By James Kinneen
Hometown Weekly Reporter
On Wednesday afternoon, the Dover Library held its Lego Challenge, a one-hour event where kids are given a theme and a box full of Legos to create something unique, to be photographed and placed on the library’s Facebook page. This week’s theme was “cities,” so the kids were tasked with creating something that one would find in a city - though there was a lot of leeway as to what that might entail.
Nancy Tegeler, the head of Children’s Services, explained how she appreciated that the challenge forced kids to use their imaginations to create something, unlike the boxed Lego sets that have kids build a prearranged building or vehicle. “I really do love the narrative element, how they get the pieces and bring a story together," she explained. "Then they get to share their story with everyone else.”
While the nice weather and the large showing for the animal event the day before meant the crowd for the cities challenge was smaller than usual, the eight or so kids who were there came up with some very interesting stories. One boy named Eric built a bank, because he found a small vault piece that had some money in it. Heading towards the bank, there was the ninja turtle Donatello, although it was unclear if he was protecting the bank from bad guys or looking to rob it himself.
Aiden and Jack both built fortresses, but Jack’s fortress had a park built next to it - because what superhero lair isn’t made better with a communal green space?
One of the most interesting choices, though, was Xavier’s prison. Complete with barbed wire, a watchtower, and a place for taking mugshots, Xavier explained that “I like police, and I like to shoot guns. I have a lot of Nerf guns,” before noting how the police would keep his city safe.
On Wednesday, the kids of Dover Library created their dream cities, filled with banks fortresses and prisons.
And in a world where so many games are linear, prearranged and clearly laid out for children, the Lego challenge forced them to use their imaginations.
