Every family has trophies.

Some are made of gold. Some are made of plastic. And some only exist for about fifteen minutes before becoming the next amazing creation.

You’ve probably seen the recent official World Cup LEGO set that LEGO and FIFA partnered together on. It retails for $199.99 USD and contains more than 2,800 pieces. Quite an undertaking! Fans can build and display their very own gold-colored trophy. But I don’t anticipate most people taking it apart again to reuse the pieces for other creations. The ability to do that, though, is where the real trophies are earned every day by kids all over the world.

LEGO has also done a wonderful job creating sets for adults. Many of us now build display pieces that stay assembled for years. There’s nothing wrong with that. They’re works of art.

But children experience LEGO differently. Their greatest creations are often temporary.

That’s why every family needs a LEGO “trophy shelf.” Not because every creation deserves to stay forever, but because every builder deserves to feel that one special creation was worth celebrating.

Display it for a little while. Let everyone in the family admire it. Celebrate what your child created together.

Before the masterpiece comes apart, take a picture. Build a photo album of your child’s creations. Someday they’ll enjoy looking back at all the amazing things they imagined, even if every brick has long since become something else.

When your child says, “Look what I made!”

Stop for a minute.

Celebrate it.

Put it on the trophy shelf for a while.

Snap a picture.

Then, when the time comes, let it become the raw materials for the next masterpiece.

Because the real trophy isn’t the LEGO model.

The real trophy is the builder who keeps building.