The Lego company recommends taking design ideas from the world around you. Sounds tempting, but not always easy to implement. To make something interesting, you need instructions - otherwise it won’t turn out beautifully. And small crafts are not inspiring - they are too simple. But this doesn't always happen!
7-year-old Lego fan Semyon hunts for ideas every day. Here simple crafts, which he found so interesting that he decided to make them based on the picture. And if you are interested more complex ideas for instructions, check this post.
Lego homemade products can be made easily and quickly using the picture, without instructions. The ideas below will be of interest to children from 5 to 99 years old.
And if you want more ideas on what you can make with Lego bricks, click or on the image below.
Small safe
Can open and close. All parts, including the door mechanism, are commonly found and easily accessible.
Very similar to a cow because it has horns and 4 legs. It will look even more similar if you make it white and its face pink (that’s how it was in the original picture).
It turned out colorful. Consists of simple details, of which there are many in any collection.
Little robots Eva and Wally from Lego
One of the few crafts in which we managed to choose the right colors. So simple and great!
Robots - little Eva and Valli 
Lego Eve and Wally - front view Bigger robot Valli
Robot Valli can be made different ways. This one is a little larger, but still quite simple and easy to assemble without instructions.
Lego robot Wally without instructions - front view 
Bigger Lego Wallie Robot Lego underwater torpedo
Something unusual among the usual cars and robots. At the same time, it is very small and simple. Such things are very interesting to boys and some girls.
Lego underwater torpedo Small plane made of Lego
This plane seems too simple to me. But Semyon liked it - that means there’s something in it. Children see the world differently, and it is sometimes interesting to watch their creativity.
The LEGO constructor has long ceased to be just an educational game for children. Tens of millions of cubes are used to build full-fledged amusement parks for children and their parents. LEGO has made inroads into the film and gaming industries. Creative personalities they use the parts to create paintings and sculptures, and enthusiastic engineers use them to make car bodies. Looks impressive! Indeed, the limits of the use of famous figures are limited only by human imagination, and it knows no boundaries. In this article you will learn about unusual applications LEGO bricks in everyday life.
Coin Sorter
To distant Soviet times my mother worked as a salesperson and dealt with kilograms of coins every day. I helped her sort them by face value. On the one hand, it was very cool to occasionally find memorable specimens, on the other hand, the boring activity quickly became boring. It’s a pity that in those days there wasn’t either the LEGO constructor itself or something like this. interesting recipe use of its parts. The mechanism can be adapted to any coin diameter.
Stand
During the hot summer, my computer likes to shut down due to overheating. Touching the surface on which the laptop is standing will result in a slight burn. Therefore, it is necessary to create an air “cushion” under it to provide greater ventilation and better cooling. Several cubes are ideal as a stand.
The solution can also be used to save space in the kitchen. In the same way, the baking sheets can go into the dishwasher.
Small items organizer
Forget about searching for keys, wallets and other pocket small things with the help of an original organizer. If you're too lazy to drill holes in your bricks, LEGO sells pre-punched keychains.
Educational game
Why not kill two birds with one stone? Combine the development of children's fingers and thinking with learning to read and count. Use a regular marker to write words and numbers onto the cubes. Learning grammar will become much more interesting.
Task Manager
No successful undertaking is complete without planning and setting goals. A design studio from the UK offered its original approach to control the progress of projects. The basis was formed by Lego parts.
But any concept is really good if it can be translated into reality. The Lego calendar is successfully used by some companies to plan the work of 20 employees.
Lens cap holder
Do you like photography or video shooting? Then you are familiar with the “problem” of a loose or lost lens cap. Attach Lego pieces to the lid itself and the strap - a simple and practical solution.
Office hacks
Place tiny magnets in the cubes and your paper clips, staples and holders will find a home. The mess on the table is over!
No magnets? No problem! You can make stylish cups for pens and other office items.
Rack
For any nonsense, usually lying around, you can do unusual stand. For example, for a phone...
... joysticks, and even...
... shaving accessories!
Picture frame
Can a photo frame surprise? Certainly! Flight of thought and Lego pieces will help you.
A flower pot
Lovers of indoor plants should love the idea of a designer pot. Usually the rapid growth of a flower is accompanied by worries about purchasing and replanting into a larger pot. With Lego you can modify any existing pot to the required size.
Theme house
Why waste time with pots when you can speed up a whole house! Perhaps this will be a playroom for children, but adults will also want to visit it at all costs.
And what unusual options Do you know the uses of Lego?
Nowadays, children have many toys. One of the most common educational games is construction. With the purchase of this entertainment for a child, parents have a new concern. After all, so often a child turns to his father or mother with the question: “What can be built from Lego?” There are plenty of answers to this question. You just need to show your imagination and, perhaps, “fall into childhood” a little. Let's find out what you can build from Lego with your child.
