School-Age: Lego Man in Space

I thought I would kick off our Spring session with a bang so we did a program using LEGOs! My decision was partly because LEGOs are so popular and are sure to draw in a crowd but it was also to draw attention to our weekly teen-led LEGO program.

1. Reading 

We read the book "LEGO Man in Space" by Mara Shaughnessy. It is a true story about two Canadian teenagers that sent a LEGO Man into space using a weather balloon!

2. Discussion

We had a brief discussion about fact or fiction. Did they think it was really a true story? Did two teenagers ACTUALLY send a LEGO Man into space?

I showed them a few pictures I found from news articles of Mat and Asad. Here's an article from the Daily Mail of them after hiking to find LEGO Man after his descent back to Earth, including a video of an interview with the two teens. Here's an article from The Star, which includes pictures of LEGO Man's adventures after his fame.

3. Video

Most of my programs do not include videos/film BUT with a topic like LEGO Man in Space, how could we not watch his voyage into space? It was a viral video that the teens made using cameras that they had put in their Styrofoam spacecraft that captured the voyage of LEGO Man into space. It is also what catapulted them into fame after they posted it on Youtube!

4. Activity

And, of course, we used LEGOs for the kids to build their own space crafts. 

Here are a few photos of some of the kids creations:

Notes:

This was a perfect topic to ease back into a program session and, with LEGOs, how can you go wrong?