The Magical Funfair | LEGO® Friends | LEGO.com

Explore the Magical Funfair Stalls

Step right up! Buy your carnival tickets (and ice-cream…), get your face painted and sneak a peek of the magic with the levitating trick!

Ride the Magical Ferris Wheel and Slide

Our first ride of the day is… well, it’s two rides for double the fun! Plus, we hear there’s a surprise waiting for you at the slide…

Magical Funfair Roller Coaster

Loop-the-loop your way into a magical playtime adventure!

Jaw-dropping Magical Acrobatics

Put on a whirling, spinning, towering performance!

Step inside the Magical Caravan

Look deep into the crystal ball to glimpse the future, with the help of a mystical fortune teller and her wise owl…

LEGO® Friends Challenges: For Grown-ups!

The new LEGO® Friends sets are simply magical...

And no, not any of that “isn’t it magical when kids play with LEGO sets”, we’re talking full, bonafide, magic tricks, built into the sets themselves – from levitation to fortune telling to fire juggling(!) – all against the backdrop of a wonderous funfair.

A large part of why we wanted to feature magic in these new sets, was to inspire and challenge kids to try their own tricks. The kind that make for fun, shareable videos that they’d love to show off to their aghast (yes, truly aghast) friends and family.

After all, we thought, the world could always use a bit more magic...

You can catch a glimpse of the kind of fun, magical challenges we’re talking about in our latest LEGO Friends video below:

But though magic is undoubtedly for everyone, it can take a bit of time for younger magicians to get the hang of it.

That’s where you come in. As they play magician, you step into two roles:

1) Their rather dashing assistant (glittery costume not necessary but highly encouraged).

2) The coolest parent in the history of all time ever, thank you very much.

We want to help you be both, and NOT just because we think you’ll look good in a glittery outfit (although, since you ask, we think it brings out your eyes).

So, join us as we reveal some quick and easy magic tips that make for perfect, fun and shareable videos!

    Magic Trick #1 – Levitating

    Part of what makes magic tricks quite so watchable is people’s reaction to them. (We’re thinking most successful magicians’ careers would have taken off slightly less astronomically if they performed their magic in a controlled, audience-less environment than out on the streets…)

    Which brings us neatly onto The Levitation Trick. You only need:

    - A blanket

    - A broom

    - A shoe.

    But if you really want to make the magic POP, grab:

    - A willing assistant

    - The Magical Funfair Stalls set

    As your kid builds their Magical Funfair Stalls set, ask them to demonstrate the levitating magic trick featured in brick-form.

    Confidently state you can levitate someone in real-life, to which they’ll probably call your bluff. If you’ve employed an accomplice, this is their chance to shine – joining in the chorus of doubt caused by your outlandish claims.

    Go into another room to set up a phone camera, plus your trick. We’ll assume you’ll be levitating an accomplice, but it works just as well with you as the subject.

    1) Step onto a slightly elevated platform (a bed or sofa is perfect).

    2) Tuck a broomstick underneath your assistant’s arm, pointing straight out in front of them, and balance a shoe on the end.

    3) Fold a blanket over the broomstick and your assistant’s arm so that it’s covering their feet.

    4) Get your accomplice to lean their head back. All that should be visible above the blanket is their head – horizontal to their ‘foot’ (which is of course just the shoe).

    5) Call in your LEGO building kid into the room and record their reaction! The trick works best when the viewer is facing perpendicular to the ‘floatee’.

    Bonus tip: Get your assistant to act as surprised/freaked out as possible to really sell the magic!

    Magic Trick #2 – Forced Perspective

    And for our next trick…

    Want a trick where everyone’s involved? Let’s see what we can pull out of our magic hat… like… our magic hat!

    We played with a couple of forced perspective tricks in our inspirational video, including positioning a brick-built magician’s hat – the centerpiece of the Magical Funfair Roller Coaster Set – in the middle of the frame.

    The trick is simple, but the magic is mighty:

    1) Place a small object, like the magic hat or Ferris wheel, close to a fixed camera.

    2) Ensure the object isn’t too close, so that the camera’s focus remains on the entire frame.

    3) On the floor behind, mark out (using cushions or the like) the area that is obscured by the object at the front.

    4) Think of an unexpected twist! Perhaps after diving into the hat, you come out as someone else, or wearing different clothes. Maybe you transform into your household pet? The more unexpected the better.

    Bonus tip: This trick is all about joy, so have as much of it as possible! Perhaps set it to music?

    Magic Trick #3 – Camera Tricks

    And for our final trick... something that takes a little more effort from your kids’ glamorous assistant (… that’s you, by the way) with a result that your kids will be truly delighted with!

    It hinges on the magic of camera editing, but DON’T WORRY, there’s not a green-screen in sight. All that’s needed is combining two videos into one, as can be achieved on the most basic video editing software, like the app that probably comes free on the device you’re reading this article on now!

    You will be the subject of the trick, and the two videos will be shot from the perspective of your kid.

    Before you begin, have a look through your kids’ LEGO® Friends collection, and find a character that most resembles you…

    1) Lie down on a sofa or bed, partially covered by a blanket.

    2) Have your kid begin recording, asking you if you want to be magically shrunk. (It’s best if you pretend that you aren’t interested...)

    3) Your magician child puts the phone down on a nearby chair, keeping you in frame.

    4) They approach you, say some particularly fant-abulous magical phrases, and pull the blanket fully over you.

    5) As they hastily rush back to pick up the camera, make sure the phone camera ‘accidentally’ falls forward, so the recording goes black. This will be the ‘cut’ where you can join the two videos together seamlessly. This is the end of Video 1.

    6) Before hitting record on Video 2, step off the sofa, place your LEGO Friends look-a-like mini doll underneath the blanket, along with some cushions so it looks like you’re still under there.

    7) Press record for Video 2, while the camera is still facing down and the screen is black.

    8) Once they hit record, get them to film as they pull back the blanket and reveal your mini doll transformation (confused, off-camera sound effects from you are – unfortunately – mandatory!)

    9) Easily join the two videos together at the blackscreen cut, using basic video editing software and add ‘Film Editor’ and ‘World’s Most Magical Parent’ to your resume.

    Bonus tip: for advanced magicians, the ‘cut’ point could be something more subtle than a black screen, like a blurry transition shot of the ground – just as long as you go out of frame.