Now that it's not pitch dark around dinner time anymore (thank you, summer!!!), we've been going out to dinner more often. I usually pack a few things for S to play with while we wait for our food, and with it being LEGO week and all - I was inspired to put this together. S looooves it.
Here's what it looks like - a little plastic container with a snap-close lid and it has a handful of LEGO bricks and some activity cards. (Any plastic container that will fit in your purse/bag that snaps closed should work. I got this one for $2 in the beading section at a craft store.)
S picks an activity card and then makes the matching structure.
Voila!
To make this set, I picked the following bricks from our LEGO stash (you will want to pick the same if you are using our Free Printable Activity Cards (Set 1, Set 2, Set 3). An easy way to get these (if you don't already have lots of them) is to go to a LEGO store - you can buy individual LEGO bricks there. Apparently the types of bricks available varies by store - we were able to buy all of these a la carte at ours, but they may not be at your local store.
Here's what it looks like totally unpacked.
S has really enjoyed it thus far. It's small enough to fit in my purse, so perfect for any sort of wait - doctor's office, restaurant, etc. And you could even use it on road trips or plane flights. Lots of possibilities!
There are 24 activity cards (Set 1, Set 2, Set 3) you can download and print for personal use (you may not distribute them on your website). UPDATE: one of my lovely readers (thank you, Aidan!!!!) made a beautiful version of these on her computer (meaning they look much nicer than my handdrawn ones, hahaha). You can download the prettier cards here! (The prettier version is also available in jpeg format if that's easier - Set 1, Set 2, Set 3). And the awesome Karalee made a set of blank templates for those of you who have different colored bricks you'd like this to work with. Thank you SO much, Karalee! You can find her blank templates here: Set 1, Set 2, Set 3.
You can find all our LEGO play ideas from this week here!
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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child's parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child's pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.
Awesome! I will add it to my to-do list! :) Thank you!!! :)
ReplyDeleteLove this idea! Thanks for sharing and coming up with the cards, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Diana!
DeleteI would love to see more cards as well. This is a great idea!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I super failed to get to it this weekend (the weather outside was too gorgeous and calling our names!), but I hope to have more up soon! S wants them too. :)
DeleteThis is a such a great idea for younger kids. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeletePlease, please, please add more printable cards... This is such a great idea!
ReplyDeleteYay!!! I'm so glad you like it! I will aim to add more this weekend! :) :) :)
DeleteVery cute idea. Also, give the kids blank cards and have them draw the pattern and see if others can replicate it.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! Lots of fun extensions - especially for the older kiddos!
DeleteSo fun and we leave on a long car trip in two weeks. Can't wait for you to add cards. Will be packing these for both my boys!
ReplyDeleteOoh! I will do my best to get them scanned and uploaded this weekend for you, Chrissy! I *should* be able to, barring any sort of weekend emergency. :)
DeleteThis is so much fun, I grab my portable lego kit everywhere! We use it at home a lot too: to soothe enraged souls, to help smarty brains to get ready for some activity who requieres a lot of concentration, to persuade a giant to share some toys with a gnomo, and other spells Thank so much!
ReplyDeleteHooray!!! I'm so glad to hear it!!! :) :) :) Love all the fantastic uses you've come up with.
DeleteI would LOVE to see more cards! I just printed off the first set and gathered the legos. My son needs to work on more visual-perception activities and this is the perfect activity for him this summer. I love it that they are basic and beginner style for younger kids and kids new to legos. Thanks for doing this!
ReplyDeleteYay! That makes me so happy to hear, Kim! A second batch is planned to go up this weekend. :) :) :)
DeleteThank you so much, Asia! I just printed them all off on cardstock and my non-lego-loving son is really enjoying these! I'm so glad you did this! Thanks!
DeleteHooray! And I love the idea of printing on cardstock. I should do that for ours...!
