2x4 Day is April 2nd

I've been known to have a few ideas, and they are not usually ones that are easily accepted as doable. I like to challenge myself in unusual ways.

In 2014 I had an idea. I wanted to start a day. I wanted to do it in a way that was acceptable to the LEGO(r) group. It followed what they call the 'Fair Play' rules of the use of the LEGO(r) brand. No LEGO word mark in the name. It's acceptable in a tag line.

A side note. 'Fair Play' is the reason you hear a lot of Brick Conventions happening around the world, but you don't hear LEGO Convention. Recently there has been the demise of many local LEGO Fan conventions, such as Bricks LA, Bricks by the Bay. These community meetings of LEGO fans and artists are very hard to do, but they can happen, and they thrive in other parts of the state. Lately there has been a lot of competition from travelling brick conventions. They are awesome, and bring a certain flavor of LEGO goodness to the LEGO ethos, but they don't provide the same opportunities for LEGO community that an indie convention does, because they are not community produced.

April 2nd is 2x4 Day, a Fan Created Global Day of LEGO Brick Play.

I knew I could do it. In 2011 I'd started, a community group called the Long Beach LEGO User Group (LUG). It was an officially approved group by The LEGO Group. As the leader of that group, I was a member of a community of global LEGO Ambassadors called the LEGO Ambassador Network (LAN). Ambassadors shared their thoughts and concerns about the LEGO products, events, activities. I could share my thought.

I put it on the LAN. 'I want to start a day, what shall we call it?' We settled on focusing on the 2x4 brick, as it is distinctive and basic. Several countries participated. I am sharing some links and posts by others.

Suzanne Eaton (East Coast) Pinterest collection on ways to celebrate 2x4 Day.

Jay's Brick Blog (Australia) and 2x4 Day Challenge and Winners Announcement.

The Rambling Brick's (Australia) post made on April 1st about 2x4 Day.

Hispabrick Magazine (country / countries unclear) on 2x4 Day.

How Do You Celebrate 2x4 Day?

The guidelines for the day are simple. On April 2nd of each year, play with LEGO bricks. Post on your social media with #2x4day and #LEGO. At home, with a friend, at a party or celebration. At a convention, even!

If you want some ideas of things to do, I have some videos in my collection.

2x4 Day co-celebration with the Long Beach ROBOT-ech in 2018.

The first 2x4 Day was celebrated on April 2nd, 2015. On April 2nd, 2014 the world is celebrating the 10th Anniversary of 2x4 Day.

An activity in development at the Agape Children's Museum event at the Michelle Obama Library

Four things to do on 2x4 Day, developed at a teacher training delivered by Makersville.

To celebrate, I am offering 10th anniversary printed LEGO bricks that celebrate the occasion. I must have a budget for it, and I'm considering that shipping to different countries may be difficult, irregular and involve customs fees. I will have to consider that budget.

What will they look like? That's a good question. I'm still designing it. I probably should move quickly because that's in 2 weeks! Just to cover my lateness, I'm going to call 2024 2x4 Day Year, starting on April 2nd. That way we can celebrate the 10th anniversary of 2x4 Day all year long!

Ready Set Go!

With this post, I start the planning for the 10th Anniversary Celebration for 2x4 Day and the 2x4 Day Year celebration! How exciting!

About the Author:

Trish thrives on unusual personal challenges that usually involve starting something, this is one of them. She believes in the power of telling others about your goal, much to create the motivation to actually pursue the goal. Many thanks to the Patch infrastructure for providing this outlet.

I will be adding photos of the celebrations since 2015, as permission is provided. Check back for more!