LEGOland Lets Kids Take the Wheel

7/25/2007

Volvo Jr. Driving School a Hit With the Little Ones

LEgoland Several years back, I was intrigued by a fascinating photo of a full-scale Volvo XC90 made completely out of LEGOs. I’ve always been curious about what kind of individual would take this task upon himself. Possibly some kind of savant who spends his days playing with kids’ toys and eating Hot Pockets? During a recent visit with my children to LEGOland in sunny SoCal, though, it all started to make sense. With playgrounds, fairy tale reenactments and even entire miniature cities made out of LEGOs, why not make cars out of them, too?

Despite a slew of kid-powered attractions throughout this manageably sized theme park (a big one would have been way too ambitious for us on Day 3 of our trip), the biggest hit of all with my kids was the Volvo Jr. Driving School. Kids ages 3 to 5 can climb into Volvo-branded electric cars built to look like LEGOs and test their driving safety skills by buckling their seat belts and circling a track laden with stop signs and stoplights. Upon successful completion of the course, they’re awarded a ”driver’s license.”

A larger and more difficult course for bigger kids (ages 6 to 12) looked like enough fun for me to want to tackle, but after seeing several kids intentionally ram into the cars in front of them, my 7-year-old was spooked out of giving it a whirl. I lied about her age to get her into the little kids’ course, but only for the sake of thorough reporting — I would never do that otherwise. Seriously, I wouldn’t. Please forgive me, oh LEGOland greats.

Not only does this school introduce basic concepts of automotive safety to young children, it’s also great fun, and a fantastic way for Volvo to build brand loyalty in super-young children. Is that even legal?