Assuming that most families will have a version of Lego, Duplo or blocks
at home, I'm going to share some "out of the box" Lego learning activities with you in order to help alleviate the stress, boredom, frustration and guilt that you may be feeling during your family's lockdown or quarantine period. I will also be sharing some wonderful and inspirational websites that you can visit for more daily activity ideas.
1. LEGO MAZE or MARBLE RUN
@play.and.learn.activities
on Instagram, Hannah demonstrates how you can use the Lego building board to design a maze that your child tips from side to side in order to roll the marble or ping-pong ball through the maze. Make this task more challenging by getting the child to try and complete the maze whilst standing on their knees or balancing on one leg.
2. LEGO HOOP TOWERS
@preschool_mama
on Instagram, Amanda shared an idea of how to expand on all kids' favourite activity: Tower building. Place the towers at a distance and use bracelets, pipe cleaners tied in a hoop, bent straws or cardboard ring cut-outs to throw at and hook around the towers. Allocate points to the towers and see who can get the highest score!
3. LEGO HIDE AND SEEK
@playroomstories
on Instagram, Jana demonstrates how you can use simple
colour fabrics or even just items of clothing from around the house to
play a colour sorting game. Hide a set number of Lego pieces around the
room and get your children to look for and then sort them onto the
matching colour fabric. For toddlers simply place the Duplo blocks around
the room but our for pre-schoolers Lego can be hidden out of direct sight.
Add a fun listening component by using the term "hot" when they get close
to the blocks and "cold" when they are far away.
4. PLAY DOUGH LEGO ART
At artfulparent.com
Jean Van't Hul shares some ideas
and inspiration on how to enjoy art with your kids. One of my favourite
activities is using Lego pieces as stamps in order to make a picture. The
same concept can be applied when practising letter and number formations
e.g. using dots to outline a large letter "b" in the playdough and encouarge
your child to use the lego stamps to complete the dot to dot.
5. LEGO PAINTING
Search online for domesticmommyhood.com
where mother of two Bekki, shares
her love for cooking and crafts. Add a messy play component by dipping the
blocks in the paint before stamping them onto a blank page. This activity
can also be used to teach colour concepts, size differentiation or
counting e.g divide the page in half and write the number 4 on one side
and 7 on the other, indicating the amount of stamps the child has to make
in on each side. Encourage pre-schoolers to stamp out their spelling words
using the blocks and paint.
6. LEGO MATHS AND LITERACY
There are multiple printables and picture inspiration available on
Pinterest so please make of use of this when finding Lego maths and
spelling inspiration.
Use the blocks as "counters" during maths activities or incorporating a
dice into your tower building activity and only adding the amount
indicated on the dice to your tower.
Write letters on the side of the lego and use them to build words. This can be completed in a tower format or a wall.
For a bigger challenge, write words on the side of the blocks and try to gather as many rhyming
words as possible.
7. LEGO SECRET CODE
@sarahfrugalfunforboys
online and on Instagram - Sarah specialises in Lego
building ideas and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Match) play
activities for active kids. She shares wonderful ideas for children of all
ages but one that really caught my eye was the coding activity which is
mostly for kids ages 8 and up. By allocating a letter of the
alphabet to different blocks you children can write and decode secret
messages made with the block sequence they are given or created.
