Recently, I had the pleasure of being asked and participating in a celebration event at an elementary school. The event honored students who achieved over 95% attendance in the second quarter. We prepared a space filled with a vast array of LEGO bricks, where rewarded students engaged in a creative challenge.
Quick Powerful Bursts of Creativity
In a matter of 20-30 minutes as the schedule allowed, students formed teams and accepted the mission to design a new animal species, combining elements of two different animals. The energy in the room was a constant ebb and flow among grade levels, students coming and going, as these young minds collaborated, designed, and built their creations, which we displayed as a “school zoo” by the day’s end.
Being Ready To Pivot And Not Always Be Scripted(Extending the Experience)
It was incredible what they created in such a short amount of time. Students organized themselves into teams, brainstormed what their animal would be along with the habitat design, then set to work to bring their ideas to life. We kept every base plate aka zoo habitat so that at the end of the day we had a school zoo of all the builds.
The twist of the zoo was this….. students had to create a new animal that was at least a combination of two animals. They had to collaborate and listen to hear ideas from their friends and build a new animal.
The excitement was high and also contagious by students and staff. The enthusiasm was so infectious that we decided to extend the LEGO zoo for an additional week. This allowed students to earn more building time, create explanatory videos, and motivate their peers to strive for attendance rewards in the future..
Structured for Success and Process
The staff scheduled the day, transforming a classroom into a LEGO playground with accessible bricks and ample building space. Although we had educational resources like zoo videos from our local zoo, the students’ eagerness to build took center stage.
- Staff created a schedule for the day so all grade levels would have 20-30 minutes to bring the students down.
- We transformed a classroom into a LEGO build space with tables on outside for them to build on or they could build on the floor. LEGO was placed down the center for easy access and pickup.
- Slides were created to give them some ideas to consider. Most have never been to a zoo so we had to provide context. A video from our local zoo was available to talk about what they do for animal health and happiness. We did not always get a chance to use it due to time constraints and volume was hard. Plus the kids were ready to build!
- After rules and explanations of the zoo were presented, students were placed in teams, given a baseplate and were set free to build until time to clean up arrived.
- Adding to the excitement, a local college basketball team joined us(St. Ambrose), offering assistance and camaraderie. Their presence was a highlight for the students, who enjoyed building alongside athletes from diverse backgrounds.
- As we neared the end of each session we took a post it note and wrote down what the animal combo was so we could help explain to others.
Overcoming Challenges: Mindset Shift With Tangible Purposeful Play
It is not uncommon when these types of creative challenges are put out for people of all ages to meet resistance.
Initially, some students expressed doubts about their creative abilities, echoing common concerns about play-based activities. With encouragement and strategic prompts, they quickly overcame these barriers, leading to a flurry of innovation and storytelling.
When I do this work with adults in PD and workshops I am often met with resistance. They think
- it is dumb
- a waste of time
- pointless
- too hard
But what they are really expressing is
- I am scared
- I don’t have confidence in my skills of creativity
- Am I brave enough to share my ideas with someone else?
- What if someone does not like my ideas?
- The culture of the building/space does not lend itself to a space of vulnerability to be expressive, creative, and critical thinkers
The same thing happens with students. Kids don’t play like they used to. So much is scripted in and outside of school. And so much of our days we put ourselves and kids in front a screen instead of engaging in play and wonder.
Here are some phrases I heard time and time again when we opened up to the build time
- I can’t to this because nobody is helping me
- How can I build if I don’t have animal pieces?
- I can’t do this
- How am I supposed to build myself?
- This is too hard
So the beauty of LEGO and hands on learning is that we can overcome these short barriers by offering ideas such as
- What if we put two 2×2 bricks together as a leg
- Ooh! I saw this piece and think it would be perfect for your animal(the piece is irrelevant, it is just a confidence boost)
- I love that you are making a ……(whatever two animals they have)
- What colors are you going to use and maybe you should find those colors in the pile
- Simply ask what they are building
It does not take long and all of the sudden the ideas come flooding. They start to see that their ideas can be built by any piece. The click of a LEGO to another LEGO connects further ideas in their mind. They start to talk and discuss and all of a sudden time flies by and we have creations.
And we can’t get them to stop talking.
The Power of Purposeful Play
This event was another testament to the transformative nature of purposeful play and why I believe in it so passionately. It not only fostered creativity and problem-solving but also boosted confidence and collaboration among students. The joy and pride in their accomplishments were evident, proving that play is an essential component of learning.
In the examples it might be hard to see the build concepts due to lack of time, but trust me there are incredible stories. Stories like the dog selling chicken outside of a 7/11 to a kangaroo or a beautiful city destroyed by their dinosaur creation.
And as a result we have magic! Mindset changes, confidence increases, and creativity juices start flowing!
When this happens, then you get statements like this that warms my heart when I was working with a team and one girl said, “Uh oh! I think we have an idea “
Check out all the builds in the gallery and I cannot wait to see the video explanations of some of these builds. This is beauty of purposeful play!
And if for some reason the visuals are not selling you here is some additional research on Research Supporting Purposeful Play
Research consistently shows that purposeful play is crucial for cognitive and social development. It nurtures creativity, problem-solving skills, and resilience in the face of failure. Quality preschool programs that incorporate purposeful play can significantly improve language, literacy, and mathematics outcomes. Moreover, playful learning is a powerful medium for engaging children with content, making learning more enjoyable and effective.
- https://community.legoeducation.com/blogs/37
- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.751801/full
- https://creamcityteacher.com/how-to-use-purposeful-play-lessons-to-intentionally-teach-into-your-students-play-every-day/
- https://learningthroughplay.com/explore-the-research/the-scientific-case-for-learning-through-play
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022057420903272
- https://www.edsurge.com/news/2022-10-24-how-purposeful-play-opens-the-door-to-lifelong-learning
- https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/summer2022/power-playful-learning
- https://education.lego.com/en-us/power-of-play-engaging-whole-student/
- https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/23/05/embracing-learning-through-play
- https://pz.harvard.edu/projects/pedagogy-of-play
Love this! Hoping to support something similar at elementary schools I work in.
YAHOO! Please share what you create!