The Legos ruled today! A combined Lego League Showcase and Saturday STEAM Lego Engineering program exploded in fun today! 3 paint buckets full of Legos, 7 parents, 26 kids, 1 volunteer, and me = lots of smiles, building lessons, and fun. What a simple program and each time we do it, it's popular. Why? Kids "playing" with Legos? I believe the playing involves a combination of imagination, creativity, problem solving, social interaction, and a sense of accomplishment that watching TV and playing video games just can't deliver.
First up, the kids from the Lego League showed off their motorized models and team posters. Next, I announced a few challenges for everyone: tallest building, longest road with 1 color brick, strongest bridge, etc. for those who like a little more structure. But to be honest, all but a couple kids just built whatever they wanted. I told them at the start they would need to help pick up the Legos before leaving and that was really the only rule. I provided a handout with types of bridges. I also gave a few tips on building something really tall, and the rest was up to them. We had some amazing creations.
Not wanting to immediately toss their work into the tub at the end of the program, I brought them to the Youth area and put them on display. Then another great thing happened, other kids started playing with the models. Yicks! At first I wanted to tell them look, don't touch! Then I realized, why not. This is a great extension of the program and a way for other kids to experience all those cool things. By the end of the day, each model was destroyed, but hopefully something else was built with the Legos and the kids who "played" with them.
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