LEGO Summer ideas 2020
Summer is here and you can make it more fun andenjoyable by engaging in some LEGO building activities. You can make use ofyour personal LEGO bricks to create something amazing as the ideas we will bediscussing in this article. What I want to achieve with this post is to helpmany kids to learn amazing skills through play. Do you think there is any otherplay better than LEGO? Therefore, pick up your pieces and let us have a fun-filledsummer building fantastic LEGO machines.
LEGO summer buildingchallenges
Since we all have different LEGO collections, so also we will havedifferent building styles. Our examples can serve as a guide to help you getstarted with building your unique version of the challenge. You can always useLEGO to improvise, and that is where our skills come in. the big question nowis, how is it possible for you to create your version of our LEGO ideas withyour bricks?
WONDERFUL THINGS THATCAN BE BUILT WITH LEGO
I have created some articles for every single challenge to help you knowmore. One factor that makes LEGO great is the fact that different age groups canbuild together. But, each will work at the level of his ability. You may decideto complicate these building ideas or make them simple. It all depends on yourkid's building skills.
Now, let us get on with some of the building challenges you can engagein during summer and how you can get started.
LEGO Catapult
Some people may view it as a childish task to build a LEGO Catapult, butyou still need to know that it is also great for learning. After completingyour catapult, you can use it to test different weight/size objects, and canalso play with kinetic and potential energy, simple machines, as well as withtension.
My son always asks before bedtime that he wants to use LEGO to build acatapult. I would frown at it because it was time to sleep. But, to mysurprise, he was already up in the morning, ready to have some building fun.Fortunately for us, we arrived at an awesome catapult made with LEGO bricks. Makingthis catapult was so much fun, and everyone will also like to make theirs aswell. We love engaging in fun LEGO activities.
How can you make a LEGOcatapult?
Learn how you can make use of your LEGO collection to build a simplecatapult. This is a physics activity that is awesome for kids. In fact, it isthe best which kids of different age groups can try.
SIMPLE CATAPULTS THATYOUR KIDS CAN BUILD DURING SUMMER
My last son is about 6 years of age, and he still continues to learnmore about the different pieces of LEGO. I made up my mind not to help him inbuilding this catapult. But, I would always assist him with the troubleshootingof his ideas.
Whenever he is stuck, I will help him by asking questions. My aim ofasking the questions is to make him reason and arrive at the perfect solution.It is evident that this practice is a great STEM.
How to create a niceLEGO catapult
It is not so easy to build amazing things with LEGO bricks, sometimes,you may be doing trial and error and this is what makes the activity more fun.Just imagine that everything you are trying to make works out at your firsttrial, would you learn much? No. You may just learn a little.
The sizes and lengths of your pieces may be the same as ours or can evenbe different. But, with our idea, you can build this fantastic and simplecatapult for a start. You may even build something more amazing than ours. Ifso, you can share it together with us.
WHAT YOU NEED:
1. A catapult base (LEGO)
Get any color of a base plate (Large one)
You also need a small plate of about 10 studs wide and 20 long, or youcan still get something close to that.
2×4, 2×2 bricks
1×6, 1×4, 1×2 bricks
We made use of the available large rubber bands. You can also try outother sizes as well.
2. Lever arm
A 4x4 plate will be needed to create the part for holding themarshmallow which is also surrounded by 1x2 bricks so that a holder can be made
(2) 2×8 bricks
(2) 2×12 flats to make lever arm
2×2 brick
You may decide to modify the catapult to fit your available brickswhenever you feel like. For example, you have two 1x8 bricks meanwhile, what isrequired is 2x8 bricks. You can try out what you have and see if they will workfor it. Creativity is just what you need.
Creating the simple catapult base (LEGO) with the use of basic pieces/bricksfor amazing STEM
BUILDING THE LEGO CATAPULT
We used both 1x6 and 1x4 bricks to make one wide wall and we joined ittogether with the LEGO base plate.
