Death is one of the hardest things to wrap your head around. This is even more true for kids who are experiencing the loss of a loved one for the first time. It’s tough to know how to comfort kids in this situation — but, as it turns out, Lego might be just the ticket.
Lego is pretty awesome.
Whether you’re following the instructions for a store-built set or creating something totally new out of a big barrel of bricks, Lego’s possibilities are pretty much endless. It’s a valuable educational tool.
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You can build anything.
Because Lego is friendly to fans’ ideas, there’s no shortage of custom Lego sets on social media. Some of these sets even get approved by Lego to be put on sale.
Back to the grief thing…
Lego seems bright, fun and a little cartoony — hardly something that goes hand-in-hand with a heavy topic like death. But Lego is also endlessly versatile, a quality that helps here.
A funeral museum is making it happen.
Bestattungsmuseum , or Funeral Museum Vienna, is an extensive museum located right in the midst of one of the biggest cemetaries in the Austrian capital. Their partnership with Lego seems random, but it totally works.
They’re creating funeral-themed Lego sets.
You can find the whole lineup here . There’s a fair bit that gets lost in translation, but there’s still enough to understand what they’re going for with these unorthodox Lego sets.
It’s all historically accurate.
This funeral tram is based off of a real tram that brought the deceased to Vienna Central Cemetary in the period between World War I and World War II. Naturally, it comes with an undertaker and a coffin.
It helps to normalize things.
One of the best ways to conceptualize death is by examining the way it affects those who are still living. These Lego sets showcase the various ways that humans deal with death.
All aspects are covered.
The set includes a few conveyances to carry the casket, along with this set: the crematorium, where the casket’s journey eventually ends. The crematorium guy looks a little manic, but maybe that’s just me.
What’s a fourgon?
I’ve never heard of this vehicle before, but apparently it means “baggage carts” in French. Trucks like this are sometimes used in lieu of a hearse to carry the deceased to their final resting place.
Of course there’s a hearse.
A classic hearse, this set comes with the pieces to make the hearse along with a coffin. As the site states, this one is “for the small and large undertaker of tomorrow.”
It’s an interesting idea.
Even for a kid who isn’t dealing with grief, these sets could help acquaint kids with a side of humanity they’re often shielded from. Eventually everyone has to confront death.
You need to have the mourners.
My only quibble here is that they both seem maybe a little too happy to be mourning at a funeral. Still, it’s hard to argue with the classic Lego minifigure smile.
Some aspects are a bit weird.
See, now we’ve got mourners who look appropriately sad. Maybe that’s because they’re accompanied by, as the site writes, “the deceased, the deceased and the skeleton.” Not to be a stickler, but you don’t usually see sentient skeletons at a funeral.
A Lego grave.
No one knows what happens when we die, but these sets should help de-mystify things a bit for kids by showing them the different ways humans cope with the death of a loved one.
What do you think?
It’s weird seeing such somber Lego sets, but it’s also pretty fascinating. Would you have played with these as a kid? Parents, would you get these for your kids? Let us know in the comments section!
