Creating Hygge with LEGO® DUPLO®

Hygge season is upon us

The LEGO Group headquarters is in the same place where our founder set up his carpentry workshop over 90 years ago – in a small town called Billund, in the also small country of Denmark.

And though we Danes aren’t a particularly ‘glass-half-full’ people, things are pretty good here. There are boatloads of bikes, plenty of pastries and a substantial supply of LEGO® bricks…

But then there’s the sun. Which every year does its best to dampen the national mood by disappearing for pretty much the entirety of winter.

Luckily, we’ve found an effective way to counter our weather’s rather impolite way of being absolutely appalling for 3 months straight. And that is with hygge.

What is hygge?

Hygge is one of those Danish concepts that Danish people will delightedly tell you “doesn’t really have a direct translation, actually”. Its closest cousin is ‘coziness’, but that only scratches the surface.

It’s a type of coziness we actively seek out and create, in the broader pursuit of happiness. And it’s usually found in the little things.

According to Meik Wiking, author of The Little Book of Hygge (so he should know…), hygge is:

“A feeling of home. A feeling that we are safe, that we are shielded from the world and allow ourselves to let our guard down. You may be having an endless conversation about the small or big things in life – or just be comfortable in each other’s silent company – or simply just be by yourself enjoying a cup of tea.”

Hygge is log fires and fuzzy socks. It is re-watching your favorite film for the millionth time on a lazy Sunday with a pet in your lap.

Oh, and candles. If you want a ‘too long; didn’t read’ of hygge, it’s basically just lots and lots of candles…

Does hygge work?

On a statistical level, Denmark is often said to be one of the happiest countries in the world. On an anecdotal level – also yes.

There is nothing quite like hunkering down, with the rain storming outside, putting on a record and reading a book or building a LEGO set.

And yes, LEGO building is absolutely a hyggelig activity. And no, we are not just saying that. Like reading, cooking or jigsaw-solving, these are productive activities that produce the wellness that defines hygge. It’s a contentment you would never get from just doom-scrolling…

But of course, hygge is about more than just things.

As Meik Wiking stresses, the best way to create hygge is “being with the people you love” and maximizing the time you spend together.

LEGO® DUPLO® building hygge

To that end, we’ve created some fun LEGO DUPLO® activities for you and your little one, to bring out the hygge at your next playtime.

First things first: find a nice space that makes you feel cozy, happy, warm and safe. If that for you is a blanket fort, then go live your best life. Then it’s time to bring out the LEGO DUPLO bricks!

Because log-burning fires are an absolute staple of hygge, we thought it appropriate to include a tree-building challenge.

Start out by encouraging your little one to build a tree with as few bricks as possible, as shown in the Easy Build above.

Then, once they have gained confidence in their creative skills, you can be the hero of their play day by showing them how to add elements they wouldn’t even know they could make with LEGO bricks – like fruit or birds!

This process of incrementally increasing the complexity of their models is perfect for plenty of other builds – especially boats.

These super sailing specimens are a great way of getting them moving around your cozy little space, as you pretend to traverse the high seas together. Stormy weather outside is a bonus.

Finally, there is much to be said about nature and hygge. Despite being associated with the indoors, a love of nature is a big part of hygge. Whether that’s through having indoor plants, going for a forest walk, or just admiring the view out your window. So, as our little way of celebrating nature in our fun LEGO DUPLO hygge activities, we want you and your loved ones to build some birds! (How expansive can you get with the plumage?)

Whatever you build, you’ll see the limits of their imagination grow with each new technique learned. And you can rest assured that as you help them build both their models and their skills, this is the best way to spend some quality time together.

And that, ultimately, is what hygge is all about.

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