DeleteThis is brilliant! I have run out of ideas for keeping my 5-year old from climbing the walls in restaurants. She doesn't have any legos yet, but this may warrant a trip to the lego store! thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteI hope it does the trick, Angie! I also have one other fun portable mini "toy" planned (S and I are in cahoots!) that I will hopefully post sometime in the next few weeks.
DeleteThis is a great idea! BTW, going to a lego store to get the legos will get you way more legos than what you want for more than you want to pay -- if they have those exact legos on the pick-a-brick wall. A better place is http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=eformo (that least directly to our store, but if we don't have what you want, someone else will.... there are thousands of sellers on that site. This is about $2 in parts, shipping will bring it up to $5 or so. A small pick-a-brick cup is $8 (or so, depending on your location).
ReplyDeleteGood to know, mamarachael!
DeleteThank you for a wonderful idea and resource!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Adriel!!!
DeleteLove this idea! Can't wait to put it all together for my son and may use it a birthday gift for other kids. I was able to find all the blocks at my local 2nd & Charles - a secondhand book store that also sells legos second hand by the ounce. These blocks cost me $1.40! Looking forward to more cards, thank you!
ReplyDeleteOh, what a fantastic idea!!! And SO lucky - what a great store to have nearby! The cards should be up very soon! :)
DeleteMore please!! This is great
ReplyDeleteThank you, Melanie! Just added 16 more cards!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a genius idea! My kids would love it!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Alexis!!!
Deleteso so soooo amazing, printing set 3 as I type this, both of my boys loved it!! thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteHooray!!!! I'm so glad to hear it!!! :) :) :)
DeleteGreat idea! I have the perfect opportunity to try this out soon. My 4 year old daughter is obsessed with legos. We have a long car trip coming up but I think this would be a good activity for her on a regular basis as well!
ReplyDeleteThank you!!! I hope she loves them as much as our 4 year old! :) :) :)
DeleteWhat size bricks are these or what kind if kit did they come from? That look thicker than the bricks mt son has. Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteWe just bought them from a LEGO store in the loose bins. They are, to my knowledge, the standard LEGO bricks (not DUPLO bricks). The dimensions and counts of each are listed above. I hope that helps!
DeleteThe Lego store does not sell individual bricks. They sell cups for 8.99. They also may not have the bricks you need. Mine had some of the bricks needed, but not all. Some appeared to be on display on the wall, but we're not actually bricks you could buy. All in all a frustrating way to try to put together this cute project! Hoping to save someone else the hassle is they need these specific bricks. And you may want to take that part out of your blog post...
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry Julie! We bought ours by weight at our LEGO store, and we did buy all these bricks there - I guess the availability must vary by store. I'll note that in the post!
DeleteThanks! :)
DeleteOur LEGO store didn't have all of them either, and the only option was the $8.99 bin too. But, b/c they didn't have the blocks I needed they gave me a card for free shipping and I was able to purchase the blocks online and save the $4.95 shipping. All in all I paid $5.90 for them! Hope this helps!
DeleteShoot! I mistakenly assumed they all had the same selection - boo! I'm so glad that you were able to get a coupon and it didn't cost you too much ultimately!
DeleteI am so excited. I just made a set for my kids to take on our road trip/camping trip. They are a little older, but not only will they love it, but we will have races to see who can make theirs the fastest! Brilliant idea and thank you for sharing the documents to make the cards!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I love the idea of races! Hope that they have fun with it! :) :) :)
DeleteOh super !!! Merci pour l'idée !!!
ReplyDeleteSi contente que vous l'aimez! :) :) :)
DeleteI love this but can I please get the template without color so I can color it in to match the legos I have.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry - I don't have the time to make it blank for you. :( One of my kind readers made the computer template for us all, which was very kind. Maybe you could trace one of our templates (computer or handdrawn) and then color them in according to the colors you need?
DeleteI'd be willing to make this template ALL white with Photoshop. Just send me an email and I will send you the copies. I think this idea is brilliant. You could sell these online! Thanks for sharing your templates for free!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karalee! You rock! I can't tell what your email is, but mine is funathomewithkids@gmail.com. Thank you so much!
