Lego Challenge–Build a Lego Mansion

Was trying to come up with a new idea and thought about trying to make one big maze, and kids could each have their own section. That might be something I come back to, but then I realized that what I was trying to make was just a big puzzle, which made me think of the corner pieces of a puzzle. Which…made me think of houses somehow??

This one was a lot of fun, and everyone got really into it. And I mean everyone. I usually have kiddos that don’t want to do the challenge and do their own thing, but this time everyone wanted to help build one big house!

The prep for this one was pretty minimal. All I did was just put up one wall on my Lego plates, and made four corner pieces. Just from doing the Lego Challenge–Car Obstacle Course in the past, I know that sometimes the builds don’t match up the best when you try to put it altogether, so wanted to make it easier when we assembled everything in the end.

So after explaining rules, I showed everyone that the Lego plates were different, since they all had walls on them. I then showed them how they would fit together, by putting a corner piece and another piece together, and kids started to get excited. I then explained the theme that we would be building a giant mansion, and that everyone would be responsible for a room.

I then gave out examples of rooms, like a kitchen or bedroom, but also gave out crazy ideas, like a ninja training room or a laboratory. So they could do whatever they wanted, BUT the only rule was they couldn’t tear down the wall I put up. They could add to it with windows or whatever, but the wall had to stay up for assembly later. And also, if they added extra walls, they should think about doorways so they aren’t walling themselves in.

I also gave out a “special assignment” to one kiddo to build the entryway. I gave it quietly to one of my best builders that day, because I feel it’s the one room that has to look the best in order for everyone else to figure out what’s going on. That’s really the only room I assigned–you could assign all the rooms but feel that might limit creativity. But something to consider.

Overall it went great! Like I said everyone did the challenge which is always a good sign. And I loved the level of detail everyone had!! The shower had actual waterdrops coming out and person with a scrub brush, the bathroom had a working roll of toilet paper, and the theater room had a bowl with popcorn.

Assembling at the end was really fun too, as some rooms seemed to just naturally line up with each other. Make sure you have a big enough space to display because this took up a lot of room! Highly recommend this one, just make sure you have enough baseplates!!

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