Homeschooling with LEGOS®

Geography - LEGO® Mosaic Maps

Here is a challenge for you.  Try creating a mosaic map out of LEGO® bricks.  It is a little challenging!

Here is my world map creation using 1x1 bricks to create a mosaic.

World Map LEGO® Mosaic

Happy Building and God Bless,

CJ

SCIENCE - LEGO® Microscope

A friend forwarded this video to me of a microscope made out of LEGO® bricks. I thought it was awesome!  I thought you might enjoy seeing the video too.




If you would like more information, check out their website.  Thanks Susan for sharing!

God Bless,
CJ

FIELD TRIPS - LEGOLAND Homeschool Days

Beginning May 6th, 2013, LEGOLAND Florida will be offering Homeschool Days every Monday through December 23rd, 2013 (excluding black out dates of May 27th and September 2, 2013).  The price is $8.00 per student and $25.00 for each additional friend or family member.  Please note that reservations are required.  Check out LEGOLAND website for details and changes.

A special thanks to Dawn at Cultivating Faithfulness for this update.

I hope you get to a chance to visit LEGOLAND Florida at these wonderful prices.  It is a LEGO builder's dream.

God Bless,
CJ

MATH - Geometry with LEGO® Bricks

 

 

Summer is on it's way!  I look forward to a little time off during the summer.  As a homeschooler, there are not set days that you have to go to school.   We school two days a week over the summer so, I won't forget what I spent time learning all year.  Since we school year around we can enjoy a flexible schedule all year if we want to do something fun. 

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been studying Geometry in my Abeka curriculum.  Mom found a way to use my LEGO bricks to help me understand finding the area of a square and rectangle.  This helped me to understand it better.

There are two ways of figuring this out.  Either you can count all the studs to find the area or you can use the formulas.  We used the formulas and then counted the studs to verify our answer was correct.  This made it really easy to understand.

I would love to hear how you use your LEGO® bricks at school.

Happy Building and God Bless,
CJ

 

SCIENCE - Dromedary Camel

We have been using My Father's World, Exploring Countries and Cultures, this year for our homeschool science and history studies.  We finished up learning about Saudi Arabia a few weeks ago. 


LEGO® Dromedary Camel

I created this dromedary camel out of LEGO® bricks to go along with my studies.  Here are some things I found interesting about the dromedary camel.  It is native to the middle east.  Camels can go without food and water for 3 to 4 days.  They also, rarely sweat. 

I created a U Can Build It instructional video for those of you that would like to follow along and build it.

I would love to hear how you use LEGO® bricks in your studies.  Feel free to email me at buildinglegoswithchrist@gmail.com . 

Happy Building!

CJ

 

GEOGRAPHY -  BILLUND "Home of LEGO®"

Last week, I participated in a geography fair with my homeschool group.  This year we had to choose a city to learn about.  My homeschool friends were not surprised when I chose Billund, the home of LEGO Group.

This turned out to be a very fun project.  I learned a lot of interesting things.  Here are some of the highlights to my study.

Billund is located in Denmark in the continent of Europe.  It has a smaller population of a little more than 6,000 people.  The town is known for LEGOLAND and the Billund Airport.  The airport was originally started by LEGO and was LEGO's private airport.  It is now independently operated and is the second largest airport in Denmark.  Sun Air of Scandinavia also has its corporate offices located in Billund.

Ole Kirk Christiansen was the founder of LEGO.  In 1930, he started making toys from left over scrap from making ironing boards and stepladders. The official toy production started in 1932. The toy factory received the name LEGO in 1934. Which is short for the Danish word, “Leg GOdt” which means “Play Well”.   I thought it was neat that In Latin, it means, “I put together”.

A waterworks, city hall, and a gym was built in the late 1930’s. In 1942 the old LEGO factory was burnt down, but a new one was built immediately. The railroad was extended to the Lego factory in 1946. Lego stared selling plastic bricks in 1949.  

A large park with a playground, toboggan hill, and lake was created by LEGO in 1959. The Billund airport was opened in 1962 as LEGO’s private airport. In 1968, LEGOLAND opened. Thanks to LEGO’s growth Billund experienced a growing population.

My geography board display of Billund, Denmark

This is the display board I made.  I brought some of my LEGO creations to display, served LEGO brick chocolates, and played the LEGO Story on my laptop.  Check out The LEGO story here.

I like how LEGO found a way to keep the bricks connected to each other.  I also really like, the honest character that Ole Kirk Christiansen demanded for his products.  "Only the best is good enough," were Ole's words.  I like that when I purchase LEGO sets that all the pieces are always there and LEGO even adds a few extra pieces to each set.  When I can't find a piece in a set, I am confident that it is there, I just need to look a little harder.  It's nice to be able to be confident in a product that you buy.   I like that Ole Kirk Christiansen did not give up on his ideas, that he worked hard, and that he persevered through hard times.

