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By Laura Drinan
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Since its inception in the late 1940s, The Lego Group’s tiny plastic construction bricks have exploded with popularity. The Denmark-based company has launched thousands of sets of LEGOs, whose various themes provide children with endless entertainment. With STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) based programs becoming more integrated into children’s education, LEGOs have proved to be valuable educational resources, as well.
The Dover Town Library, aiming to mix a bit of fun and education into school vacation week, hosted a LEGO Challenge for library guests on February 21.
Welcoming the participants to the LEGO Challenge was Katie, a library assistant, who was filling in for Head of Children’s Services Nancy Tegeler.
After discussing LEGO etiquette with a short slideshow, Katie unveiled the theme of this month’s LEGO challenge: space. She flipped through slides of LEGO rovers, spaceships, and satellites to inspire the four participants before inviting them to rummage through the bins filled with LEGOs and gather pieces for their creations.
Although the program was designed for children ages six to 10, three-year-old Katie was encouraged to join her siblings in building a space-themed creation. With a variety of pink, purple, red, and aqua colored pieces, Katie stacked the LEGOs on top of one another to make a colorful spaceship.
Beside her, Katie’s nine-year-old sister, Marin, used large green platforms to build a space house, which included a 3D television. She even incorporated a LEGO minifigure, who sat at a yellow table drinking some kind of intergalactic beverage, into her design.
At another table, the girls’ brothers created their space creations. Six-year-old Hugh constructed a huge party rover out of the LEGO platforms, attaching wheels to the base. To complete the interstellar vehicle, Hugh attached almost a dozen minifigures (disguised as party goers) to the platform.
Eleven-year-old William carefully gathered orange, white, black, and gray pieces to build a transport ship. The spacecraft, which featured a gray-tinted windshield, seated two astronauts, who piloted the perfectly symmetrical ship.
With each sibling successfully producing a different space-themed creation, the children proved the innovative, educational, and creative properties LEGOs feature.
