We all know that kids love to build rocket ships, castles and miniature robots with Legos. But did you know that these tiny plastic playthings are also a great way for your miniature master planner to learn everyday skills they’ll need for the rest of their lives?
“Our classes and camps encourage collaborative efforts,” says Jim Brown, director of Bricks 4 Kidz in Somerset. “We develop critical thinking skills and we ultimately stimulate creativity. We do all of this using over 225 copyrighted models created by a mom who worked at an architecture firm using — you guessed it! — Lego bricks.”
Kids work in teams to build motorized models of everything from superheroes to Star Wars characters at one of 25 different themed camps. “We’re working with kids to start thinking of problems and dealing with issues as they relate to building things on their own and, meanwhile, they’re having a blast,” says Brown.
Here are 5 ways your budding city planner can benefit from playing more Legos:
Kids Learn There’s No ‘I’ in ‘Team’
“They may not only be working in a team of two, but possibly more than just two. It helps kids realize that in the real world — especially in the corporate world — they’re going to be working on a team in some aspect. This helps them learn what it means to be a good team member. And, even if there is a time where you aren’t actually doing something, it’s your responsibility to pay attention in case your teammate doesn’t know exactly what to do, or has made a decision to do something incorrectly. The way that we work on this at camp is, when someone needs help, our first response is, ‘Did you ask your teammate?'”
They Become Critical Thinkers
“When you’re problem-solving, doing things like motorized models, things don’t always work. Sometimes the models are confusing. Other times, the person seems to be doing it right but it’s just not working out. What our instructors do is work with kids to come to the answer. We’re not going to give them the answer because that would be too easy.”
Kids Solve Their Own Problems
“It gets even more fun after they’ve completed the model and they’re all ready to turn on the orange switch to power the model — then nothing happens. It doesn’t move the way it’s supposed to or all of the pieces explode and start flying off. That’s when I tell them, ‘This is the fun part.’ Of course they’re like, ‘What do you mean? It doesn’t work.’ But it’s fun learning to figure out why it doesn’t work. It creates a certain level of satisfaction that you and your teammate finally got it working.”
They Learn That Patience is a Virtue
“Sometimes kids come into camp thinking that because they’re very good builders at home they’re going to be great when they walk into our class. That isn’t always the case, so part of the learning process is [accepting that] things aren’t always going to go your way. When you’re dealing with children, especially young children, they become very frustrated so it takes a lot of patience.”
Clean-Up Is Just as Important as Playtime
“We expect the kids to participate in clean-up. It takes time but, when they’re throwing pieces left and right we tell them, ‘We’re going to be starting all over again and we’re going to keep on doing it until you put everything away the way you found it. If you do it the first time, you’re done a lot quicker.’ Ultimately, they figure that out. In the real world, you need to put everything back where you found it at work because, otherwise, you won’t be able to find it for your next project.”
Hero (Top) Feature Image: © iordani/Dollar Photo Club
Additional Images (in Order) Courtesy: Bricks 4 Kidz
