Operation Bandicoot, Day 5, July 14
Our target for this day was the Legoland discovery center in Schaumburg, Illinois. (Just outside of Chicago.) Caitlin has been to this place before, but it was new for Lisa and I. If you’re read other parts of this blog, then you know that I am a fan of building toys. Building toys, regardless of title, are excellent tools for inspiring imagination. Caitlin has a sizable collection of Lego bricks, while Michael has the younger variant, Duplo.
Here are some photos from the Lego center:
The Lego representations of Chicago were very impressive and detailed. There was also a lot of humor stuck in. Such as heavy traffic and constant road construction. Also, if you look carefully, Batman can be found on the Sears (Willis) Tower.
Caitlin had a blast, but I’m afraid Michael became over-stimulated and hard to handle. But even so, he managed to have some fun in the play area after touring the center.
Next: Get Medieval!
Thank you Richard. Fantastic display. Need I say more. The problem is to get the younger generation to start building. There are too many distractions today – school work, homework, sports, music. Schools seem to strive to fill all the spare time with activities, so children have no time to sit down and concentrate on anything more complicated than a model in a starter set, whether Lego or Meccano. I have tried for years. All 15 of my grandchildren have Meccano sets, and I have worked with them to build models, but nothing ambitious. I have built larger models for them, but they will not attempt anything large themselves. They would not know where to begin to build anything like a 3 speed and reverse gearbox, or a differential. Never mind a clock or a loom. I run a competition on Christmas Day, with new meccano parts for the occasion, to build a simple model. The first model finished wins a prize. But it must not take more than 2 hours to complete, otherwise the children lose interest, and then the parents have to finish the model. The children love to share the prize, a box of chocolates, but they will not do the work needed to win the prize themselves. Interestingly in the last two years, some of the older girls have got together (cousins) and won the prize. How do we get the average child to take an interest in building anything complex? Any ideas out there?