Dubai, United Arab Emirates, October 2026 – Every builder starts somewhere, and for most, it’s a wobbly tower of big bricks with a grown-up close by to catch it. This October, the LEGO Group is making room for those first builds. Let’s Start Building is a pop-up play space at Explorers, City Centre Mirdif, for children aged one and a half to five and the grown-ups who build with them.
From 19 to 31 October, open play areas full of LEGO® DUPLO® bricks are waiting for whatever children come up with, whether that’s a house, a bus or a tower taller than they are. There are no instructions and no rules, and parents are encouraged to get down on the floor and join in.
Let’s Start Building is about those first steps. LEGO DUPLO bricks are made for children from a year and a half old, for little hands still learning to grip, stack and build. Each brick is twice the size of a standard LEGO brick in every dimension, and they click together with smaller LEGO bricks. So, when a child is ready to move up at four or five, nothing gets left behind, and the characters and stories they love come with them.
What doesn’t change is who’s building alongside them. In the early years, a parent’s job is mostly steadying their builds and handing over bricks. By four or five, children can follow picture instructions on their own, and the grown-up becomes a building partner rather than a helper.
Play changes shape too. As children grow, their stories get longer and the roles they act out, from shopkeeper to police officer, get easier for the rest of the family to join. Research from the LEGO Play Well Study 2026, which surveyed 45,000 parents and children across 30 markets, found that 89% of parents agree role play brings their family together and makes play time more fun, and 85% say it is more fun when toys and games are interactive.
“Role playing is fundamental for child development. When a toddler pours you a cup of pretend tea, for example, a lot is going on. They’re taking turns, finding the words for their ideas, and practising how to look after someone else. In early years education we see this constantly: children learn through connection, not instruction. Which is why what happens on the living room floor matters as much as what happens in a classroom,” said Kathryn Kelly, Assistant Head of Early Years and Lower Primary at Swiss International Scientific School Dubai.
What tends to stop families is time, and here the study offers some reassurance. Families who play together for five or more hours a week report higher happiness (45%) and wellbeing (42%) than those managing under two hours (28% and 27%). That works out at around 45 minutes a day, and it doesn’t have to happen in one go.
The LEGO® DUPLO® Let’s Start Building play space is open at Explorers, City Centre Mirdif from Monday 19th October to Saturday 31st October from Monday – Thursday 10:00 am – 10:00 pm and Friday – Sunday 10:00 am to 12:00 am.
Tickets are available at AED 79 (1 hour pass), AED 119 (2 hours pass) or AED149 (full day pass) and can be purchased via explorersmena.com
About the LEGO Group:
The LEGO Group’s mission is to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through the power of play. The LEGO System in Play, with its foundation in LEGO bricks, allows children and fans to build and rebuild anything they can imagine.
The LEGO Group was founded in Billund, Denmark in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, its name derived from the two Danish words Leg Godt, which mean “Play Well”.
Today, the LEGO Group remains a family-owned company headquartered in Billund. Its products are now sold in more than 120 countries worldwide.
