This week at The New Century School, elementary-age summer campers have been locked in . . . or, rather, they have been locking in LEGO® bricks at Bricks4Kids Camp! This enterprise provides hands-on, multi-sensory classes for kids to play and build with LEGOs®. While they immerse themselves in imaginative creation, they also learn STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fundamentals by working with models created by engineers and architects.
TNCS’s LEGO camp is run by Michele Rigatuso, who is not only the camp instructor but also a big fan.”I couldn’t be happier doing this camp,” she said. “I love hanging out with kids and teaching them, but working with LEGOs allows me to take a step back and let them learn by exploring.” She explained that the kids are learning with everything they are doing—architecture as they build, math as they count pieces and pegs for accurate placement, engineering as they introduce function to a structure.
“Technic” bricks bring even another layer of complexity. This line by LEGO allows kids to create more advanced models (such as with movable parts, motors, wheels, gears, pins, and axles) and even machines in addition manipulating the traditional interconnecting plastic LEGO bricks.
Technic bricks.
Ms. Rigatuso was assisted by her 11-year-old son, who has been a LEGO aficionado since the age of 4. “I’ve watched his skills with math and science increase. His ability to focus has also greatly improved. You’ll see that the kids go into this world and just latch on.”
Each 3-hour camp session has a specific theme. At TNCS, these include:
- Pocket Brick Monsters: Get ready for an adventure in the world of Pokémon®! Capture wild Pokémon® creatures and train them for battle. Improve your accuracy and power as you learn new moves and use special abilities. Tap into your inner engineer as we build Dratini, Pikachu, Poké Balls, and more. Bring your own Pokémon® trading cards if you wish to play and trade at the end of each day. Show off your skills as you battle for power in your journey through the Pokémon® universe. Do you have what it takes to become a Pokémon® Master?
- Mining and Crafting 1: Experience the world of Minecraft with LEGO® bricks in this fun summer camp! Minecraft is a game about placing blocks to build anything you can imagine. At night, monsters come out, so make sure to build a shelter before that happens. Kids will start by crafting their shelters and some of the mobs, critters, and tools using LEGO® bricks then face new crafting key elements from the popular Minecraft game.
- Space Adventures: Inspired by NASA and Star Wars™, our Space Adventures Camp is packed full of models that will make your imagination blast off! Each day, campers will learn about real-life space exploration and build models related to the NASA space program. In addition, the day includes LEGO Star Wars™ themed models, video games, group games, challenges and more. Bricks 4 Kidz Space Adventure camp provides the spark for imagination and creativity to take off on an adventure that’s out of this world!
- Jurassic Brick Land: Are you ready for the adventure of a lifetime? Put on your hiking boots and camouflage…you’re about to enter Jurassic Brick Land! Campers will build a world that comes to life with gentle Brontosaurus, ferocious Velociraptor, terrifying T. Rex, and more. We’ll learn about amazing dinosaurs that lived during the Jurassic period and other extinct, prehistoric animals that roamed the earth and swam the seas during that era and millions of years later. Show us your building skills using our specialized project kits! Come learn, build and play at Jurassic Brick Land camp!
Each session additionally is structured as a set of five stations that teams of four—Team Steve, Team Pig, Team TNT, and Team Creeper—rotate through: building models with standard bricks, building models with technic bricks, free build with standard bricks, making take-home designs with perler beads and paper folding, and iPad game time (e.g., Minecraft—see why that’s actually an added educational bonus here!).
No matter what a child’s skill level is, he or she can always find something to build and be proud of at LEGO camp!
