Oh Say Can You See 3,300 DUPLO Bricks?

SCHAUMBURG, Ill., May 15, 2008 -- Take 3,300 red, white and blue DUPLO bricks, add 17 five- and six-year-olds in hard hats, throw in a few adult LEGO experts for guidance, and what do you get? A giant American flag that will be built out of the iconic interlocking colored bricks on Thursday, May 15, at the new indoor LEGOLAND Discovery Center now under construction in Schaumburg.

Center personnel will host kindergarteners from Schaumburg's St. Peter Lutheran School for a flag-building session that will initiate them into the pleasures of the attraction's 'Build & Test' play area (run it up the flagpole!) -- one of the highlights of the two-story, 30,000-square-foot indoor LEGO world scheduled to open in July in the Streets of Woodfield shopping center as the first facility of its kind outside of Germany.

Participating youngsters will receive flag-building lessons, adult assistance in putting the stars and stripes in the right place, and the satisfaction of creating a DUPLO masterpiece far beyond the scale of anything they can do at home. A life-sized version of a LEGO character named LEGO Buddy who serves as the facility's mascot will be on hand to silently cheer them on.

The event will give the class a taste of the center's 'Build & Test' station -- a LEGO construction zone filled with bricks of every size and color as well as racing ramps and earthquake simulator tables for junior builders to test their models -- as well as the 'Model Builder Workshop' where master builders will provide step-by-step instructions to assist visitors in creating LEGO projects. Both areas will be installed in the next few weeks.

In addition, the kindergarteners will receive a sneak preview of other LEGOLAND Discovery Center features that will debut at the center's grand opening -- including a 4D cinema complete with 3D glasses and 4D atmospheric effects, a dragon ride and a jungle adventure trail filled with LEGO creatures, a behind-the-scenes look at how LEGOS are made, and eye-popping models of superheroes and Chicago landmarks made out of tens of thousands of LEGOs.

Designed for children 2-12, the center will also feature birthday party rooms, a LEGO cafe, a LEGO store, and a special room with rotating exhibitions of work by master LEGO builders -- all intended to provide hours of creativity, entertainment and parent-child interaction centered around LEGO and DUPLO activities.

To see photos of the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Berlin, visit http://www.legolanddiscoverycentre.com.