Let's Hear It for Legos!

Innaugural Meeting of the Lego Club in Eau Claire!


Thanks to Alisha Green from the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library in Eau Claire for sending in description and photos from a terrific, easy-to-reproduce, and fun program!


How many kids came? Around 22 kids came (grades K-5) and 9 parents stayed to build with their kids. Registration was required with 25 participants being the max -- based on the amount of Legos I have. We had to turn so many people away who wanted to register that we will now be holding two Lego Clubs every month to allow more kids to participate.




Hard to say who is having more fun, Dad or kid!

Where'd you get the Legos? A few months ago I put a donation request in the library newsletter and the Friends of the Library newsletter for Lego donations. I got a pretty good response from that (I received a lot of older Lego sets from the 1950s - 1970s that had a lot of pieces from sets the kids had never seen before and they were excited to use!) and then I purchased a few boxes of just Lego bricks, a box of Lego wheels and two boxes of doors and windows from Lego.com.

How did you run the program? The theme of this program was castles, so kids were challenged to build something castle related, but were free to build whatever they chose. I had a display of castle and lego books for kids to look through for inspiration and/or to check out. I purchased 25, 6 qt. plastic storage bins that I used to distribute Legos to the kids. I divided the Legos in these bins prior to the program so they were ready to hand out to the kids right away. The kids came and got their bin of Legos and a carpet square, chose a place on the floor and got right to building. They were great about keeping stray legos in the bins, so there wasn't any concern about Legos lying all over the floor. The participants could build alone or combine their Legos and build together.The last 20 minutes of the program we went around the room and the kids explained the details of their creation. Before the program ended I asked the kids to take their Legos apart and put them back in their bins so they were ready for the next Lego Club and to put their carpet squares in a pile, so cleanup was practically nothing.

What else?
I had a 7th grade Lego enthusiast who came as a volunteer to help with the program. He went around the room talking with the kids and he helped take the younger kids Legos apart at the end of the program. He also built an elaborate Lego castle at home to bring as a display and the kids absolutely loved it and they had a chance to ask him questions about how he built it, etc.

I think my favorite part of the program was seeing the kids' imaginations at work. I loved watching every participant's face light up as they showed off what they built. There were some really creative builds. The program was lots of fun and other than getting enough Legos, it is an easy program to put together. I can't wait for next month's program!

The tallest castle in the world!

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