LEGO Building Brick Challenges for Kids of ALL AGES!

You know what I really love about STEM challenges? SO many of them can be posed for kids of all ages. You'll always be surprised by the responses from kids! They can truly be thoughtful, innovative, and motivated!

I have created LEGO Build Brick STEM Challenges for seriously all ages. Using them in school for our STEAM program, as well as for myself as a classroom teacher and a summer school teacher, I continue to be dazzled by the new ideas kids come up with. (I even test some of these challenges out on my 3-year old, pictured below!)

STEM challenges create a community - kids love sharing and reflecting on their creations, supporting each other through hiccups, and cheering their peers on when there are successes. It also builds on the collaboration of classmates. I oftentimes hear kids say, "How did you build that?" or "Can you help me with this?" or "Wow, I never thought to try that! Great idea!"

Now, when I use these challenges in my own classroom, I have always used plastic pencil boxes or larger plastic totes to house the actual LEGO building pieces, and typically each child gets their own. Each tote may have a varied assortment of pieces, and kids are allowed to share, but they have their own place to store their pieces. From there, I usually project the quick challenges on the Smart Board, discuss them, and set a timer for building. We have a share time, and move on. For challenges that take longer, I have written responses for kids to plan, build, reflect, and revisit their build. But really, the beauty in using STEM challenges like these in your classroom or home is that you are able to tailor it to fit your specific needs!

Click here for ideas to incorporate LEGO STEM into your home or classroom today!

STEM for Kids: Magnatiles/Picasso Tiles

Whether I am teaching in my classroom or teaching my toddlers at home, I try to think of ways to incorporate STEM. (Science Technology Engineering Math)

I was gifted a set of Magnatiles a few years ago and since then have continued to add to my collection! (Not just name brands, but the knock off brands, too! They work just as well and all of those magnetic tiles are compatible.)

What can you teach with magnetic tiles?

- free play encourages perseverance, dealing with frustration, and problem-solving

- colors

- counting

- presenting engineering challenges

- vocabulary development (structures, foundation, sturdy, etc.)

- put them on the window on a sunny day or in a dark room with a flash light to talk about light refracting

- the possibilities are ENDLESS!

In the classroom, many teachers use magnetic tiles as a piece of their STEM bins.

Check out my little ones beginning their engineering journeys below!

If magnetic tiles are out of your budget, but you have Lego building pieces laying around, like my husband, who has totes of them from his childhood, check out some Lego STEM Challenges for all ages here.

LEGO STEAM/STEM Building Blocks Challenges for Every Child!

Hi everyone!

I'm here to talk LEGO! Now, if you are anything like my husband, you literally have TUBS AND TUBS of Legos from your youth. Just taking up space in the basement. Waiting for your children to be interested or old enough to enjoy them. (Our kids are 2 and newborn - we're not quite ready for the little Legos.)

I have used Legos with my students more and more over the years. For EVERYTHING! It started as a STEAM/STEM challenge. I did it with summer school students because I didn't know if I could fit Lego STEAM challenges into my regular school day during the year. The kids were completely engaged and into it. We used to have a Lego club at school, focusing on MindStorms, but that went away with budgetary reasons. So, now the kids finally had something similar back in their lives. Now, I structured it. Each day we engaged in a different Lego building blocks challenge or activity, such as building a marble maze or a rubber band powered car. Every child had a plastic tub with Legos plus extra materials they might need for a challenge, plus their Lego design book, which laid out all challenges, space for ideas/blueprints, and reflection. It became my go to summer enrichment activity in summer school.

Flash forward. I started to realize that I could integrate Legos all over. Busy bins. Recess tubs. teaching science and social studies! Literature units. You name it, I figured out a way to use Legos to teach it. Some of my favorites included morning tubs for kids when they came in. Each child got their own tub and a challenge. I also taught landforms using Legos to create them as we learned each. I also had kids setting up settings of texts with Lego scenes, practicing following directions and writing How To pieces with Lego creations, and learning all about fractions. We've done plenty of science experiments: density, water displacement, hurricane tables, and more!

Click here to check out the full array of Lego activities I've integrated into grades 2-5 classrooms over the years!

Five for Friday

I presented at the Association of Math Teachers in the Rochester Area yesterday! I talked all about how I run small group math, hands on lessons, center activities, and....LEGO!!! 

I really had a blast! I also got the opportunity to visit some other presentations. I learned about Google Classroom and Breakout EDU, which I have used in my own classroom and thoroughly enjoy. If you haven't tried Breakout EDU, check it out. I didn't realize they offer digital Breakout EDUs now, too! So cool for a 1:1 classroom or faculty meeting.

LEGO challenges PART 3!

LEGO challenges are going strong in our classroom. They go along perfectly with our STEAM push, which is outlined in our district's strategic action plan for continued success academically. STEAM is huge right now! Not only are my kids receiving STEAM instruction from our math specialist, they are also immersed in literature that goes along with this concept. Rosie Revere, Iggy Peck, and Ada Twist are our favorites right now.

