Lego

Mirjam Schöning, Hanne Rasmussen, and Sherrie Westin with Neno and Kami.

Neno and Kami prepare to play with Legos at the 2016 Lego Idea Conference.

Kami and a child play with Lego Duplo blocks at the 2017 World Play Day.

Lego is a brand of construction toys made by The Lego Group in Denmark since 1949.

Collaborations

• Lego Ideas Sesame Street 21324
• Sesame Street keychains (Lego)
• Lego Muppet minifigures
• Elmo's World News

Lego Foundation

On April 13, 2016, The Lego Foundation, Lego's research division, partnered with Sesame Workshop to promote its learning through play initiative. As described in a press release, "the partnership includes two separate initiatives focused on unlocking the power of play to create transformative, hands-on learning experiences."

The first initiative consists of the distribution of Lego materials to educators and caregivers in South Africa as part of Takalani Sesame outreach kits. Sesame Workshop's Sherrie Westin said that they would "bring together the power of our Muppets with the hands-on learning tool of Duplo bricks."

The second initiative, "designed to shift parent and caregiver perceptions about the educational value of play," will launch in India and Mexico as well as South Africa. A series of community events held in urban areas of these countries are aimed at developing a better understanding of the importance of play and how it may be integrated into the lives of children.

The announcement was made at the 2016 Lego Idea Conference in Billund, Denmark. Kami and Neno were in attendance and shared the stage with presenters Sherrie Westin (Sesame Workshop's Executive Vice President of Global Impact and Philanthropy), Mirjam Schöning (Global Head, Programs and Partnerships at LEGO Foundation), Hanne Rasmussen (CEO of The LEGO Foundation), and Philip A. Fisher (Professor of Psychology and Research Scientist at the Prevention Science Institute Center for Translational Neuroscience at the University of Oregon).

In 2017, the Sesame/Lego partnership teamed up with the philanthropic organization Afrika Tikkun for World Play Day. Kami and Neno appeared in the township of Orange Farm, South Africa to support these efforts. The Muppets met and played with children in special activities meant to encourage play, and each family attending received a set of Lego bricks to take home.

Since the announcement of their partnership, Sesame Workshop and the Lego Foundation have promoted their "Play Every Day" initiative via a number of social media posts.

In December of 2018, the initiative expanded its partnership to include the International Rescue Committee and the Bangladeshi relief organization BRAC, to aid Syrian and Rohingya children living as refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Bangladesh. In addition to teaching basic concepts like letters and numbers, as well as countering the effects of stress and suffering with social and emotional development, the initiative provides materials for use in 500 planned play centers (although this will not include Lego blocks due to import costs).

Muppet Mentions

• Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, son of Lego founder Ole Kirk Christiansen, and the company's managing director beginning in 1957, dressed as Waldorf when he received an honor from the city of Billund, Denmark in 1990. A photo from the event by John Randeris appears in the 2022 book The Lego Story by Jens Andersen. A Lego minifigure of Waldorf was released 32 years later in 2022 (27 years after Christiansen's death).

References

• One kid mentions having a set of Legos during a discussion in Episode 1131 of Sesame Street.

• Lego advertised in Sesame Street Magazine during the 1980s, including a two-page Duplo ad in the October 1987 issue.

• Two yellow Lego Technic bricks were used for Slimey's rocket used in an attempt to reach space in Sesame Street Episode 1713 (1982).

• A 1983 Sesame Street segment (First: Episode 1802) called "Real Cats Drink Milk" features a number of feline knick-knacks, one of which has been built out of Lego bricks.

• When Baby Animal dresses as a werewolf from space in the 2018 Muppet Babies episode "Happy Hallowocka", he wears an astronaut's helmet decorated with a spoof of the logo from the Space line of Lego toys.

Connections

For connections from franchise crossover productions, see Star Wars, Batman, DC Comics, or the relevant series page.

• Fred Armisen played Cole in The Lego Ninjago Movie
• Will Arnett played Batman in The Lego Movie, sequels, and related Lego projects (2014-2019)
• Eric Bauza played Master Frown in Unikitty!
• Elizabeth Banks played Wyldstyle in The Lego Movie (2014) and The Lego Movie 2 (2019)
• Jemaine Clement played Sauron in The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
• Anthony Daniels played C-3PO in The Lego Movie (2014)
• Rosario Dawson played Batgirl in The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
• Jessica DiCicco played Wyldstyle and Unikitty in The Lego Movie Videogame
• Ben Diskin provided additional voices in The Lego Movie Videogame
• Ralph Fiennes played Alfred Pennyworth in The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
• Morgan Freeman played Vitruvius in The Lego Movie (2014)
• Zach Galifianakis played the Joker in The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
• Seth Green played King Kong in The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
• Tiffany Haddish played Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi in The Lego Movie 2 (2019)
• Chris Hardwick played Reporter #3 in The Lego Batman Movie and a radio DJ in The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017)
• Jonah Hill played Green Lantern in The Lego Movie (2014) and The Lego Movie 2 (2019)
• Eddie Izzard played Voldemort in The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
• Ellie Kemper played Phyllis in The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
• Keegan-Michael Key played Foreman Jim in The Lego Movie (2014)
• Kate Micucci played Dr. Fox in Unikitty!
• Olivia Munn played Koko in The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017)
• Kumail Nanjiani played Jay in The Lego Ninjago Movie (2014)
• Liam Neeson played Good Cop/Bad Cop in The Lego Movie (2014)
• Nick Offerman played Metal Beard in The Lego Movie (2014) and The Lego Movie 2 (2019)
• Gary Oldman played Lord Vortech in Lego Dimensions
• Randall Park played Chen the Cheerleader in The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017)
• Robin Roberts voiced herself in The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017)
• Maya Rudolph played Mom in The Lego Movie 2 (2019)
• Michael J. Smollin illustrated over a dozen Lego Learn-and-Play books
• Cobie Smulders played Wonder Woman in The Lego Movie (2014) and The Lego Movie 2 (2019)
• Tara Strong played the title character of Unikitty!
• Steve Whitmire played Will Puppet in LEGO Masters season 2
• Bruce Willis voiced himself in The Lego Movie 2 (2019)

See also

• Sesame Street American Bricks
• Sesame Street nanoblocks
• Sesame Street K'nex
• Sesame Street Super Blocks
• Sesame Street Kubricks and Muppet Kubricks

External links

• Lego Foundation on Vimeo
  • Philip A. Fisher keynote
  • Kami and Neno, interviewed
  • Recap