Scott Hammers / The BulletinJaspert Rey, 4, of Portland, stacks a tower of LEGO blocks with father Tyler Rey and July Rey, 6, at Saturdayís ìFamily Block Party: LEGO Universeî event at the Downtown Bend Public Library.

The Downtown Bend Public Library opened its doors Saturday afternoon for the “Family Block Party: Lego Universe,” inviting more than a dozen kids in to dig into two oversized tubs of the colorful plastic blocks.

Community Librarian Kirsten Hostetler said the regular event is an effort to encourage creative play among elementary-school kids and to bring families to the library who might otherwise not be regular visitors.

The library system’s collection of Lego bricks circulates among the different branches in Bend, Redmond, La Pine and Sunriver, Hostetler said, with a play day at every branch nearly every month.

Tyler Rey, of Portland, said he brought his two daughters down from Sisters where they’re visiting their grandparents. Ali Heinly, 6, surveyed the collection of Lego human heads she’d stacked into a large tower and said while she wasn’t sure what she was building, the dinosaur-headed Lego man had been stationed in front of a rack of wrenches and other Lego tools to guard them.

Lego play days are generally on Saturdays, with the schedule available in the library guides at each library location or on the Deschutes Public Library System website. For more information, visit www.deschuteslibrary.org.

— Reporter: 541-383-0387, shammers@bendbulletin.com