One of the new and cool games that Lego has put out recently is Creationary. It is like Pictionary but with Lego building instead of drawing. My spouse bought this for our six year old last fall while in Germany and we love it as a family. It is now available in the US, too.
For the August 2010 meeting, I plan to play a simplified version of the game. While the Lego game is well made the cards are a bit challenging for the 5-6 age range with items like zoos, four leaf clovers, and such to build. I have created some home made cards with images of items from clip art and the web like a house, barn, silo, tractor, etc. Hopefully the kids find them easier to build than the ones that came with the game.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Building a Tower with a Twist - Learning about Contractors and Subcontractors
In the July 2010 meeting of the our Kindergartener Lego club meeting our goal was to build a tower. We borrowed the idea from the 2nd Grade club. I was thankful that I had a person to help from the Museum, Heidi. Heidi is a lego lover and was a great help.
I started by asking the kids if they had seen construction sites and if they thought that it was just one person or many that work at them. With their answers I explained that it take many different people to build a house or a tower. I explained the roles of an architect, a contractor and sub-contractors.
We had the children start by taking on the role of an architect (we needed to know what type of tower we were going to build). They all had 5-10 minutes to draw a tower and then we went around the room (7 kids attended) looking at each drawing for ideas. After reviewing the drawings, I went to the whiteboard and asked them questions about the size and style of the tower that they wanted as a group. It was decided that we build a tower that was larger at the bottom and got smaller at the top. We found a top tower piece we would use and separated into three groups: bottom level (1), middle level (2), and next to top level (3). Each group got to work. As a leader Heidi and I were the contractors and each group was a subcontractor. As such we had to remind the children to stay on task and remember to build things like walls and such. We had a limited time frame in which to build.
At the end of the session we combined the levels. The children added some extra features they found in their searches like a boat and we compared it to the drawing on the white board. It was similar but the 2nd floor was a little larger than the design specified. I stressed how contractors and subcontractors need to work together and talk to one another to ensure that pieces will fit together.
The kids seemed to really enjoy it.
We ended with cleanup time and a drawing from the parts draft box: each child take 10 lego pieces from the box home to keep.
I started by asking the kids if they had seen construction sites and if they thought that it was just one person or many that work at them. With their answers I explained that it take many different people to build a house or a tower. I explained the roles of an architect, a contractor and sub-contractors.
We had the children start by taking on the role of an architect (we needed to know what type of tower we were going to build). They all had 5-10 minutes to draw a tower and then we went around the room (7 kids attended) looking at each drawing for ideas. After reviewing the drawings, I went to the whiteboard and asked them questions about the size and style of the tower that they wanted as a group. It was decided that we build a tower that was larger at the bottom and got smaller at the top. We found a top tower piece we would use and separated into three groups: bottom level (1), middle level (2), and next to top level (3). Each group got to work. As a leader Heidi and I were the contractors and each group was a subcontractor. As such we had to remind the children to stay on task and remember to build things like walls and such. We had a limited time frame in which to build.
At the end of the session we combined the levels. The children added some extra features they found in their searches like a boat and we compared it to the drawing on the white board. It was similar but the 2nd floor was a little larger than the design specified. I stressed how contractors and subcontractors need to work together and talk to one another to ensure that pieces will fit together.
The kids seemed to really enjoy it.
We ended with cleanup time and a drawing from the parts draft box: each child take 10 lego pieces from the box home to keep.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
A Lego Mom
There are soccer moms and there are Lego moms. I am in the Lego Mom camp. My oldest son is a lover of legos and has been since he was four years old. This has made me a Lego Mom. While I had seen Legos before my son became interested in them, I didn't play with them as a child. I think my family missed the introduction of Legos as I was growing up. We had Lincoln Logs and such but not Legos. That said, I have become a lover of Legos with my son.
The ability to create something new and stories to go with them is limitless. It helps to promote creativity, fine motor skills, and spatial understanding. Most importantly, it is fun.
As a Lego mom, I have found myself as the Leader of a Kindergarten Lego club at our local children's museum. While searching around for lesson plan ideas for our monthly meeting, I have felt a little in the lurch. There are not as many resources out there that were helpful with this age range 5-6 years old or lego lesson plans in general. I want the children to learn something about enginneering or science instead of just having a chance to build.
I have created this blog to help others hear about lesson plan ideas for a Lego Club and hopefully to hear from others about their lesson plans. If you have a great Lego Lesson plan idea, let me know!
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