My boys don’t need any encouragement to dig into a box of LEGO bricks. We are always down for a little LEGO fun! Quinn prefers to have a purpose or goal and almost always gravitates towards the instruction booklet. Elliot is a little more creative and wants to modify things once the initial build is complete.
The boys really enjoyed the LEGO® Classic set we were recently sent, it was a nice change from the themed sets they typically ask for. LEGO Classic sets make imaginative building play more accessible because it includes a mix of colors and pieces. So many things can be built with LEGO Classic, from houses and vehicles to animals and anything your imagination can dream up!
Because Quinn likes direction, he started by building every fun little idea the LEGO Classic booklet suggested. It was a great warm-up activity for him.
Elliot then added his spin which means digging through our existing LEGO collection to find *just* the right mini figures to complete the scenes.
Another way to kick off the creativity is to try a tower building exercise to get the creative juices flowing. Start with a pile of bricks and build a tower of any height or width, no guidelines to follow other than starting and ending with your favorite color. Giving a place to start and a place to end will help get them going but then the sky’s the limit without any other rules or constraints!
Another idea to get creativity flowing to let the bricks tell a story. Ask your kids an open-ended question and have them to build their answer using LEGO bricks. I created a set of printable LEGO play prompts to help encourage the boys to build more creatively. It also helped get their creative juices flowing. I kept the prompts general and open-ended so that anyone could use them. Quinn’s favorite summer break adventure was our trip to the beach. So he built a beach complete with water, a palm tree, and an umbrella.
Go ahead and download your own set of printable LEGO play prompts to use with your kiddos.
Both the tower building and let the bricks tell a story idea were pro tips from LEGO Master Builders and Upright Citizen Brigade Experts. They joined forces to explore the creative connections between improv and LEGO building. Check out this Youtube video see how LEGO building inspired their improv!
How do you encourage creativity with LEGO bricks?
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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