January 19, 2015 at 1:31 p.m.
4-H Lego group offers kids a creative outlet
4-H Lego group offers kids a creative outlet
By Kayla Thomason-
The session was a free-build where children could create whatever they wanted.
Most chose to build an army.
"Right now I'm working on an army to declare war," said Michael Bowman, who has been in the 4-H Lego program for four months.
He paired with a few "allies" to go to war against their "enemies."
"(The) 4-H Lego club is really fun," said Colten Wanta, one of Bowman's allies. He's been involved in 4-H Legos for about four months as well.
Legos are not just for boys. This was Anna Wood's first time attending a 4-H Lego session and she built the cavalry.
Anna is not new to 4-H as she has participated in dog agility for the past two years.
"(4-H) is really fun," she said.
Lego 4-H is popular with both parents and children.
"I think (4-H is) a wonderful experience for kids and I wish more would realize the potential to have fun and participate," said Anna's mother, Jean Wood.
Children learn a sense of community, independence and creativity from participating in Legos and other 4-H activities, Wood noted.
"It's something good to put on your resume as you get older," she added.
Lego 4-H has been available for about 18 months and is almost always held the second Wednesday of every month from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
"I was approached by Lynn Feldman (4-H youth development agent) to develop something that I was interested in that we thought could be educational and beneficial to children," said Braden Bayne-Allison, Lego club 4-H leader.
There were several options he could have chosen from, and Legos caught his attention.
"(The Lego club is) something I have the materials for and the passion for so I decided that was something that I really believed in as being good developmentally for kids as well as entertaining," Bayne-Allison said.
Bayne-Allison uses Legos to teach children about aerodynamics and structural integrity. The hands-on fun also helps the children develop better social skills.
"Last time we had a homework assignment where we had kids develop buildings that had structural integrity and they test the structural integrity by testing how much weight it can withstand without falling apart," he said.
Lego projects can be submitted for judging during the Oneida County Fair.
"We had a lot of blue-ribbon winners for the Oneida County Fair for designs in all sorts of different categories," Bayne-Allison said.
Categories include free-style, build from kits, vehicles from kits, vehicles that are not from kits, etc.
"We just encourage kids to come and try it out once," Bayne-Allison said. "If it's not for you that's fine, but if you enjoy it we always encourage people to come out and get involved with the Legos."
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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