A lot of us probably think about giving up our nine-to-five life and pursuing our dreams. But there’s a lot of risk involved in leaving a steady job and starting something new, and perhaps that deters many of us from taking the leap. 

But not Chris and Geri Schnupp. They quit their day jobs back in January and set out to make their own dream come true. And after a few months of preparation, now they’ve given Lexington a unique gift: its first ever mom-and-pop Lego store called The Brick Zone. The store, located at 2664 Augusta Hwy. Unit D, opened at the end of March. 

The store’s shelves are packed with dozens of different Lego building sets for all ages, including sets from the Marvel, Star Wars and Disney collections, and commonly loved lines like the Lego City sets. 

Unless you’re a parent who’s tired of stepping on Legos in the middle of the night, this store is not only fun, but has the potential to be educational as well. 

New York’s Mindnasium, an organization which provides therapeutic services for children struggling with speech, language and communication, says Legos can be helpful for development in several key ways. 

As children learn touch and feel in their early years, Legos can help stimulate those skills and aid a child in developing creative images in their mind. Lego building also has more obvious benefits such as helping with motor skills, cognitive skills, problem solving and organization. All of these skills can help a pre-school child as they prepare to enter kindergarten, possibly giving them a leg up on their education.

Chris and Geri Schnupp expressed similar sentiments in an interview with WIS 10 TV. 

“It allows for children to take a simple object and start to understand complex topics,” Chris Schnupp said in the WIS interview. “You’re talking about physics and engineering, here. This is something that children can relate to, but then as they start to grow, they start to develop an understanding of these topics even before they’ve learned them in a classroom.”

“It’s very enjoyable to watch the creativity and see what they make,” Geri Schnupp added in the WIS interview. “I enjoy seeing the different things that my son and my daughter come up with when they play with Legos.”

But let’s not forget the most important part of building with Legos: it’s fun, and building a new set, whether it’s a car, a spaceship or a cityscape, is just an enjoyable way to spend time and accomplish something. And now The Brick Zone on Augusta Highway, a mom-and-pop Lego store, is open and waiting for the people of Lexington to start digging in and building up.