How we play with LEGO® Harry Potter™ together

This might be uncomfortable for some of you reading, but the first Harry Potter™ book came out over a quarter of a century ago. *Shudders in age*

What this means is that Harry Potter is now a bonafide intergenerational phenomenon. Kids who were not even born when the first LEGO® Harry Potter sets came out in 2001, can now quote the films by heart. And once we stop *shuddering in age*, we actually think that’s pretty cool.

We spoke to three such movie-quoting siblings – Anton (9, Hufflepuff), Karla (14, Slytherin), and Frida (14, Ravenclaw) – to find out more about their relationship with the magical Wizarding World, and about how they enjoy building with LEGO Harry Potter.

True Harry Potter fans

First off, their credentials. How big Harry Potter nerds are we talking about here?

“We reckon we’ve seen the films about… 15 times?” says Anton. “Except the first one. That one we’ve seen about 30 times.”

It’s a bit of a family tradition for them to watch the films at least once a year. And just like all good siblings, they totally disagree on which is the best. We’re sure that plenty of families reading this can relate

We tentatively asked if they had any LEGO Harry Potte sets? Maybe? Possibly?

“Hmm… oh, well, we have the Hogwarts Express™…” says Karla. “Hogsmeade™… The old Quidditch™ Match set... a bunch of the Brickheadz, The Knight Bus™… oh yeah, and the 6,000-piece Castle.”

Okay, so just a couple…

Getting closer to the magic

In the 21 years of LEGO Harry Potter, we’ve loved seeing how families have played with the sets together. We’ve even heard of parents using them as diagrams as they read the books to their kids for the first time. And as the sets have gotten more complex and (in our not-so-humble opinion) beautiful over the years, they’ve also been used more and more as display pieces, especially for the slightly older kids like Frida and Karla who decorate their rooms with them.

“It’s cool to play out stuff that happens in the films,” Frida adds, “especially with the big Hogwarts™ Castle, because that’s got the most possibilities” given the number of scenes it captures.

This way of getting closer to the action of the films is something we see a LOT of from our fans – of all ages. Fans like Frida and Karla especially enjoy finding new ways to add to the story, often exploring relationships between characters who spent little time together on-screen, sharpening their own storytelling abilities while doing so.

Build it, your way

Anton, on the other hand, falls into the category of builders who politely disregard the hard work of our dedicated set designers to create something magical and wondrous out of the component bricks… and we love it. His latest build involved creating a ginormous car out of the Knight Bus set. “Is it big enough to fit Hagrid™? I reckon so...” Who are we to disagree?

An inevitable problem arises when you have multiple hands trying to build just one LEGO Harry Potter set. But with a lot of practice, the three kids have come up with an ingenious solution that we think many will enjoy. “Basically, when it came to building the castle, we did all the big bits like the Chamber of Secrets and Umbridge’s office, and then got dad to build the trees and stuff.”

Ah, a perfect distribution of labor… Not that Dad minds. He reckons he’s probably as big of a Harry Potter nerd as any of the kids! He joins the thousands of parents out there who have diligently introduced their kids to the world of Harry Potter… and isn’t about to leave them there alone! So whether he is finding new accessories for Anton’s crazy Harry Potter minifigure inventions, helping Karla build a Bellatrix Lestrange wand or building scenery while Frida builds the main event, he’s always there to help the kids play.

If you’d like to learn more about the ways we are getting families together to build, then check out our articles here.

What’s your magic?

But what we really want to know is, how do you and your family play with LEGO Harry Potter?

Do you go through the instructions together? Create together without instructions? Build with the movies on in the background?

We’re lucky enough to see so many different ways that families summon the magic from our Harry Potter sets. Which goes to show that there really are no set rules or prerequisites to having an amazing time with them (except perhaps a sprinkling of Harry Potter nerdiness). The Room of Requirement, in this case, is anywhere families can enjoy each other’s company and share the love. Because the magic is in you. Just like it’s always been.

WIZARDING WORLD and all related trademarks, characters, names, and indicia are © & ™ Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WB SHIELD: © & ™ WBEI. Publishing Rights © JKR. (s22)