Lego Challenge–The Full Plate Challenge

I came up with this one from just observing kids during a free build. There was one kiddo that filled up his whole Lego plate with Legos and I thought that would be a great challenge. There are some kids that just naturally want to do this, so it’s easy for younger kiddos. But there is definitely some skill involved in this one, since some kiddos will be on the hunt for the right size piece, just like a puzzle.

So after going over rules, we talked about what a Lego plate or base plate is, and that the challenge was to build whatever you want but fill the whole plate. Building up is totally fine, but everything on the plate should be covered. So I tried to inspire them idea like ocean or forest themes, since it’s real easy to fill up the plate and make it look cohesive if you do that. I showed them my example of a big face with a little Mr. Peter holding a big toothbrush.

But of course I reiterated that the challenge is optional as always. I had a kid during this one ask “if we could build for fun,” I think meaning if they had to do the challenge and that broke my heart a bit. So make sure to encourage the challenge or prompt but never be strict about it. I did keep saying “try to cover your plate” and not “you have to” which definitely helps.

Most people did this one and liked this one it seems, because again I feel it’s one that most ages or skill sets can do. And only one person copied my example, so that usually shows that kids can handle the challenge and have ideas of their own. There were some that didn’t finish in the time but that’s fine, so maybe stress that up front when explaining the challenge. But I had some that turned out really great!

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