Time lines

In most cases, the LEGO aspect of a party is usually 1 to 2 hours, depending on the age of the children and the rest of the party plan. For children roughly 5 to 7 years old, 1 hour is usually just right. For children 7 to 10, 90 minutes might make sense. Of course, there are many 5 year-olds who love LEGO and have the attention to play for 2 hours, but it’s rare to have a whole group of these kids in one party. It’s more likely that the birthday kid is that kid, and 70% of the friends are not.

Set-up Time

Set-up takes me about 30 minutes and Clean up  45-60 minutes. I will arrive 30-40 minutes before the party start time to set up.  During this time, I prefer not to have a lot of children around the space, but 1-3 children who want to be helpers (and who wouldn’t?) are fine. If the birthday kid is around to help, this is more LEGO time, and many kids say setting up was the funnest part.

Timing

It’s generally best to start the party with the LEGO, then move into other activities, food and presents. Having a warm up activity before the LEGO portion of the party can be a good idea if you don’t trust that your guest will arrive on time for the LEGO, but this can make setting up very difficult for me, if the children are all near the LEGO space. When the LEGO part of the party ends, getting kids away from the play area can be tricky and make packing up difficult. Bringing out food and cake after the LEGO may help to provide an easy transition.

Ages and groupings of children

Generally the minimum age that children will appreciate a LEGO party is 5 or 6 years.  Children any younger often do not have the attention span for it. With highly active 5 years old, it might not work, since they are not likely to leave their energy behind, unless they really love LEGO.  Mixing ages is great so no worries about getting the siblings involved.

The maximum age for a party is around 10 years.  Not a hard line, but due to the themes I provide.  Of course,  adult LEGO parties are entirely possible and even the right group of teenagers might enjoy such a party, but even 11 year olds are usually too cool for LEGO.

Number of CHILDREN

My basic party price is for 10 kids because this is a good number. With a group of ten, the energy in the room will usually stay small enough that I can take time to connect with many of them and keep things flowing. With less, it’s easier to focus some attention on more complex builds or activities. With a group of 15, things can start getting a bit crazy, though this depends on the size of your space and largely on the children.  20 is the maximum, with larger space requirement.

Loot Bags

I sometimes have the opportunity to buy small sets in bulk, fairly cheap. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll see what I have in stock.