Brickworld must be heaven to LEGO lovers

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Block party What: Brickworld, A LEGO exposition with LEGO displays, interactive activities and vendors. When: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday Where: Grand Wayne Convention Center, 120 W. Jefferson Blvd. Cost: $9 for adults; $6 for kids 10 and under; $6 for active and reserve military with ID; free for those under 3. Cash only. Website: www.Brickworld.us Etc. To see a Lego-brick replica of Lucas Oil Stadium, which will be at Brickworld, go to www.lucasoil.com/articles1-4702/Areplica ofLucasOilStadiummadeoutof30000Legos.

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You don't have to be a kid to enjoy playing with LEGO bricks.

The interlocking bricks could be described as the building blocks of creativity. Simple kits for younger children teach hand-eye coordination skills as well as how to follow simple instructions, said Bryan Bonahoom, an engineer and LEGO enthusiast.

Kits for older children get more detailed, with many parts, tiny pieces and complicated instructions.

From that point, those with a creative bent — people such as Bonahoom — graduate to building original models and designs from scratch. Some get quite large.

That's why the Brickworld exposition at the Grand Wayne Convention Center this weekend covers 16,000 square feet. Expect to see elaborate LEGO creations, such as a replica of a Cummins engine and a 5-foot-by-5-foot model of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Interactive areas will give visitors a chance to make their own creations. DUPLO blocks — bigger bricks for smaller kids — also will be available. Vendors will be on hand, too.

“It's the world's most flexible art medium,” Bonahoom said of LEGO bricks. He is the executive director of Brickworld.

Bonahoom started out with LEGO kits as a kid, and then began “adding my own pieces, using my imagination to build my own stuff from scratch,” he said.

He and others like him are living proof that LEGO bricks aren't just for kids. Local and regional enthusiasts will showcase their exhibits, which will include train sets, robots, cityscapes and more.

clarson@news-sentinel.com