I would like to say a special thank you to Tereza over at LEGO for providing me with links for my project and being so helpful. 

I hope you enjoyed this post and learned a little about Billund and LEGO.

God bless,

CJ

 

SCIENCE FAIR - LEGO® Skyscrapers

Last year, I used my LEGO® bricks for my Science Fair Project.  My project was titled Skyscrapers Built to Last.  I made a shake board and tested my LEGO structure at different heights.  It was a lot of fun and I won first prize.



Here are pictures of my science board, shake table, smallest and largest structure.  You can find instructions to build your shake board at Science Buddies website.  Enjoy and happy building!

 

God Bless,

CJ

My Science Board, Shake Table and Largest Structure

Close up of shake table and smallest structure.

EDUCATIONAL GAMES - LEGO® Hangman 

LEGO® Hangman

Today, I will be sharing how to create a classic game out of LEGO® bricks.  If you click the link below, you can follow along with the bricks that are needed and the instructions to build this creation.  Keep in mind you can build with any color bricks you want.  This is a great game to practice spelling words.  You will need a pencil and paper to draw out the blanks for your word and to record your guesses.

I hope you enjoy this free instructional video.  I would love to hear how you liked the video.  I love comments they let me know what my readers enjoy.

Have a great day!
CJ

 Music - LEGO® Maracas

LEGO Maracas

I have a really fun project to share with you today.  I made some LEGO® Maracas.  They are a lot of fun. Check out my instructional video below on how to build it.

 The maracas can be made in any colors you want.  Please feel free to substitute bricks for those I have shown.  For example, you can use two 2x4's to equal one 4x4, two 1x2's to equal one 2x2, or two 2x2's to equal one 2x4. 

I hope you enjoy this.  Leave a comment to let me know how it worked out for you.

CJ

"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands." 
 Psalm 100:1

Germany - Day 2 LEGO Castle

Guten Tag!  Good Day in German.

As I mentioned yesterday, we are studying Germany this week.  Germany has so many beautiful castles.  It's funny how looking at buildings makes me want to build.  When I go downtown all I see is LEGO brick creations.  While looking at the beautiful castles of Germany, I am definitely inspired to build.  My mom always allows me use my LEGO bricks for homeschool projects.  I think actually building the things that I am studying about helps me to remember things so much better.



LEGO Castle Creation

Inside the LEGO Castle creation



Close up of inside of LEGO castle creation
 

In today's castle creation, I did another micro build.  This castle has a micro build of a knights and a horse.  It is also open in the back and you can see the king and queen as well as the guards on top.  I enjoyed working on the floor inside.  I love using those 1x1 plates to make cool designs.

How do you use your LEGO bricks to learn?  I'd love to hear your creative ideas.  Leave me a comment below.

God Bless,
CJ

Germany - LEGO Castles

Guten Tag!  That's German for Good Day! 

We are studying Germany this week in our homeschool studies. 

Germany is well known for their beautiful castles.  This inspired me to create a few of my own LEGO Castles. 



LEGO Castle Micro Build
 

This one is a micro build.  I enjoy building micro creations because you do not have to have a ton of LEGO bricks to build a creation. 

Be sure to check back tomorrow, as I will be showing another castle creation.

God Bless,

CJ Russia - St. Basil Cathedral - Homeschooling with LEGOS®

Yesterday, I studied Christmas around the world in Russia.  After seeing St. Basil Cathedral, I was inspired to pull out my LEGO's and try to build it.  The photos I saw of it were so cool.  Here is how my creation turned out.  I did a micro build of the cathedral.

LEGO Micro Build - St. Basil Cathedral

I found it interesting that Christmas is celebrated on January 7th.  If you are visiting my site from Russia, I'd love to hear your comments on how you celebrate Christmas.

If you would like to join the Christmas Around the World study, you can do so by visiting Living Life Intentionally. 

France - Eiffel Tower

Bonjour!  That's French for Hello!

We are currently studying France in my homeschool studies.  I could not resist the chance to build the Eiffel Tower. 



Micro Build - LEGO® Eiffel Tower

Here are some interesting facts.

The Eiffel Tower was built in 1889.  It cost 1.5 million dollars to build.  In the first year it paid for itself with money earned from elevator rides.  Alexandre Gustave Eiffel designed the tower.  It is 324m tall.  It was the tallest stucture in the world from 1889 to 1930.  There are about 1,665 steps.  On a clear day you can see 42 miles from the tower.  The top of tower can dance in the air up to 7 cm on a very windy day without damage to it's stucture.  There are two resturants located inside it.  In French, the tower is called la Tour Eiffel.