DeleteI emailed you the blank templates. Hope it helps!
DeleteThank you SO much Karalee!!!! Adding them to the post now!!! You are so kind!
DeleteHi there! I love these patterned cards. Thank you for sharing! I have one big question, what size Legos do you use? Are they duplos, or the tiny tiny ones? Or is there a size in between? I tried looking online for different sizes, but I couldn't really find helpful information. Thanks in advance. :-)
ReplyDeleteThey are LEGOs, not DUPLOs, so yep, the small kind - that way they fit in my purse! :)
DeleteThank you SO much. I just put this kit together (in a sandwich sized plastic baggie) with my 8 year old's help in about 5 minutes flat! This will be great for when my boys have to go sit through and wait while sister is in dance class. :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome!!! So glad to hear it! :) :) :)
DeleteI didn't read all the comments, but if you just draw the outlines, parents or even older siblings could color in the spaces representing legos already owned! ( It would also show up better on black/white toner printers, saving us money when printing!
ReplyDeleteWe have a PDF of the blank blocks available if you'd like, Jenny! One of our readers was kind enough to make it for us. :)
DeleteI'm amazed! How come mere mortals like me never think of these simple solutions?
ReplyDeleteHahahahaha Ana! :)
DeleteI just want to say that you are AWESOME for creating this great activity and for sharing/facilitating the updates that have been contributed! THANK YOU!! And thank you to the other two women who contributed their time and talents in the computer generated color & b/w versions. The blogging community is so wonderful!!
ReplyDeleteAren't they awesome? Thank you, Nicki! :)
DeleteThank you! Just printed these for our road trip to visit our new nephew. Thanks for sharing. Free too! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteFantastic!!! And thank you for the kind comment! :)
DeleteSuper excited to find this link on Pinterest! Thank you! I can't wait to make this kit for my kiddos for our upcoming road trip!!
ReplyDeleteOh yay! Have a great trip!!!!
DeleteUsed this in the restaurant yesterday and today with 7 year old grandson, and I was pleasantly surprised that he never mentioned the iPad once!
ReplyDeleteYES! So glad to hear it!
DeleteDefinitely going to set one of these up for the boys to use. Little only plays with Legos if there are directions and he actually received a lego briefcase set (a lego junior travel case set) but there are so many tiny pieces that he can't use it when we go out. I think we'll use that (it has compartments) but definitely use your cards and tips!! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeletePerfect!!!
DeleteI found this through a busy bag link on Facebook. They did not have all of the bricks at the Lego store I visited. But the shared a secret! Go to lego.com, type pick a brick into the search. It takes you to Lego's site where you can purchase any brick they've ever made!!
ReplyDeleteAh, bummer about the store, but thank you for sharing that awesome tip!!! :)
DeleteOMG I absolutely love this idea! Its school holidays, its raining, my kids are going crazy! Going to try this tomorrow with them.
ReplyDeleteso fantastic!!! what a great idea. more cards please!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you!!! And great idea - I just have to find the time... :)
Deletesuper cute idea. thanx for sharing your lovely pattern cards and karalee's too. will keep looking at your blog for more super ideas. All the best!
ReplyDeleteFab - thank you - just printed now need to find the right pieces now. Going to make the plane journey much more fun
ReplyDeleteYay!!! Have a great trip!
DeleteHow awesome!! thanks for the printables!! for all the printables! i think i am going to start introducing the little lego to my son, that just turned 3 and this is a great way. I have a 14 month old too, so we can't have the tiny pieces around in case he eats them ;) but this activity is perfect!
ReplyDeleteHooray! And yes you've got to keep an eye on those little LEGOs -- babies just love them!
DeleteThanks for the printables! The hand drawn ones are very cute!
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
DeleteGreat activity!
ReplyDeleteToday we created our box and patterns with the bricks we had.
For Hector, 4, is his first Legos, and he loved the activities.
Hooray!
DeleteWhat kind of case is that? Where's it from? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI believe it's for beads? I got it from Michaels. :)
Delete