I made up a new game for the library's LEGO Club which meets Wednesday.
Our original theme on the schedule was "2 cups of random pieces." That sounded good a few months ago when we planned the summer schedule, but I thought it needed a little boost.
I made a up a "mystery project" game. We have a stack of clear plastic disposable food containers with lids. I researched and printed the build instructions for a bunch of small projects. I have put at least 1 project, sometimes 2, in each container. Then I put in a bunch of random parts to fill the container.
Each container will also get at least 1 minifigure as soon as the other volunteer brings them back to the library. (She took them home so her sons could assemble them all to see how many we have, and how many body parts we're missing.)
I put a number label on each container and made a list of the projects. The game will be to see what the kids will build using the parts in the container, and then show them the picture of the original project. It will be fun to see if they are similar or totally different.
There are no wrong answers. The kids will be able to choose which container they want to do, so they will be able to see the colors and which special pieces are there. In addition to the pieces in the container, we will also let them use pieces from our bins for base plates, medium plates, wheels, slopers (roof pieces), doors, windows, the smallest bricks (which can be combined to make larger bricks), and the box of misc. little decorative pieces.
I was going to fill 40 bins to make sure we had enough for each kid to have 2, but the prep work took so much longer than I thought it would, so I stopped at 20. Part of what took so long was that I had to spend Wednesday & Thursday afternoons just sorting the pieces to see what we have. I couldn't use some of the cool projects instructions because they need particular shaped pieces we don't have, nor could I figure out substitutions.
I spent a couple hours filling containers Saturday before I got the call from my sister that DMom broke her hip; I left the mess with a note saying I'd had a family emergency, and took a chance that no one would bother the LEGO. I went back yesterday at 9 a.m. and worked until 8 p.m. with a 2 hour lunch break.
Oh, the other volunteer also took home the doors & windows because several were sticky and she wanted to wash them. (She has been sanitizing them after meetings with Lysol spray, but we think it's leaving a sticky residue on some of the plastics.) Once she brings back those 2 boxes of pieces, it will probably take an hour to finish filling the containers and then tape them shut.
The best thing is, now I should not have to go in between meetings to do any prep work for the rest of this month. The themes for the next 3 weeks will be build a birdhouse, a maze, and an undersea coral reef. We aren't going to be strict about using those, and the kids can build something else if they want to. I will sort pieces during the meeting time, but I have a medium size bin labeled "unsorted" so I won't stress about getting everything put away each week.
For the maze theme, I'm going to print some coloring pages from online so the kids can either copy the patterns or make up their own. I can do that here at home, though, from my own comfy chair.
What else did people ask in PWYC? Hmm ... oh,
FelineFriend asked about ages. We have been having kids ages 2 to 14, plus some of the parents stay and build. (We have big Duplo blocks for the toddlers plus some soft toys.) They've been coming from 3 counties. Our target age is 8-14, old enough to read but not old enough to drive. The library already does a lot of other programming for the 2- to 8-year-olds with story times and craft/coloring activities.
Not as many kids have been coming during the summer, but there are so many other activities going on and, of course, people are going away on vacations. We've been seeing flyers around town for lots of sports and church camps. The children's librarian said last week that the numbers are down this year for all of her summer activities. There are some kids who come every time, but we've also had newcomers each time.
June & July hours have been Wednesdays from 2:00 to 3:30, with last week off for the holiday. We will not be doing LEGO Club in August. In September, we'll go back to our original schedule of once a month, the 3rd Wednesday, from 3:30 to 4:45.
Anyway, my creativity goal now for the rest of the summer is to get back to sewing. I want to finish the summer blouse I started last month before summer is over!