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Our kids are a wee bit obsessed with Legos {one girl included}. Although I hear the phrase ‘pick your battles’ frequently from other moms, one BIG rule has been no Legos in the classroom. Otherwise I am stepping on Lego creations, little boys are getting distracted with the latest battleship they built, and our school time can quickly go downhill.
Until just recently.
After meeting some of the ladies from Lego Education, all of the kids worked on a small StoryStarter set. The point of this Lego program is to work on story telling and writing skills with kids – focusing on the overall plot and being sure to include a beginning, middle, and end to each story. That tiny bag of Legos turned into almost 5 hours of story creating. Every five minutes {I kid you not} one of the kids was running to show me another scene that they had created from the small bag of Legos.
Using Legos to Create Scenes from Stories
That one afternoon though launched an entirely new realm of creativity in a few of the kids. Zachary quickly started creating more scenes – this time different stories from the Bible. Can you identify any of the scenes below?
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We are having so much fun bringing Legos into the classroom and I can’t wait to share more of the things that we are doing together. This week I am asking the kids to build one scene from our history lessons. We typically have three lessons a week, so this will be a great way to see what they remember and how they interpret our learning!
Building Simple Machines with Legos
Another little something fun I’ve been working on with Kaleb – gears and levers using the Simple Machine Legos set. We’re slowly working our way through this program, and he is enjoying the projects that teach science concepts on gears, levers and pulleys {and more}. Zachary will be starting this week on the Lego Education WeDo set that focuses on simple robotics.
Get Creative!!!
There are SO MANY additional ways to use Legos for Learning. If you doubt me, check out my growing collection of ideas on my Lego Learning Pinterest board. I may have gone a wee bit pin-crazy last week in searching, but it will get ideas going in your head for sure!
One thing on our list to do now is create a stopmotion video. I’m trying out a few apps and will have to share what we create and learn using them.
Do you have a Lego enthusiast in your home? What creative ways has your family used Legos to help with learning?
Maestro Classics ~ introduce great music and classics stories to children with this classical music series. Check out their FREE homeschool music curriculum guides!
The printables shared on this site are FREE of charge unless otherwise noted, and you are welcome to download them for your personal and/or classroom use only. However, free or purchased printables are NOT to be reproduced, hosted, sold, shared, or stored on any other website or electronic retrieval system (such as Scribd or Google docs). My printables are copyright protected and I appreciate your help in keeping them that way.
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I use the Duplo Legos in helping my son learn sight words. I put white tape onto the front of the Lego and then use a permanent marker to write the word on the white tape. Then he assembles them anyway he wants as he says each word. He absolutely loves it! He hasn’t played with his Duplo Legos for awhile as he seemed to be outgrowing them. So, I decided to put them to good use. I got the white tape at Target. It’s sort of like plumber tape. The package I bought had a few different colors in. This tape comes off very easily. I am going to be using this method for some of his word families also. You could have them sort and put the Legos together according to word family.
that is a great idea, Denise!!
I recently found The Brick Bible (NT and OT) at Costco as well. Bought them for my children, thinking they would really love them. Unfortunately, those books are now in hiding. I suggest that parents thinking about buying this book do a search for the author. The author is an atheist, not a Christian as I was led to believe by reading his intro. Sadly, many of the scenes depicted in these two books are more battle/violent scenes. If one does further research on the author, they will find that he has created additional “Bible story” images much like in the book, but what I would call adult only versions. Please save your money by researching and not falling victim!
thanks for letting me know Connie – will definitely check them out!!
Amazon reviews are terrible for these books – there are almost as many 1 stars as 5 :( As Connie pointed out, this author is an atheist. Maybe Your kiddos could start their own website/book!
Well, I’m glad we didn’t buy them yet!! :) We have the Lego Ideas book which the boys love: http://amzn.to/We7wIU
Really appreciate you all chiming in and letting me know!
We have that one, too – my almost seven year old really likes it!
We use the Duplo blocks and LEGOs almost on a weekly basis. A couple of years ago, we made LEGO letters for spelling sight words. http://thisreadingmama.com/2011/05/05/spelling-with-lego-letters/. Just recently, we used LEGOs for a descriptive writing activity. He built his creation then wrote a descriptive piece on it.
Becky –
That’s something that I’m doing with Zachary this week too – just to make writing a bit more fun for him! :)
Jolanthe
I am looking at the StoryStarter. This must be a new product, I cannot seem to find much, Could you give us a little detail description of what it consists of? I know Legos are costly and would like to get a good sense of what I would be investing in. Is the only place you can purchase from the Lego webpage? In other words, are there any cheaper prices? :)
As far as I know, they are only available from the Lego Education website. I’ll be sharing more about them soon. We had a small pouch of them, but the full set is on the way! I know that it includes software so that your kids can tell stories, etc… with it as well.
Instead of a written book report! Using Legos (and other household items) to create a scene from the book, and then an oral presentation of scene/book summary. DS just did a report on a Titanic-themed book. http://www.adventureswithjude.com/2013/02/lego-titanic-book-report.html
great idea, Meg!!
My son saw the Bible scenes, went to his room, and 5 minutes later came back with his own Bible scene! I love it! Thank you for the great ideas! I was planning a Lego week next week, and your post came right in time.
we love legos here. just be careful with the lego Bibles. They are not written by a christian and some of his pictures are very disturbing with his “interpretation” If you want more specifics, please email me privately.
Kelly, could you give me more specifics? I just recently heard about these Bibles, but if they’re not Biblical in nature, then what’s the point?! I’m at westakm at yahoo dot com
Great idea having them build something from their history lesson! My 1st grader loves Lego, my pre-k’er likes them, but not quite as fanactically as his brother. I was wondering if the Story Starter kits were worth the money or not. I keep browsing the Lego education products, planning & replanning what I might purchase…Can’t wait to see your stop motion videos (with tips)!
somehow the kids managed to break the laptop – so we’re waiting to get it fixed now…grrr.
When our kids were younger, I used to refer to our read-aloud time for history, science, etc. as “Lego Listening”, because the kids would often play with Legos while I read to them. They could do other things, too– like draw or build with other toys, but Legos were one of the frequent activities. Also, here’s a cool picture of numbers made with Legos; I just saw this yesterday (it might be old to a lot of people, but new to me) http://pinterest.com/pin/293085888219997507/
thanks for sharing – just pinned it!
We use Legos all the time in our homeschool studies. They are great to create biblical creations, animals, games, and places around the world. Check out my 10 year olds LEGO Blog on how we use LEGOS at school. You will find lots of creations from the Great Wall of China, Eiffel Tower, Rainforest, Hangman, Tic Tac Toe, Noah’s Ark, Palm Sunday, Fruit of the Spirit, and more. Happy Building!
http://www.buildinglegoswithchrist.blogspot.com
We make games like hangman to use for spelling. Tic Tac Toe for practicing flashcards. We build Bible scenes and famous places around the world with our Lego bricks.
My son built the Golden Gate Bridge with legos, after a study of bridges.
Wow!! That would be amazing to see! And how fun. :)