What is LEGO® to begin with? The LEGO® Group is a Danish toy production company best known for the manufacture of LEGO® brand toys. They consist of multi coloured interlocking plastic bricks which can be assembled to construct figurines called as minifigures, well known monuments and iconic structures and various other objects. The brick pieces have a unique connective grip. LEGO® products are considered to be safe and durable. Playing with LEGO® offer numerous benefits to young minds. It sharpens the brains of children and adults alike. It benefits children in the areas of Math and it enhances their motor skills and early engineering skills. It increases their ability to move quickly and easily and strengthen their finger grip along with hand and eye coordination. Children love playing with these LEGO® because it unleashes their adventurous side. Schools across Middle East, UAE, Dubai, and GCC promote working with LEGO® and even have dedicated after-school classes where different aspects of the curriculum are integrated with LEGO® lessons. It lets them imagine and experiment and build on their ideas. They learn how to cooperate and solve the puzzle with team building which brings us to the main topic as to what team building activities can be performed with LEGO®. Let’s look at some of them below.
Tower-up Challenge
We have all at some point in time enjoyed constructing tall towers using colourful LEGO® bricks. This time we give it a twist. Divide children into 2-3 groups and allocate 5-7 minutes for them to creatively build a LEGO® tower. The team that manages to construct an impressively tall structure wins the challenge. However, the condition is also that the LEGO® Bricks should withstand the test of time. It should not collapse under 1 minute. Different criteria for judging can be applied. For example; points for creativity and team work makes it even more competitive for children to push themselves to use their skills effectively. The same activity can be done by asking children to blindfold themselves to add a level of excitement.
Speed Racer Competition
Children are amused by fast cars and often pretend to be race-car drivers by dragging their toy car swiftly all over the house. LEGO® presents an opportunity to construct, design, and power vehicles that fascinate young learners. The speed racer competition is a chance for every thrill seeker to unleash their creativity and put their capabilities to test. The LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 kit sets the right pace for some serious competition. Divide the class into two teams with 3-5 children per group. The teams need to device a strategy to construct a vehicle from scratch and device a robust coding program to power up the batteries to gain enough speed to beat the other team-mates. Here children are applying principals of force, motion, and energy as well as experimenting with various design engineering concepts & problem-solving techniques. The team-building activity promotes brainstorming of concept & allocation of roles in order to complete the activity within time. A sort of race track is designed and the team whose car finishes fastest wins the competition.
Depict a Fascinating Storyline
Children have vivid imagination and are always looking for an outlet to release emotional catharsis. Their dreams are limitless and at this stage they need to be given every opportunity to display it creatively. Lego® Bricks provide unimaginable prospects so that young learners can wear their construction hats and start to build great things. Do a random chit selection in class and group children in teams. The team can pick a name for themselves like; mighty achievers, or inventive storytellers, etc. Now the team has to present a ‘themed story’ with LEGO® construction toys, something on the lines of an amusement park, playground, or a vacation resort, etc. To materialize ideas, the team delves on different topics, discusses details, and uses imaginative techniques to create and present the ideas in front of the jury. Add an element of fun by making boats sail or swing the ride. The group that displays the most creativity is declared as champion.