Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu is back this week, returning for its fourth series on Cartoon Network. On Saturday, the first three episodes were premiered at the Empire Leicester Square, where they were presented in full IMAX glory. My wife and I took our three children and the whole experience further evidenced why Lego should run the country.
For a company that created a perfect world where everything fits together, hosting an event for hundreds of children and their parents hardly posed any challenge at all. For an hour prior to the screening, kids were able to enrol in a Ninja academy, be entertained by a mysterious magician, have their faces painted, pose for photographs and watch real-life Ninjas tumble and spin their way to glory. What could have been a painful experience of endless queues and dashed hopes was a perfectly managed affair.
An Aspiring Master of Spinjitzu
Photo: Fotofantasies
When the screening started, our three children were so excited, they were flung into the first episode on a tidal wave of expectation. And they weren't disappointed. The show has everything a kid could want; action, intrigue, laughs, robots, magic and ninjas. And, of course, Lego.
Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu Season 4 Trailer
This might be hard for some to believe, but there was a time when Lego wasn't the toy powerhouse that it has become. Lego was one of the toys of choice during my early childhood, but if I wanted a Lego Batmobile, I had to build it out of blue and green Lego City kits. Whoever saw the opportunity for branded Lego tie ins deserves a medal. My boys cannot get enough of Lego Star Wars, with the Lego Superheroes fast gaining ground. A couple of years ago, I tried to encourage a friend of mine, who works on the Bond franchise, to see if he could make Lego Bond happen, but as yet the Lego version of Scaramanga's Island is but a distant dream.
Lego is a wonderful antidote to excessive screen time and the dreaded iPad swipe, which will surely soon overtake waving as the gesture most practised by kids. Children learn how to follow detailed instructions, develop their fine motor skills, but most importantly, Lego stimulates their imaginations. And once they've finished imagining amazing adventures and flown their spaceships around the house a few times, the manuals are discarded, the kits disassembled and new constructions are dreamed up turning children into designers and engineers.
The new series of Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu starts at 6PM, Tuesday 10th February on Cartoon Network.