CHECK OUT WHAT HAPPENS AT BRICKLIVE!SIGN UP TODAY FOR OUR NEWSLETTER OUR SUPPORTERS AND SPONSORS FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL) UK and Ireland Solve real world problems with the help of a robot! Registrations for FIRST® LEGO® League 2016-17 "Animal Allies" are open, and the following tournament dates are available to book. You can register by following the instructions on the "Registration" page unless otherwise stated in the "date/notes" column. If an email address is given, please use this instead of the system on this website 29 November 2016 - 2 places remainingEmail MatthewLaughlin@w5online.co.uk to register 15 December 2016 - FULLY BOOKED 11 January 2017 (primary) - 3 places remaining and 12 January 2017 (secondary) - FULLY BOOKED 6 and 7 December 2016 Sofitel Hotel at Gatwick Airport 13 January 2017 - FULLY BOOKED School of Science and Engineering, University of Dundee Moray House School of Education, The University of Edinburgh
Glasgow Clyde College, Anniesland CampusLast few places remaining The American School in London 3 December 2016 - FULLY BOOKED Queen Mary University London 21 January 2017 - FULLY BOOKED 7 January 2017 - FULLY BOOKED 7 January 2017 - FULLY BOOKED Neatherd High School, Dereham, Norfolk 14 January 2017 - last few places remaining University of Central Lancashire 19 December 2016 - FULLY BOOKED 21 January - FULLY BOOKED 14 December 2016 - FULLY BOOKED South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, Ocean Road, South Shields, NE33 2JA. 1 December 2016 - 1 place remaining 5 December 2016 - FULLY BOOKED 6 December 2016 (primary - still available) and 7 December 2016 (secondary - fully booked) 8 December 2016 - FULLY BOOKED LEGOLAND Windsor is home to over fifty interactive rides and attractions, taking in tree-top thrills and underwater adventures. It is also the location of the UK's only LEGO Star Wars Miniland Model Display, which is fast becoming the park's premier attraction.
Start from The Beginning and take the Hill Train into the heart of the park, where you'll find the Land of the Vikings. Get lost in the sprawling Loki's Labyrinth, a Nordic-themed hedge maze, or hop aboard the Long Board Invader as it swings skyward. Next up in Knights Kingdom, where you'll find the Dragon's Apprentice, is a winding rollercoaster for all ages. Naturally, no visit to LEGOLAND Windsor is complete without a visit to LEGO City, which has several hands-on rides, from the mini-powerboats of Coastguard HQ to the remote-controlled fun of Traffic Games and the first-hand driving experience that is Driving School. If the weather's not treating you well, head indoors to the Imagination Centre, which serves up a host of virtual treats in the form of the Xbox Gaming Zone, or for more traditional fun, the Imagination Factory is a great spot to get stuck in with LEGO and build anything you want. Typical opening times are 10:00 to 17:00 on weekdays, and 10:00 to 18:00 at weekends.
Opening varies seasonally, so check the website before travelling.For 70 years one particular brand of toy has been at the top of every youngsters' Christmas wish list. From the timeless classic LEGO building blocks to the new realms of Dimensions and Nexo Knights, LEGO have been at the forefront of building new and innovative toys which are loved by parents and children alike. But what is it like working inside the world's biggest toy shop at Christmas? Glasgow Live spoke with Morgan Walker, a Glaswegian who has been working for the company as a Creative Lead at their Danish base for six years. And it turns out, it's like Christmas all year round for him. “We are all Santa’s little helpers here but we also are working on projects that won’t be on the shelves for a few Christmases yet. “The design studio is a really colourful place as you can imagine, with a lot of sketches and LEGO models on and around our desks. There is a huge atrium of shelving units containing boxes of every brick currently in production that we use to make our prototype models.
It’s kind of like a massive Willy Wonka hardware store. "So although it's not necessarily our busiest time, there's still an energy of Christmas around the place. "It is like Christmas all year round, and I remember when I started it is the most exciting thing to watch just how many toys are going out. "You see the trucks rolling out the factory with the big LEGO logo on the side, you just think of just how many children will be opening up these boxes of our creations at Christmas. It’s a little overwhelming, and I think everyone gets a bit of a high at that." One of the big innovation projects Morgan has worked on is video game LEGO Dimensions. LEGO Dimensions recently won a BAFTA, which features the likes of Batman, B.A. Baracus and Harry Potter characters. Working as part of a large team, Morgan is responsible for ensuring the next generation of children grow up loving Lego. He added: "I work in one of our big innovation departments, so I generally work on things we've never really done before.
LEGO Dimensions, which is a big digital-physical game experience, was something we had never done with LEGO before. "For Dimensions it took three years to get to where we are now. "We were not the first people to do something like that and there was existing technology available, but making it relevant to a LEGO experience, with lots of little plastic pieces in front of the TV was a big challenge. "We tend to work on things quite a few years in advance. We are there to smooth out the wrinkles and make sure experiences function as they are supposed to before moving into full scale production. "For us Christmas is an exciting time, as we finally get to see kids play with the creations we've made." Many children will be waking up tomorrow morning to the latest Star Wars LEGO, or LEGO City, and despite the company behind these toys making millions, Morgan says at the heart of everything they do is making sure children still enjoy their products. "People at LEGO genuinely care about how much fun kids are having, that's what measure ourselves on, above profit or anything else. "