Master builder

Lego allows all levels of complexity. But a child can do their own thing at any level. They can built a pirate ship, for example, and then mash it up with completely different things.

- Jorgen Vig Knudstorp -

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I recently spent time with my nephew; he's a lad of three years old (four in August) whom I haven't seen since the middle of 2020 because he lives many thousands of kilometres away and the pandemic prevented travel. We kept in contact though, weekly, by video chat and would often play together which helped me bond with him and he with me; it wasn't as fulfilling as in-person contact, but it was something.

As my vacation loomed closer I became more excited about seeing the boy, who absolutely adores me and I him, in person and to playing with him, making memories. We had all sorts of things planned but, predictably, our thoughts kept coming back to Lego which we both passionately love.

I brought some for him as gifts, one of which you can see in this image. It's a snow plough but he calls it a snow nobile; He means snow mobile of course, and he loves it.

He built this himself, with me overseeing, and was so intent upon getting it right, so diligent and careful during the build-phase, which made me a very proud uncle.

He's never built a Lego set before as his dad, my brother, prefers him to freestyle; he has an impressive amount of Lego and creates all sorts of things using his imagination. However, building Lego sets can be very rewarding also and I wanted to teach him the method to do so which would pave the way for more complex Lego Technic builds, like I do myself, at some point in the future. I wanted to give him a good foundation to build upon.

I started with the de-bagging process which sounds easy; rip bag, empty contents, but because the more complex Lego builds come in numbered stages and multiple bags I wanted to demonstrate how it's done systematically. It's also easy to lose a small piece in the corners of the bag if one is not careful. We went on to place each bag of parts into its own container and arrayed them in front of us. I made him do all of that himself so he knows how.

I went on to show him the instruction book and plans which need to be followed if one is to get the build right.

I always gather the required parts for each step and put them into the work zone right in front of me. This way I know I have the components to complete each step systematically without having to split my focus by re-searching for the rest of the parts. I made him do this and asked questions along the way.

Where do you put those? I'd say as he pulled parts out of the containers.

In the work zone, he'd say.

I showed him the importance of orienting the build the same way as the images in the plan so things go on in the right places and drummed into him the need to study the plans to ensure correct placement. From there I talked about quality control which is a check of placement, correct fitment and the completed step against the plan in the instruction book. This enables one to move forward more confidently and minimises the potential to have to dismantle the build and do it over.

All the while the boy was intently listening and, being the smart lad he is, absorbed the information.

As we went through the instructions and the build came together I taught him about sub-assemblies which are a required part of any build usually and reiterated the other elements of building. Of course, we had fun too, laughed and enjoyed each others' company.

He made a couple mistakes here and there and I'd tell him to check the plans, do some quality control and he'd go back, find his error and rectify it; the rectification process is an important element of Lego building - We all make mistakes. I'd get him to say the words too, quality control, work zone, rectification, review the plans and so on. I wanted it to sink in.

At the end of the process we had a snow plough that was totally complete and accurate to the plans; he'd built the entire thing himself.

Over the time I was there we did a couple more builds and I bought him more sets so he could practice after I was gone. I've got images from my sister in-law showing one of those builds, a monster truck, that he built completely himself and am pleased to hear that he used the words and processes I'd taught him from de-bagging to quality control, using the work zone for the parts, rectification and reviewing the plans.

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I loved building Lego with my nephew and am so proud of him that he was so good at it. The lad is incredibly intelligent - I know, I'm biased - and he loves Lego so it's no surprise he's good at it. Eventually I'll be buying him huge Lego Technic sets with thousands of parts and he'll have the ability to get them built using the techniques I've taught him and his dad will nurture as he gets older. My plan is to dismantle some of the huge builds I've done and send them to him and, whilst that's some time off due to his age, I'm looking forward to seeing him complete them.