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Brick Building 101 Review by Lisa Tanner
20 Lego activities to teach kids about STEAMCourtney Sanchez
The Quarto Group
The Quarto Group, Inc.
1-800-458-0454
401 North Second Avenue, Suite 310
Minneapolis, MN 55401
https://www.quartoknows.com/
My kids love creating with Legos! Whenever we find ways to integrate these building blocks into our homeschool activities, everyone always has a ton of fun. Brick Building 10: 20 Lego Activities to Teach Kids About Steam from The Quarto Group was the perfect supplement to our STEAM education. It combined a favorite activity with projects that sparked conversation, investigation, and further exploration.
The $14.95 book is brightly colored and written in easy to follow language. There are clear pictures showing exactly what materials are needed for each project. After the materials list, there are step-by-step directions for every project. Along the sides, there is useful information for parents, along with STEAM Stats and STEAM Sparks. The Parent Prep sections share tips on how parents can prepare ahead of time to ensure the project goes smoothly. The stats sections share information about what STEAM skills children are practicing, and the sparks sections share ideas for further exploration.
There are a variety of projects in the book, and they held the interest of several of my children from my teen down to my six-year-old. My early elementary aged kids could follow along on their own with the simpler projects, even if they couldn’t understand all the information in the sidebars.
The projects are broken down by difficulty level. The easiest to build are first, followed by intermediate, and then challenging projects. Each project encourages children to build in creative ways. There were directions for creating a Lego volcano, a bird feeder, a bridge, and more. My children used this book daily for several weeks, moving from project to project. They haven’t yet completed all of them, as we didn’t have all the materials on hand to make some of them work. The kids have already added those items to our shopping list so the next time we head out we can purchase what we need. They are so excited to finish!
The additional supplies include things like birdseed, rubber bands, baking soda and vinegar. Many are common household supplies, though as I discovered, you may need to make a run to the store for some of the projects.
If your kids enjoy building with Legos, I highly recommend this book. It’s a fun way to combine learning and fun.
-Product review by Lisa Tanner, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, November, 2018
