Welcome to Our Lego Workshop

Our instructor will arrive between 8.30 and 8.45 am (unless otherwise arranged),
with all the necessary equipment. They will report to reception upon arrival, approximately
20 minutes is then needed to prepare for the first session.
To achieve the best results we aim for each session to be 2 ½ hours long. In our opinion,
it works better for the older group of children to occupy the morning session, which will
normally be slightly longer than the afternoon, due to school timetables.
For sessions with 35 children or less, a regular classroom will provide sufficient space.
With larger groups it may be preferable to work in the school hall, with the use of P.E. mats
However, this does work best if the area is not in use for other purposes during the lunch break.
Each session begins with a short talk from the instructor, describing the basic logistics of building houses. The children then each construct an individual building. On completion, children are then encouraged to assist their classmates, until the majority of buildings are finished. A town scene is then prepared and houses plotted onto this, with Town Planning taken into consideration.

SKILLS DEVELOPED include Logic, Mathematics, Manual Dexterity, Practical Design, Teamwork

PRE-WORKSHOP IDEAS

• On graph paper draw walls, realising why a structure of
  interlocked bricks would be stronger than one of
  adjacent columns.

• Study building sites, explaining why foundations are compulsory, and houses are built one
  layer upwards, rather than building one complete wall at a time.

• Using equipment such as plastic straws and small cardboard tiles, understand the logic of
  placing eaves inside a roofing structure.


POST WORKSHOP IDEAS

• An aerial photograph of the town scene could be taken with the use of a school camera.

• Children then scale this onto graph paper, remembering reasons why buildings were placed
  in their particular locations.

• Understand what happens beneath the ground, on a large scale map, use colour coded straws or pipe
  cleaners to represent the laying of different services.

• Study the different types of brick throughout recent ages, and liken them to buildings the children can
  relate to in photographs, this can also be done to compare the difference between buildings in different
  countries, with the children bringing holiday photographs of the places they have visited.

14 Coombe Rise, Shenfield, CM15 8JJ         01277 849592       youngtownplanners@fsmail.net

Company registration number: 06412190