Starting a Monthly Lego Club for Kids

Horses love giant candy canes. Credit: Andy 2014.

A few of years ago, I begged my admins to let me try starting a Lego Club for local kids to come and get creative and then we would display their creations until the next session the following month. It was met with some trepidation…and the realization that Legos are expensive as all hell. So, instead of asking the admins for the loot, which would have been met with a resounding “NO!,” I went to my local community. I posted fliers around the branch asking for Lego donations, of which I actually got some. However, it was nowhere near the volume I needed for making a successful monthly program. Next, I asked the Friends of the Library group for a financial donation. I’m fortunate that my Friends group will usually support anything I ask so long as it benefits children. I was able to secure about $800 and went to Amazon to make the purchases.  The suggestions below work best for a group of 20-30 kids.

Royal Carage (sic).Credit: Ethan 2014.

What you need to get started:

•  Large and small plates totaling 25-30 (unless you plan to have more kids)
• About 15-20 basic sets of blocks, which include doors and windows and a couple of people
• 1 set of people, we ordered the Community Members minifigure set that had I believe had about 25 people, and a ton of accessories, including foods, bikes, dogs, etc.
• Large storage bins to hold everything. I have found the more bins, the better. They get heavy, but also easier to spread the kids out when there are multiple bins to dig through. We have 6 bins, and they work like a dream.
• Buckets to carry Legos to the tables/workstations. We got them from the local Walmart for $.88/each.

 

Medieval Beheading. Credit: Owen 2015.

What works best for my branch and possibly yours, too:

• Free build. We attempted to do themes in the beginning and the parents took it entirely too seriously, so I had to put my foot down.
• Solo builds. If they want to work together, then by all means, I let them. But, most kids have their own vision about what they want to build.
• Let them pick their own seats. Sometimes they want to sit alone, sometimes they want a parent to sit with them, and sometimes they just want to sit next to the bin on the floor and build there.
• Let parents help if they kids want them too. Otherwise, encourage the parents to socialize or read a good book while they wait.
• Cap the time at 1 hour for the session. Many kids need a limit or they will never stop.
• I made little slips of paper that they fill out and I post them with their build. They fill in the blanks (What I made at Lego Club_______. My name is________.) themselves. They seriously love this part.
• I have a table set up where they all deposit their creations so everyone can see them before they leave.
• I take pictures of the builds with my phone in case I break them on the way to displaying them. It happens more than I would like to admit, hence the photos. I always take them after the kids leave so they don’t know that I am a bumbling klutz who is likely to drop their special creation before it makes it to the display area. Ours are displayed up high where small hands can’t play with them. And the display serves as an advertisement for the club, too.
• I set up about 7 6-foot tables and put out chairs around them, as well as other chairs around the perimeter of the room. This is usually where the parents sit, and where kids can deposit their coats and belongings while they build. The tables are put into 2 long rows on opposing sides of the room, and then the bins of Legos are spaced all down the middle of the room (between the tables). This is the configuration that works best for us. We have tried so many, and the kids have actually told me that they like it best this way so they don’t have to carry legos far to get back to their tables.
• Display any Lego books you might have on a table and tell them they can use them as inspiration, as well as encouraging them to check them out when they leave. Lego books are like book crack to Lego Club kids. They can’t get enough.  

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments. I will do my best to help however I can.  

Shark Attack. Credit: Archie 2015.