For Derek’s 11th birthday we decided to give him the world…or according to Lego® The Globe.
Prepping for our tour of The Globe.
All trips have a beginning, and that beginning usually includes a whole lot of preparation. This is where Derek and I found ourselves as we opened The Globe box and pulled out a sweet instruction booklet and sixteen brick-plate filled bags. (It’s funny how we judge how much fun a set will be: I (Dad) like high bag numbers, Dean likes a high minifigure count, and Derek enjoys a bit of both.)
After opening The Globe’s Bag 1 and separating the parts by color and shape, we decided against skimming through the directions. We thought it would be more fun to think about how this set would be constructed rather than looking ahead. It was clear we were creating the base, but we were a bit stumped with some of the parts. I’ll not tell you exactly which parts stumped us.
If you look at the next pic closely enough, you might guess which parts I’m talking about; it is such a clever little detail. And it is the cleverness in the design of most all Lego® sets that really brings me back for more.
As we were building…
Our conversation turned to school; how this year was finishing up and about next year’s homeschool Co-op program and the new elective opportunities it is adding to its course offerings. Derek loves to help in the kitchen and is actually a pretty good baker – he makes a pretty mean banana bread – and he’s very excited for their culinary course. He is also looking forward to their intro. to trades course where he’ll be using his head and hands together to learn about skilled work.
This little conversation started me thinking about the benefit he’s gained from building Lego® sets. The blending of creativity with technique, imagination with skill, teamwork with self-confidence. Lego® also puts age ranges on their products. For example, the Duplo brand is geared towards very small children aged one and a half to three years of age, then there are sets for older children with differing suggested age rages all the way up to 18+. The Globe is one of those 18+ sets, so he’s while he’s punching above his weight class a bit, he’s learning about all the attributes previously mentioned.
The Globe set in particular is also one of those rare versatile sets which happens to fit into several different educational areas enhancing any educational curriculum. It certainly has a geographical aspect to it as it is a Lego® model representation of Planet Earth, naming the continents, major oceans, and directions as an aspect of the build. The Globe also has a very strong technical component to it as well, which allows the builder to critically think about how and why certain parts fit together to create shape, stability and function – think Shop Class (as we called it back in my day…ummm did that make me sound old? LOL). Then there is an artistic quality to it, from the lettering on the stickers naming geographical areas to the different plate shapes used to artistically represent the landmasses. All of these elements beautifully flow together to create a super fun set while subtly education the builder.
1/16th of the way there.
Overall, we had a great time building Bag 1 of The Globe. We had a great conversation and listened to some fun music too; the Kidz Bop radio beats were bumpin’! So far, The Globe was a great build to do with my son as we had some one-on-one time and talk about what he has going on in his life; if you have multiple children, you know what I mean. Outside of the educational aspects of this set it was this connection that was the biggest benefit of all. We are both looking forward to adding to the base by building Bag 2 and seeing where the road and conversation leads us.
Check back for our Bag 2 adventures!
Brick on!