The next thing we did was to two wide bricks to add supports on the backand front. A 4 studs-gap was then left in the center. There are 1x8 bricks extralayer that we added on each side’s top and the base is mostly 3 bricks high. Westill kept the center clear.
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Creating a simple LEGOcatapult for kids
We made use of 2x8 red bricks.
We made use of the red brick’s end to flush the bucket area. We did notput a white beneath it.
Each rubber band is being kept in place with the use of the 2x2 LEGObrick. Here, you can begin to use your catapult to experiment with tension.
To make tension, we made use of rubber bands to add the lever arm to oursimple LEGO catapult.
Initially, we wrapped the rubber bands around the whole base butrealized we needed more tension since the bands were quite large. We added anextra row on each side (5) 2×3 bricks high.
At first, we decide to wrap every single rubber band all over the base.Then, we later realized that more tension was needed because of the largenessof the bands. So, one extra row was added on each of the sides.
YES! THE LEGO CATAPULTIS WORKING!
Funnily, it was also loved by our cat. She was entertained by thecatapult as we launched the marshmallows.
CHECK YOUR CATAPULT’S TENSION
Our candy was indeed launched, but the fact is that it was not going upto the distance we expected it to. More tension was needed. Remember that wejust added a new row, but we had to add another one hoping that we would getthe needed tension. Always ensure that you do not place the bands over, butbeneath the 2x2 brick.
During this summer, you can also engage yourself and your kids in thisbuilding challenge.
LEGO CAR
I and my 6 year old son created a LEGO car to replicate that in apopular superhero book. Just like the catapult, this car can be made simple orcomplicated, depending on how your kids want. Everything is just STEM!
Use the amazing LEGO rubber band vehicle to recreate Batman’s car for aSTEM book project. We were recently invited to join in one STEM storybookchallenge series. From the beginning, I was thinking that I had to select abook that has to do with STEM alone. But, I later realized that I could learnthe same thing from any book. My son said that he wants to use LEGO to create abatmobile, and we always desired to build a rubber band car with LEGO.
HOW YOU CAN BUILD ARUBBER BAND CAR WITH LEGO
Building this superhero car is an activity inspired by the STEM book
LEGO BATMAN VEHICLE
Learn the effective ways with which your LEGO Batmobile can betransformed into rubber band vehicle with our STEM activity. You can also makeuse of one of your favorite books for this project.
· Building a rubber bandvehicle with LEGO
You can decide to build a simple rubber band vehicle or a complex one. Bothof them will look great, the choice is yours.
CREATE YOUR OWN LEGO CAR
Below are the things that you will need to come up with your rubber bandcar:
· LEGO Pieces
· LEGO Technic pieces
· Rubber Bands
· LEGO Batman. You can still make use of other superheroes thatyou have.
· Batman Books or any of your favorites.
PIECES THAT ARE USED TO CREATE BATMOBILE:
Below are some pieces that we made use of in creating this LEGObatmobile and rubber band vehicle.
4 wheels
2 axels
Two long bricks that have holes (they are used to construct thevehicle’s sides)
A flat piece that has holes (this is used for spanning your car’s width)
The two important pieces for the rubber band car are the gray piece onthe axel show below and the black peg in the blue piece shown below. Use yourimagination for the building the rest of the car!
The rubber band vehicle has some 2 important pieces, which are theblack-colored peg that the piece with blue color has and the gray piece on theaxel. You can complete building the car with your imaginations.
LEGO pieces for buildingbatmobile
It is not compulsory for you to use exactly the same pieces that we willmention below. It is only important for you to always remember that you shouldhave 2 fixed points while building. Make sure that the axel’s fixed point istight and not spinning freely. If not, the band will not release or wind upproperly.
If you want to wind your rubber band vehicle up, you just have to getthe car’s black wheel turned or pulled back. Leave it to move and check thedistance that it can travel.