LEGO Systems Rocks the Preschool Playroom With a Playful New Music Experience: LEGO® DUPLO® JAMS

NEW ORLEANS, April 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- MOM 2.0 Summit -- LEGO Systems, Inc. today announced its third LEGO® DUPLO® JAMS song, "Sort out the Blues," and the official iTunes channel where parents can subscribe to its library of free playroom music at http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/lego-duplo-jams-official-channel/id428026901?ign-mpt=uo%3D4. DUPLO JAMS is a free music experience that offers upbeat and inspirational tunes to set the stage for toddlers and preschoolers to build their imaginations. Written and performed by a preschool dad, three free songs are currently available with a plan to deliver a new song every month in 2011.

DUPLO JAMS is designed with the whole family in mind to inspire and facilitate new ways to play. Children will sing-along, build and play to catchy tunes while parents will applaud a fresh approach to playroom fun. Several summertime events will offer hands-on play where families of small children come together and express themselves through DUPLO play set to music. The first of these events will take place on Saturday, June 18 at pottery barn kids stores nationwide. Parents can check their local store calendar for information.

Mom, Please Turn Up the Music: the DUPLO JAMS Experience

The DUPLO JAMS experience is a compilation of fun songs that encourage children and families to dance, build, play and learn things like their numbers, letters, colors and more while they build:

• "Build with Letters" is a British-pop inspired jam that's all about the alphabet, prompting youngsters to build and sing along while learning their letters.
• "Stick Together" is a folksy tune that showcases relationships while reinforcing the development of coordination and fine motor skills that building with DUPLO bricks fosters.
• "Sort out the Blues" uses a blues vibe to explore two educational play themes – color recognition and sorting. Using color as an inspiration, building ideas are endless!

"Being a busy mom of preschool twins, I pride myself in coming up with fun and exciting new ways to play but sometimes I run out of interesting ideas, and it's those days when I love that I can find tools to help me," said Molly Fitzpatrick, a busy mom from Seattle who inspired the LEGO team to consider play music. "My girls love to build, but sometimes I don't know the best way to facilitate their building fun. We all love music, and so it just clicked that music could help coach, guide and inspire my kids."

Research indicates that construction play benefits toddlers and preschoolers on multiple dimensions and contributes to every stage of learning. Feedback from parents underscores that they value how DUPLO play nurtures analytical, social, emotional and imaginative skills, but also that it delivers long-term play opportunities and value.

"Every day children explore a bit of themselves through an infinite number of building possibilities that DUPLO bricks offer—building a house, a car, a sky-high tower, or even building their ABCs," said Birthe Jensen, senior brand manager, LEGO Systems. "DUPLO toys offer so many ways to creatively play, learn and explore, but we love nothing more than moving those building moments to full-on, immersive experiences. DUPLO JAMS is an example of how we deliver quality building materials alongside irresistible inspiration and tools to connect young children to each other and to their parents through play."

It Begins with a Toy

The 2011 LEGO DUPLO line is the most comprehensive line to date, offering ever to offer youngsters so many ways to play. Highlights include:

• Play with Letters ($29.99) makes the alphabet fun with lettered building bricks. Families can create endless games to promote reading, spelling, sorting, stacking and more.
• A new collection of "My First" DUPLO sets – My First LEGO DUPLO Set ($14.99), My First Supermarket ($19.99), My First Zoo ($24.99) and My First Fire Station ($29.99) – combine building and role play, while fostering creativity and imagination.
• New Disney Pixar LEGO DUPLO brand Cars 2 and LEGO DUPLO brand Winnie the Pooh collections let children recreate favorite scenes and role play with beloved characters from the upcoming feature films ($14.99 - $49.99).

Providing additional inspiration, families from around the world can join the recently launched LEGO DUPLO Facebook community at www.Facebook/LEGODUPLO or download LEGO DUPLO Farm Friends, a mobile storybook app, LEGO DUPLO Card Games, a mobile matching game; additional mobile apps will launch this summer and fall.

About LEGO Systems, Inc.

LEGO Systems, Inc. is the North American division of The LEGO Group, a privately-held, family-owned company based in Billund, Denmark, one of the world's leading manufacturers of creatively educational play materials for children.  The company is committed to the development of children's creative and imaginative abilities, and its employees are guided by the motto adopted in the 1930s by founder Ole Kirk Christiansen: "Only the best is good enough."  Visit www.LEGO.com

LEGO, DUPLO, their logos and the minifigure are trademarks of The LEGO Group. ©2011 The LEGO Group.

© Disney Enterprise, Inc.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Leah Barash, for LEGO Systems
415-317-2047 / barash@flashpointpr.com

SOURCE LEGO Systems, Inc.