The Return of LEGO Club: Unleash the Choas

133 people showed up for the first LEGO club this summer. I had seven tables, at least 5,000 LEGO bricks and it was still madness.

I was expecting this, just maybe not on this scale. We had issues with kids not sharing, ignoring safety rules and several who had never played with LEGO at all and keep pulling on my tailcoats asking me to show them how to build something.

The kicker was a had a notoriously obnoxious patron show up half way through, remark loudly on the chaos and then had this "helpful" suggestions.

"Next time I come, I will help you organized the kids into groups of the same age and gender. That way it will work smoother. Okay, honey"

 Ah my inner monologue at that point.

"These children are working together to make beautiful creations. Why do they need to be separate by gender? Is there a law that boys and girls can't play together? Did I miss something?! Ages. Sure put all the older kids together! They would win every time because they have more experience and practice. Then you'll be back whining to me at how that's not fair to the little kids. Let the kids be! They are playing fine without your interference. I've been doing this for over a year. This ain't my first trip to the rodeo. Get out of my face, please. And don't call me honey, you're only 5 years older than me!"

(Imagining Lewis Black narrating that is quite satisfying)

Instead I apologized for the chaos and explained that we had an option of a free play table for kids of any ages to use if they don't want to team build.

Thankfully that patron never showed back up at LEGO club for the rest of the summer and things got a lot more calmer. Sure I had a panic attack afterwards and lived in fear that every club meeting this summer would be like the first, but they were not. (thank god)

We had four meetings of LEGO club this year and I divided the challenges into two categories. Creative Challenges and Technical Challenges

Creative Challenges had the kids build something to a specific theme while Technical let them build what ever they wanted but it had to fit a certain criteria

Creative Challenges
Favorite Books-  I selected about 20 well known books and gave each team a envelope with 5 titles that they could chose from. Each team could only pick one book and could build a scene, character or other representation from the story.

Our Winner- The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Superhero HQ- In going with our theme "Every Hero Has a Story" I asked the kids to build a superhero headquarter. They had to think about what the superheroes would use for communication, transportation and other technology. They also had to determine where it was located (A cave, underground, sky scraper or outer space.)

Impressive!

Technical Challenges
Unbreakable- This was a favorite for me. The kids can build what ever they want, but it can't break. I would go over and shake the tables, or tilt the creation and drop them. Any brick or figure that fell off, couldn't be put back on.

This one was call Vietnam Bomb Base. Historical!

Bricks Only- Again another favorite for me. Too often I had seen kids obsessed with sticking on the most mini figures, doo-dads and other assorted pieces instead of actually building something! It's seems to be the idea that the biggest and busiest creations will automatically be the winner. Not so! My experience has been the team with the best team work and clear vision always has the most votes.
For this challenge kids could build what ever they wanted, but there was to be no wheels, mini figures, clamps, food or other accessories allowed.

Again not my first time at the rodeo. For more tips about running a LEGO club and containing the creative chaos it brings, look here at this post.

Afterschool Programs- The Art of Japan

I will be the first to admit that these types of programs aren’t my forte. I work with teens as well as doing toddler storytime so I seemed to work the polar opposites of the youth services spectrum (but you are more than welcome to comment that teens often act like toddlers) I feel kinda of “flubby” when I have to meet in the middle and do programs for kids in Grade K-5. I came back from maternity leave and got put on the spot to do a program to fill our “Book A Trip” after school programs. I wanted to do a more arts oriented program because trying to teach…well makes me feel like a teacher. And I’m not a teacher! (Nothing against teachers but I wasn’t train to be one. They do a great job at their job. I do not)

I was nervous about making the kids draw and anticipating the usually frustrations that comes with art projects. I once had a 10 year old yell at me that “He can’t use a paintbrush”

And….it was an amazing program! I had a blast and so did the kids. I also had a full house which was impressive because it was subzero temperature that day.

I did a quick slide show about different art forms from Japan. I did some that were new and unfamiliar like ink wash painting and woodblock printing, but I also included familiar stuff like origami and anime.

Then came out main craft were the kids drew they own Koi fish. I found the instructions for the project here from an art teacher. I figured there would be apprehensions when I showed them my painting of the fish and told them we were going to make one just like it. There were whispers of doubt, but once they started, they were completely focused and made beautiful creations.

We used watercolor paper and sharpies for the drawing. For the water color effects, the kids scribbled on the paper with washable markers and then used paint brushes with water to spread the colors around. It worked just like watercolors with half the mess and double the control.

My last activity was Bento boxes. I did bento boxes as my first teen activity the first summer reading I was hired and it bombed. Hard. I had teens tell me they were throwing away their food because they hated it. This time however it was great. I made hot dog octopus, rice balls, olive and cream cheese penguins and rice crackers with cheese cut out. Not only did the kids gobble up everything without complaint, they even took up my dare to eat nori (dried seaweed) and some of them even liked it!

The kids got to take home their own bento box to decorate at home. Since we are no longer ordering VHS tapes, we had plenty of clear VHS boxes available for crafting and they are most useful.

Ah if only all my programs could go this well…