Planes, submarines and automobiles — those were just a few of the Lego submissions featured Saturday at the Columbia Play Project’s inaugural Bricktastic Competition and Showcase.
With the mission of getting kids exploring and playing with their hands, Board Chair Jeanne Bennett said the Lego contest at Clark College’s STEM building encouraged children to use their artistic creativity. Activities like these can help build the foundation for their future learning, she said.
The catch: no sets. All submissions were original creations, straight from the minds of kids like 11-year-old Elise Robertson.
Elise wove quite the backstory for her Wild West scene, complete with a sheriff, a princess and a farmer, who stole the princess’ rainbow. The project took her a week, but she had the help of her two brothers. While sometimes siblings can be bothersome, Elise said she enjoys building Legos with her brothers.
Her submission was inspired by a scene from the Lego movie, but Elise ran with her narrative on her own.
She was impressed by things her competitors came up with, and she said she hopes to learn from the techniques they used. She said she plans to enter again next year with something new.
“I like to challenge myself,” she said. “ It’s cool because I get to see other kids’ creations to learn from those. I know sometimes when you have older models, you kind of inspire them, so I would like to inspire future kids.”
Her younger brother Griffin Robertson, 9, brought his fighter jet, inspired by the X-wing Starfighter from “Star Wars.” His build was decked out with retractable landing gear, wings that fold in and out, two torpedo blasters and storage underneath for more ammunition. Griffin even went the extra mile to make a frame out of Legos to display the name of his piece, The Alpha Bomber.
Griffin made his impressive creation in his free time, and once he heard about the competition, he decided it would be the perfect entry. It’s also his favorite piece he’s constructed so far.
For Jenny Barajas, 7, the Bricktastic competition was an opportunity to create something she’s always wanted her family to get: a motor home. Just one of three pieces she created for the showcase, the motor home was six stories tall. Jenny said it took her a long time to build the piece because it kept toppling over due to its weight.
She dedicated each level of the motor home to things she loves to do, including reading, stargazing and swimming.
Seven-year-old Jayson Heath hoped his project, which he called a Heavy Duty Electric Transporter, would earn him a prize Saturday. He pointed to each of his favorite features, including a spinning car, a network of blocks representing an electrical circuit and a separate helicopter.
“I had to work my hardest,” Jayson said. “And believe me, it was hard.”
His favorite thing to build is cars, and he incorporated several into his submission. One of them was “Mad Max” themed, complete with a brick of flames on top.
But sometimes, he said, even better than building the perfect project is breaking it all apart.
Cheryl Davenport knows something about cleaning up Lego messes. She called her 5 year-old, Lorenzo Salimena, the builder and her 2-year-old, Gio Salimena, the destroyer.
Lorenzo, in particular, loves Legos, so she brought her boys out Saturday to see what the contestants came up with. They each picked their favorites, and she’s already preparing for next year, when she’s sure they’ll want to enter their own constructions.
For more information about the Columbia Play Project, visit columbiaplayproject.org.
