Book Recommendation; Re: Building/lego-maniacs

My grandson finds lots of info on building with Legos on line. Just this week I saw him mixing up Mixels to make different characters. The site just used diagrams.; no words. I don't think he's found anything that teaches principles up front. He learns them by trying out ways to put blocks together and sees whether or not it works. He doesn't read much and so would avoid any site with words. He googles Lego and what he wants to know and clicks on the illustration option.

There a couple of Lego books that are checked out frequently: Lego Adventure Book by Megan Rothrock, The Lego Ideas Book by Lipkowitz and the Ultimate Lego Book (maybe a little too mature). I understand about Legos/imagination, etc. but another idea is a website called Edheads.org. They have many activities but there is one activity on simple machines that may be of interest. I would also suggest Lego engineering camp.

Well, I know this is not the same as Legos but my just turned 8 year old loves Mine Craft - and there are minecraft books. We got the first one from Scholastic (the catalog sent home from school).

good luck! OH, also check your area for lego clubs/competitions.

Well, I personally feel like trial and error are the best engineering strategies at this age. And it's part of the reason I love Legos. And the best engineering ideas started with flights of fantasy....so I have NO issue with the "out there" crazy creations my kiddos come up with, in fact I love it. But it sounds like maybe he running mama ragged with all the questions and needed support?? (Maybe I am misunderstanding??!).

I have found that teaching my son to use youtube is a great lego resource. Of course this is something that has to be monitored (CLOSELY), but once he learns to navigate it, finding tutorials and help is a breeze.

THere are also several Lego books available for purchase. I am not certain they would teach him the exact strategies you are looking for, but they may definitely help guide him. There are many online at amazon, but we often check them out at our library. I can't recommend just one, there are so many and my son likes to get a different book each time. Many of them are just pictures without explanation, but maybe all the examples will show him what is needed. My son gravitates towards the Lego machine books, he likes creating things that can "do something".

You may also consider a Lego camp. Our area recreation centers often offer these. Many times the focus is on building lego machines, but they may also help guide him.

Why take away the fantasy from lego building? He's 7 I really dont think he cares about why you need X amount of support for a ceiling. But to answer the question I know there are lego books that you can find on amazon that would have a ton of ideas on how to build stuff. My kids book fairs at school will always have these too. The internet is a great source I dont know if you have an ipad or something that he can have up and running while trying to build for ideas. You could get lincoln logs for him as there really isn't much that you can do with those that doesn't included the fantasy learning as its pretty much cut and paste ( a ceiling doesnt stay up unless its stragically sound)

I don't have any book recommendations, but I do suggest you look into Play-well Teknologies. They run Engineering with Legos camps and classes and I believe are franchised in many states. My Lego-crazy son has done both classes and camps with them many times, and I'm sure part of what they touch upon is structural integrity. Good luck!

I just want to tell you that my older son can build any Lego set, even the most intricate, by the schematics. And then he build anything he likes just out of his head. It's great that he can do both.

A lot of what he learned was just by doing and because he has that kind of brain. I did send him to a fun K'nex class one summer where over the week, they built a big ferris wheel.

I do like your idea to get him books. I never had any, but would have loved to have.

My son is absolutely amazing with Legos! Like your son, he builds whatever the kit is once to see what it looks like done and then it goes in the huge tub of all the other Legos and becomes so much more a million times over from there. He takes after me. I loved my Legos as a kid and could play with them for hours. I built the most elaborate things! He's built dragons where he used the feet of something as the head and it looked absolutely amazing!
The kits were just a starting point. Even I had kits back in the 70s and 80s. Following the instructions on the kits is a good aid at teaching the skills needed to know how pieces go together just as much as trial and error does. We have a ton of Lego books that my son loves to thumb through for ideas. They in no way hinder his imagination, in fact they enhance it! Lego had an ipad app my son loves to use where you can design things. He likes to try it out on there and then try to build it with the Legos he owns. He's said more than once that he would love to be a Lego designer when he grows up.
I would look at Amazon at the Lego books that are offered or on the Lego website even. Ignore those that say that following the instructions are bad. They are wrong. True, if a child never strays from what the kit tells them to do or the book tells you to build they aren't getting much out of it but if you are using them alongside their own creative imaginations they are a very valuable tool.

At age 7 he should be using his imagination. This is a vital skill he needs to develop at this age or he won't have the building blocks he needs to develop the next level of skills.

I suggest you go to the reference or children's librarian in your local library. Our children's librarian is amazing. She knows just about every book in the building and where it is.