I love buildings!  I would love to see this some day.

Au revoir!  That's French for Good Bye!
CJ

LEGO® Pyramid - You Can Build It! - Homeschooling with LEGOS

We studied Mexico last week with our Christmas around the world studies from Living Life Intentionally.  After learning about Mexico, I decided to make a LEGO Pyramid.  My LEGO pyramid while similar in structure is quite different then those created by the Aztecs as it bears the cross of Jesus Christ on top.

I have included a simple instructional pyramid build for my viewers.  I hope you enjoy building it and are inspired to learn more about Mexico's Christmas traditions.  The tradition I liked best was posadas.  They do a nine day re-enactment of Mary and Joseph looking for a place to stay.  After the ninth day, they are invited to enter. What a wonderful reminder of how Mary and Joseph were turned away so many times before there was room in the inn.  God had a plan though, it was the perfect place for Jesus to be born.

Celebrate Christ today!

CJ

Homeschooling with LEGOS® - The Great Wall of China LEGO Creation

Nin hao! (Hello in Mandarin Chinese)
This week we started our study of Christmas around the world.  Yesterday we talked about China.  Did you know that The Great Wall of China is over 4,000 miles long! Hao bang ah! (Wow, that's so cool in Mandarin Chinese).  I decided to do a micro build of it LEGO style.

LEGO Micro Build - The Great Wall of China

I don't speak Mandarin Chinese but, I did enjoy learning a few words.  If you would like to study Christmas around the world you can download it free below.  Happy Building!

CJ

 Can Build It - Sloth from South American Rainforest 

   
Sloth

oday I will be sharing how to build my rainforest sloth.  I have been studying South America in my homeschool studies and have created my own LEGO® rainforest.


Here's a few interesting facts about sloths. Sloths are very slow moving animals and spend most of  their time up in trees.  A sloth can stay in the same tree for years.  They are nocturnal and sleep up to eighteen hours a day.  Sloths sleep upside down.  They eat very leaves, buds, twigs, and fruit.




South American Rainforest LEGO creation

 

Happy Building!

 

Homeschooling with Legos - Rainforest - You Can Build it Snake 



We are completing our homeschool study on the South American Rainforest.

I will be showing you how to build my rainforest snake.  There are lots of snakes all over the world except Antarctica. 

Have fun building. 



Snake - Rainforest Lego Creation

 

Save the Rainforest - You Can Build It - Blue Morpho Butterfly 

 

Did you know that the blue morpho butterfly is considered to be one the biggest butterflies seen.  Their wingspan can be 5 to 8 inches wide.  The blue morpho does not feed on nectar from flowers.  It feeds on juices from rotting fruits and sap from trees.  The blue morpho is almost endangered because of the loss of it's habitat and people wanting to capture them because they are beautiful.  Have fun building the blue morpho butterfly today!



Blue Morpho Butterfly Lego Build
 

Watch the instructions to build the blue morpho butterfly.

 

I would love to hear how the builds are working out for you!

 

Save the Rainforest - You Can Build It - Caiman

South America Raiinforest - Caiman
 

Hello,

Last week I posted pictures of my Lego Rainforest.  We have been studying South America and the rainforest in my homeschool studies. As promised, this week I will be sharing how to build some of my rainforest creations.  Today, I would like to share my Caiman creation.

Caimans have a more rounded snout like a alligator and a large upper jaw that covers up thier bottom teeth when their mouth is closed.  They belong to the same family as the American Alligator.  Caimans can be found in Central and South America.  The caiman rarely exceeds 7 feet long and has a shorter tail. 



 

Have fun building and leave me a comment on how this worked for you.

Save the Rainforest - Lego Creation

Dear Readers,

Check out my Lego rainforest creation.  I have been studying the South America rainforest for about three weeks in My Father's World homeschool study.  I have learned a lot about the rainforest.  I have been sad about the parts of the rainforest that that been cut down.  I am happy that God created so many cool animals in the rainforest.  I like monkeys.  Over the next few days I will be featuring some instructions on how to build some of my rainforest animals.  I hope you enjoy the creations and have fun building them.

God Bless!


South America Rainforest Creation
 

Lego Rainforest Lego Creation

Cool Animals of the Rainforest.



I love monkeys!



Monkey has gone bananas!!

Canada - Inuit Igloo - My Father's World - Lego Creation 

Today we continued our My Father's World study of Canada. I created a igloo out of Legos for my study of the Canadian Inuit. Check it out. I like when my Mom lets me use my Legos in my studies.
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Canadian Inuit Igloo

Inuit with a fish and igloo.
 

Canadian Inuit igloo Lego creation.

Enjoy!  Show your parents how you can use Legos to learn and maybe they will add it into your lessons too.

Happy Building!