Thinking back to your earliest Christmas memories, I am sure you can recall the use of Legos or other building block adjacent type of presents. These types of presents are a great way to keep kids busy and engaged throughout the holiday break by giving them something to focus their energy on. According to logically, in comparison to the typical 7 sets sold per second on an average day, throughout the holiday season, this number is quadrupled to approximately 28 lego sets sold every second. 

While many of us can recall Legos as a key part of our childhoods, the fun of expression through this art form is not limited to any age range. According to Lego’s own advertisements and packaging, these toys are intended for anyone from age four to 99. Senior Bryson Wink has taken advantage of this age range and has prolonged his interest in Legos into his teenage years, often creating his own projects as a form of self expression.

“My interest in Legos stemmed from a few different places, one of which was Kindergarten,” Wink said. “Before Kindergarten, I used to be obsessed with trains and how the wheels turned until Christmas 2009, when my grandma bought me a little helicopter set.”

According to gameofbricks, the productive nature of Legos often encourages one’s brain to release serotonin which is a hormone that is closely related to the feeling of happiness. Additionally, through the creative process associated with them, you can improve your fine motor skills, problem solving, resilience and perseverance. 

“Legos have impacted my life to the point where they’ve practically become my other half of my personality and I don’t know what I would do without them being in my life in some way or another,” Wink said. “I look at Legos as a form of art and a form of expression since I am not a very social person and I tend to be very reserved around people.”

Legos can be sold in both set form and by individual pieces. There are also many different brands who sell very similar items to those of Lego. When Wink creates, he tends to prefer building his own creations rather than following a set of rules. This has produced some of his favorite pieces to date such as a Marvel inspired New York City skyline and a six-foot tall robot. 

“Something I’ve typically done with Legos that I’ve found to be my ‘rhythm’ for the past three years is whenever I watch a movie, typically a Marvel movie, Star Wars, or any other movie involving something cool like Giant Robots or Monsters, and I enjoy it enough to feel the need to have something from the movie to display or ‘marvel’ at,” Wink said.

Wink begins his building process by formulating in his mind the pieces required and the time needed to complete the project, then he shuts his door and gets to work. He says that generally his projects take a couple of hours to complete, however, in extreme circumstances even weeks. Once he has concluded, he makes sure to display his hard work throughout his room on various shelves and platforms.

“After I’ve finished [my project], I put it on a shelf to display and the process continues,” Wink said. “I don’t ever destroy any of the models I have made, since I typically spend anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks on one model.” 

In total, approximately 560 billion Lego parts have been produced globally, meaning each person on the planet could have 86 pieces, according to kidskonnect. Since 1978, approximately 4 billion Lego minifigures have been produced thus making Lego minifigures the world’s largest population group if they were alive. This being said, Lego sales are still expected to skyrocket throughout the holiday season.

“I feel like Legos are a good Christmas/holiday gift for the creative freedom they give you,” Wink said. “No matter which set you decide to purchase, you will always have the pieces to do almost anything you want with them. You could build the Lego set as intended, you could modify it with however many of your own pieces to improve the set, you could even not build the set and use it for pieces.”

While Wink says he has experienced some criticism for his interest, especially in his early years of high school, he would not give up this creative outlet for the world. He describes the experience as an escape from the hustle and bustle of high school life, providing time for much needed relaxation.

“Never be afraid of what other people think of your interests, not just Legos but anything in general,” Wink said. “Remember that you are your own person and to never fear what people say about your interests, as karma will get to them eventually and they are likely insecure about something of their own. As long as it makes you happy and is ‘constructive,’ no pun intended, or beneficial to your well being as well as potentially other people’s well being, keep on doing what makes you happy, not what your peer wants you to feel happy by.”