Option one: house
Perhaps the first thing that comes to mind is to build some kind of room. This could be a residential building or apartment, an office or office, a car garage or a carriage depot.
To build a structure you will need insertable windows, doors, roof elements and other additional accessories. The more construction parts you have, the higher and wider the room will be. Think ahead color scheme walls and facade. You may want to build tall and beautiful columns in front of the entrance.
Trees can be placed in front of the building various plants, people and machines, which are also built from this constructor.
Option two: Lego tanks
Mischievous boys love to play war. To do this they will need barricades and tanks. It is quite simple to build a fencing wall from a constructor. You just need to attach one cube to another. This must be done until you get the height you need.
A tank is somewhat more difficult to build. To do this, it is better to involve adults or older siblings. The base of a tracked vehicle is formed quite simply. The size is determined by the amount of available material. In order to make caterpillars, you need to put the cubes in reverse. That is, so that the convex parts are on the outside. You start building the blank from the inside. When one part of the tank is made, it is necessary to form the second one symmetrically. In the same way, construct required amount tracked vehicles.
How to build a car from Lego?
Perhaps, after constructing buildings, this option is the most popular. In order to make transport, you will need wheels. First, think about what size the car will be. Build a multi-piece base with wheels.
After this, make the driver's cab of the required size and the body. If the car should be a passenger car, then harmoniously secure the cubes and make a hood, roof and trunk. If desired, you can leave large holes in the form of windows. Through them you can seat the driver and passengers in the cabin.
Alternative option
So, what else can you build with Lego? There can be a lot of options. At large quantities The parts can be assembled into a giant robot or a tree. Girls will certainly appreciate the following ideas: fruits and vegetables, cakes and other products. You can also make a doll or a castle for your little princess. All furniture can be created from small designer parts.
In addition, you can build a real computer or phone. Many children enjoy building farms and animal pens, which are also created using Legos.
It is worth noting that the manufacturer offers to purchase the product in various sizes and shapes. Small parts More suitable for older children. While large parts will be appreciated by kids.
If you have absolutely no idea what you can build from Lego, then pay attention to the packaging in which the construction set was sold. The manufacturer always offers several ideas for buildings that are drawn on the box. Most likely, from them you can choose the most suitable option for your children.
Lego Duplo appeared at our house when our son was a little over one and a half years old, at that time dad was figuring out what to build. My husband and I imagined that as the child grew up he would put cubes into certain shapes, thus developing his imagination and fine motor skills. But nothing like this happened, we decided to try to buy several themed sets from the Lego Duplo series. They also took our son to a short time, but he himself never built anything.
Knowing child psychology and how different children are, I just decided that I needed to wait. But not by folding your hands, but by offering the child other construction sets and observing his reaction to them. It turned out that Alexander liked the wooden construction set more than Lego. The boy was also fascinated by the Wedgits Starter construction kit; he liked it less than wooden blocks, but more than the subject of our discussion. A breakthrough in my son’s interest in the Duplo construction set arose after order appeared in the details. I wrote about this in an article.
- What to build from Duplo
- Alphabet
- Numbers
- Cartoons
- Interesting Facts
What to build from Lego Duplo
Since writing about children's construction, some changes have occurred. Alexander, who is now 4 years 10 months old, began to take out containers with parts himself and try to assemble the composition.
- Mom, I built a forest for you!
The child was on summer holidays, and I work from home, so periodically my son had to play alone in his room. To express his feelings, he often surprises me. These can be drawings, crafts, phrases written on a magnetic board. And this time there was a forest built from Duplo. The main thing is that everything is clear in this composition: trees, mushrooms, flowers, a bunny in a clearing, a duck in a pond and a house with people and animals on the outskirts of the forest.
All photos with our crafts can be enlarged by clicking on them. A couple of days later the animals were presented to me. Deer and giraffe.
Naturally, I was very happy about the gifts and expressed my sincere admiration. We left them until dad arrived, who in turn also expressed his delight. Alexander gained motivation, but not everything worked out and the child called his mother for help. Then I noticed that if I join in the assembly, the child very carefully watches every cube I put and does the same. This level of copying was supposed to take about two years, but then Alexander was not interested in buildings made from Lego Duplo. Now we have these birds, one is mine, the other is Alexandra’s.
Then we built the dogs.
Well, I thought, I need to try to build one structure for two, then each of us will have to contribute our share of imagination. Since I have a boy, I chose a motif based on his interests - a ship. In the end it became a pirate, which was not at all intended, but Alexander’s imagination ran wild and they were offered such details as an anchor descending on a cable, Lifebuoy, looking at the cabin boy and the ladder he climbs up.
