.  Children any younger often do not have the attention span for it. With highly active 5 years old, it might not work, since they are not likely to leave their energy behind, unless they really love LEGO.  Mixing ages is great so no worries about getting the siblings involved.

The maximum age for a party is around 10 years.  This is an imagined barrier, due to the themes I provide.  Of course,  adult LEGO parties are entirely possible and even the right group of teenagers might enjoy such a party.

Number of CHILDREN

My basic party price is for 10 kids because this is likely the perfect number. With a group of ten, the energy in the room will usually stay small enough that I can take time to connect with many of them while also focus some attention on more complex builds or activities. With a crowd of 15, things can start getting a bit crazy, though this depends on the size of your space and largely on the children.  20 is the absolute maximum, with a fairly large space requirement.

Loot Bags

I sometimes have the opportunity to buy small sets in bulk, fairly cheap. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll see what I have in stock.