ellaslist Hits Museum of Sydney For Sydney Harbour Icons LEGO Exhibition

By: Sarah Stores, ellaslist explorer

I think my boys are pretty typical of the child male species. Destructive, energetic, fart-filled, ninja loving, dinosaur loving and LEGO obsessed creatures that I somehow created. I can’t tell you how many hours I have spent creating houses and cars out of LEGO for ninjas to live in and dinosaurs to destroy. No matter whatever else we are into LEGO always plays a part.

Bribery Material For Days

So any mention of a trip to a LEGO exhibition gives me bribery material for days before hand. But even I was excited by this one as I got to head into the centre of my beautiful city and head to a museum that is often overlooked (by me at least!).

 

We were slightly early for our appointed time when we got to the Museum so I grabbed coffee while my boys played hide and seek in the beautiful Aboriginal poles outside. Filled with caffeine I was ready to enter the Sydney Harbour Icons LEGO exhibition. My boys clamoured up to the second floor bypassing all of the other interesting exhibits, because: LEGO.

In Awe Of The Replicas

When we first entered the room we were all in awe at the incredible creations. Having spent many hours on the floor of my boys bedroom creating my version of LEGO Masterpieces and ending up with yet another house or car I was in amazed at the skill of these creations.

 

Replicas of Luna Park rides and the famous Luna Park face, a huge Harbour bridge with a train running underneath, a massive Opera House which was created ‘cut in half’ so you could see the exterior of the Opera House on one side and the other was the inner workings of the Opera House. From dressing rooms, to the stage, to a robbery occurring on the Opera House forecourt and Phantom of the Opera-esque scenes with lights falling – there was much to keep adults entertained while the kids were in awe of the replicas. The cruise ship was equally as spectacular and a large.

For every robber, dog or ninja my boys found on the large replicas, I found replicas that entertained me as well like the gym and disco on the cruise ship and the make-up room in the Opera House.

Time For Our Own Creations

After exploring the amazing replicas, we set about creating our own masterpieces. Firstly, we found as many figures as we could and created giant towers and then we set about to create more sophisticated things like ducks! I was impressed with our skills until I looked up and saw what people with actual skills could create.

 

My almost 5 year old was fully entertained for the whole hour. He loved looking at the big creations and taking inspiration from some of the smaller creations to create his own ideas.

My 2.5 year old loved playing with the DUPLO wall and some of the smaller creations that had been built by other people who had visited the exhibition. The staff were incredibly patient and kind to him even putting up with his tantrums to play with some of the few off-limit exhibits.

What A Result!

I am not sure what it is about LEGO that captures the imagination of the young, the very young, the old and the not so old but this exhibit did it perfectly. It is very hands on and entertaining for everyone. I thought it was a bit small when we first went in but with the set hour time of visiting it was the perfect place for me to be able to create LEGO ‘masterpieces’ whilst still keeping an eye on those small destructive creatures. I would definitely recommend it!

 

ellaslist Top Tips

 

• The exhibition times are set for hourly allocated session times. This is the perfect amount of time to explore the small but engaging space.


• There is pram parking on the ground floor of the museum and easy lift or stair access to the Lego museum.


• The rest of the museum looked like it would be great to explore but my boys were so set on the Lego that we didn’t get to see it.


• There is a shop at the ground floor. I always like to be pre-warned about the existence of shops so that I can set Master 4’s expectations about not buying anything that day.


• The museum is a short walk from Circular Quay and all its public transport options. We also ducked into the bottom floor of Customs House to explore the replica city underneath glass on the floor – always a bit hit with my little ones.


• Tickets for everyone over 3 years old are $15.

 

 

See our event post for more information on the Sydney Harbour Icons LEGO exhibition at the Museum of Sydney, or visit their website.

                                                               ABOUT SARAH STORES
I’m Sarah. A Mum of two over-active boys and a self-confessed Sydney tragic. I love living in, exploring, discovering and experiencing all Sydney has to offer. Having lived in Sydney most of my life I have loved exploring it as a grown up but now as a Mum I’m relishing re-discovering my passion for Sydney through the eyes of my boys. I love planning and executing our regular family outings to explore new things in Sydney. As a working Mum, it is a great way for our family to stay connected and have fun together. I would love to spend all my time travelling the world but given I live in the real world of mortgages and jobs we see exploring Sydney as tourists as the next best thing. You can follow our adventures on Instagram at SarahStores