That evening we played pirates and I felt the child’s interest, which I did not want to miss.
After returning from a sea holiday, I played with my son in railway. But I personally am not interested in just rolling a train, and I suggested involving our favorites Minion in this matter. Of course, Alexander agreed, and with what joy! We built a Lego Duplo fort with a railroad running through it. The child again had a desire to make Minion pirates and composed a little story:
There was an engineer in the Minion family. He told the other Minions how to build a fortress and they did it under his leadership. But since they did not have the money to buy land, they built it right on the railway track. Soon the Minions were hungry, and there was nothing around to work and earn an honest living. So they decided that they would be pirates! When the trains passed through the fortress, the Minions robbed them.
Well, if the train managed to pass, then other Minions jumped onto it from specially built towers. They brought the booty to the fortress, where they divided it among everyone.
But then the fun began. Alexander immediately chose the role of the train, and I was the villains Minion. After a couple of robberies, the “train” decided to defend itself and began dropping bombs (wooden cubes) on Minion. As a result, the engineer had to repair the railway, the fortress, the towers, but the train was armed to the teeth, it bombed and bombed until there was no trace left of the enemies. That evening our dad could only see ruins...
The next day, the child solved dinosaurs, at that moment I was drinking coffee and simply said that it would be interesting to try to build dinosaurs from Lego Duplo. Alexander, apparently inspired by the game with Minion, immediately laid out the containers with parts. Five minutes later, a protoceratops appeared before me, then a brachiosaurus came, although initially it looked very much like a giraffe.
And then mom was called to help. The fact is that Alexander really wanted to make horns for a triceratops, but no matter how he put them together from the details, they didn’t look like in the picture. And who said that a craft cannot be supplemented? I took out a hot gun, we found two ammunition that looked like horns and everything quickly stuck. By the way, hot silicone is very easy to clean from parts, so I advise you to use it.
So a new one has begun academic year, I made a plan for our classes for the month. One of the points of the plan is to repeat the Russian alphabet. Alexander began to read whole words; he had a natural interest in the Spanish, English and French alphabets. It was through them that he began to read in each of these languages, but the Russian alphabet did not interest him in any way. The explanation for this is simple: the child reads perfectly without knowledge, the brain discards unnecessary information. But the education system is structured differently, so knowing that my son learns information best through music, I selected a video with the alphabet in Russian.
We have received knowledge through hearing, now we need to touch it with our hands. Let's build the Russian alphabet!
By evening, Alexander was chanting the Russian alphabet from memory; he learned it not just as a rhyme, but by passing each letter through his hands.
Yesterday was Tuesday, and in our family it’s an evening with dad. Usually boys play with superheroes and soldiers, but yesterday Alexander HIMSELF suggested building something out of Lego. Dad was already ready to assemble something grandiose, but in time he noticed that the child was sitting and putting together his craft. It turned out that it was logical for Alexander to study numbers after the alphabet and he collected from 1 to 10. The husband’s surprise knew no bounds, he just sat next to him and watched. Well, not entirely simple... while his son was constructing 10 rooms, he assembled a steam locomotive on wheels.
Alexander is clearly no longer interested in solving examples within a dozen. But if your children are just entering the world of mathematics, then I advise you to use a constructor to study it. Having passed the numbers through his hands, the child will remember them better, and playing with numbers constructed with his own hands is more interesting than just writing them in a notebook.
And this is what dad built. In general, I want to express one thought that has not left me over the past two weeks. Like many parents, I keep an eye on the latest kits:
- Lego Duplo train;
- lock;
- house;
- pirates.
All these sets were purchased from us! But the child does not play with them. It was more interesting for him to build his own pirate ship, his own castle for his beloved Minion, his own house in which mom, dad and Alexander would live. And the most important thing is that all this is really built from individual Lego Duplo parts, which are bought and given as gifts.
Of course, if a child shows great interest in role-playing with ready-made sets, then it makes sense to keep an eye on new products and buy them whenever possible. But if your son or daughter is like my child, then believe me - ANYTHING can be built, and you will have to use ingenuity, imagination and fine motor skills. I mean that when several sets have already been purchased for simple Lego bricks, and there are doors, windows, arches, parts for the roof, a hill, then you can already use your imagination.
Oh, I almost forgot! Our dad's locomotive.
Lego Duplo cartoons
To make your child interested in the Lego Duplo constructor, you can show him several cartoons. Not so many of them have been released, but now I will share with you only those that, in my opinion, will develop a child’s desire or imagination during independent role-playing.
Farmer Vanya. We're going to visit
This cartoon, if you can call it that, is suitable for children aged two and up. It involves Lego Duplo and its men.
