How to give new life to Legos

If your children have lots of Legos — or maybe they’ve outgrown them — did you know you can send them back to the company, and Lego will get them into the hands of children who might not otherwise have the building bricks?

Lego has a platform called Lego Replay where donations of Legos get new life as toys for kids in need.



Here’s how it works:

1. You decide which Legos you are willing to let go of. (They can’t be knockoffs. They need to be the Lego brand.)

2. You break apart any bricks that you want to send the company and pop them in a box.

Lego will accept the following products:

  • Lego System, Duplo and Technic Bricks and Elements from single or multiple sets.
  • Lego minifigures and mini-dolls. You don’t need to disassemble these.
  • Lego Baseplate.

Don’t send these things:

  • Sets that are already built or partially put together, including Technic and Mindstorms.
  • Broken or damaged bricks.
  • Batteries or electronic components.
  • Apparel, storage containers or backpacks.
  • Products that look like Legos but aren’t.
  • Building instructions or packaging.

3. You go online to Lego Replay. Give the company your email address and ZIP code. Lego then provides you with a free shipping label.

Lego cleans up what you send, sorts everything out and then donates it to organizations that work with children in need. Those organizations include the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston and Teach for America.

Ultimately, your kids’ Legos get a new life with other creative children, and you get to stop stepping on them when you least expect it.

Colleen Kelleher

Colleen Kelleher is an award-winning journalist who has been with WTOP since 1996. Kelleher joined WTOP as the afternoon radio writer and night and weekend editor and made the move to WTOP.com in 2001. Now she works early mornings as the site's Senior Digital Editor.

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