Lucy seriously does this herself.

They're coming.

Two weeks until my third graders are taking the NYS ELA exams.

I'm nervous for them...but I'm excited for that to be done. It's just stressful for these little ones who haven't taken a three day long test ever! They're ready, though!

Happy late Five for Friday on a Sunday! 

I'm off to respond to 20 reader response journal letters for my little kiddos, after a 45 minute walk with Lucy in 10 degree weather!!! I'm ready to snuggle up in the warmth of the house!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Have you ever been fishing? Did you catch a fish? If so did you keep it or throw it back? If you haven't been fishing is that something you'd like to try?

I have gone fishing, a very long time ago as a child! I was pretty awful and never caught anything. I think it was mostly my uncle fishing and then letting me hold the rod after he cast! I think that I would enjoy fishing now that I'm older. It seems really relaxing.

2. What's something you're always fishing for in your purse, wallet, desk, or kitchen junk drawer?

I HATE carrying purses or bags of any kind, so I usually stuff my pockets with everything I might need when I go out. Usually, I have a hard time when I need to dig out any cash. It falls everywhere and it's a crumpled mess.

3. Your favorite fish tale or movie?

Finding Nemo, of course.

4. Are you sunrise, daylight, twilight or night? Explain why you chose your answer.

Sunrise. Because I am a total morning person. I'm conking out on the couch at 9pm every night but I'm always up before the sun.

5. What's the oldest piece of clothing you own and still wear?

I have been the same size since like, middle school, so I definitely have clothing from a long time ago. I also hate throwing anything away that still fits! The oldest clothing I have is probably a sweatshirt from ninth grade when I played on the field hockey team. The sweatshirt is ripped and permanently stained, but it's perfect for layering under my coat when I walk the dog on frigid winter days.

6. We've got one more month of (officially) winter here in the Northern hemisphere. Are you feeling the need for a getaway? What's been the best and worst part of your winter so far?

I love winter! Now that I live a hop, skip, and a jump away from the school I teach at, it's really nice waking up to a snowy morning. No more driving an hour to work, scared to death in the blizzard-like weather! The best part about winter is when it snows A LOT and I bring my bulldog, Lucy, out to play. She hops like a rabbit in the high snow! So, no, I'm not itching for a vacuum.

7.  The Wednesday Hodgepodge lands on National Margarita Day...will you be celebrating? Frozen or on the rocks? Are you a Jimmy Buffett fan? If so, what's your favorite JB tune?

I didn't realize it was National Margarita Day until I saw my sister's instagram feed. She had her boston terrier sitting near her margarita glass, wishing everyone a happy day! Check out rufiegram....that dog is hilarious!

I like Jimmy Buffet. I think I could sing all of the lyrics to Cheeseburger in Paradise.
8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I have been all Lego all the time lately! My school is pushing STEM/STEAM big time, so it's been a major focus this school year. I've been creating Lego STEM/STEAM activities to incorporate into my third grade classroom. Check them out by clicking here.


Oh! And here is a picture of Lucy from our recent hike at Buttermilk Falls in Ithaca, New York. She's awesome.

Five For Friday

Ever since our school incorporated a STEAM component into our summer school sessions last year, I have been Lego crazy! The kiddos are SUPER motivated when Legos are involved, so I continue to figure out ways to fold them into my teaching, recess, or more!

Click here for a link to my newest activity that focuses on using Legos while writing.

These Valentine Science kits literally save my life every year! They're educational, fun, and totally engaging. Plus, they don't cost me an arm and a leg to create! Seriously, my kiddos brought in so much candy to devour on Valentine's Day that I couldn't rationalize giving them even more, so this is how I rolled!

Click here to check this out.

My boyfriend and dog visited Buttermilk Falls in Ithaca, New York over our February vacation. If you can believe it, the weather was gorgeous! It was nearly 60 degrees and sunny! We hiked all over and checked out a bunch of waterfalls. It tired Lucy out so much that she's been spending a lot of time dozing on the couch since we went. While hiking, my boyfriend had his fitbit on. It told him that during our 3 mile hike, we walked over 50 flights of stairs! That was a lot of elevation! It was pretty awesome.

Has anyone read Pax by Sara Pennypacker? I seriously cried for the first 10 chapters! It's our newest read aloud chapter book in my third grade class and the kiddos are really enjoying it! I even had some tears from my third graders! It's pretty powerful when a book can evoke that kind of emotion in ten year olds. Anyway, it's the story of Pax, a pet fox, and his owner Peter. Peter's dad makes him release Pax into the wild and the story flip flops between Pax and Peter trying to be reunited. I highly recommend it!

Check out the novel study that accompanies this book here.

Lucy always uses a pillow :)