Cool racing and traffic rules
Very good video with Lego men. My son loves to read about traffic rules and follow them. Yes, yes, he always quotes them when crossing the road
LEGO City Undercover
If your child is 5+ and has good command English language, then he will definitely appreciate this Lego movie. It lasts an hour, during which there will be chases, love and American humor.
Cartoons about CARS, LEGO City
Well, of course there are a lot of cars here! Air, sea, road transport and all of it is from Lego! The cartoon, or rather several of them, are perfectly dubbed. It’s just an endless drive, which I won’t deny my son was delighted with. Fortunately, the American happy ending is present, the criminals were arrested.
Friends first episode
These miles are based on the Frends series. And although Lego Frends is considered for girls, Alexander enjoys watching these cartoons. By the way, they have quite good content, so if your kids like them, look for the rest of the series.
- In Latin, “lego” means “(I) collect.”
- In September 2013, Russia's first permanent exhibition of models made from LEGO GameBricks opened in St. Petersburg.
- A limited edition was released in 2012 notebooks Moleskine dedicated to LEGO.
- In May 2013, the T-65 X-Wing starship from the epic “ Star Wars", consisting of 5,335,200 LEGO pieces and weighing about 23 tons.
- The world's most expensive LEGO brick costs $14,449.
- In September 2013, Norwegian Jon Jessesen entered the Guinness Book of Records for the largest collection of LEGO series. Star Wars" He collected about 300 sets and almost 750 thousand parts for assembly.
- In December 2013, construction was completed and the launch was carried out full size car made from LEGO parts, powered by pistons driven by compressed air. The developers claim that the construction of such a technological miracle took about 500 thousand parts. The car reaches speeds of up to 30 km/h.
How is Lego made?
The history of the world-famous Lego constructors began back in the last century, back in 1949, when the first parts of this wonderful toy were born in the small town of Billund, Denmark. The small plastic blocks were designed in such a way that they could be easily connected to each other due to the presence of special elements. The basis for the entire further variety of components of the designer were small bricks of several sizes, equipped with tongues and grooves that connected the parts to each other.
Gradually, the range of parts expanded, the sets began to include wheels first, then figures of people and animals were added, and then, as development progressed, technical progress, even miniature electric motors and various sensors. Therefore, now you can assemble not only houses from Lego parts, as was originally intended, but also spaceships, airplanes, pirate frigates, cars and even moving robots. True fans of this wonderful designer are interested in knowing literally everything about it. It is for them that we will tell you how Lego is made.
LEGO factories are located in three countries - Denmark, Mexico and the Czech Republic. In these giant factories, about 60 tons of colorful thermoplastics are turned into several million cubes every day. Myself technological process The production of parts is quite simple, there are no special secrets in it.
What and how is Lego made of: the manufacturing process
1. The birth of a new Lego set begins with an idea. The company's developers decide which new set should be put into production based on market conditions - a pirate ship, a robot, or a fire station.
2. When the project is finally approved, design engineers get down to business. They create layouts necessary details, and on their basis special metal matrices are made - molds into which the thermoplastic will be poured. There is no need to make matrices of all parts every time, because most of the blocks are standard. They have been used in all sets since the sixties of the last century. Therefore, it is only necessary to create again the molds for the exclusive parts that are unique to the new set. It is worth noting that Lego molds are very expensive. It's about about amounts of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Therefore, all matrices, even those no longer used at the present time, are carefully stored in the factory warehouse, because who knows, maybe they will still be needed.
3. The finished matrices are transferred to the factory, and the next designer is put into production. Its basis is modern injection molding machines, which under large; Pressure and at temperatures above 200 degrees, parts are stamped from molten multi-colored plastic.
4. High-quality acrylonitrile-based plastic arrives at the plant in the form of granules - transparent or red. The granules are stored in a special bunker, from where they are fed into molding machines. There, the plastic is melted, mixed with the necessary dyes and literally injected into matrix molds under high pressure.
5. After water cooling, the molds open and the finished bricks fall onto the conveyor belt.
6. The process of creating parts is almost completely automated and does not require human presence. The robot collects Lego fragments from the conveyor, packs them into bags and weighs them. The robot even attaches heads and arms to the figures and draws facial features and costume details for them.
7. After this, the finished parts of the designer are sent to the packaging department. Boxes for the sets are designed by high-class designers. They feature colorful designs that match the theme of the set and the Lego logo. A special machine takes the printing blank, bends it in specified directions and glues the box together. Then the robot places a set of parts sealed in a bag into it. The next machine closes the lid and seals it.
8. Now all that remains is to pack the bright, elegant boxes of six pieces of construction sets into large cardboard boxes and cover them plastic film, and fresh Lego will be ready to ship.
Now that you know how Lego is made, it's time to open a new set, pour bright pieces onto the table and immerse yourself in an exciting game!