Quest #14 - Ancient Monument

This weeks challenge is to re-create or be inspired by an Ancient Monument.

An Ancient monument is an early historical structure worthy of preservation.

There are Ancient Monuments found all over the world, I look forward to seeing which one inspired you!

Be sure to tell me which Ancient Monument you were inspired by and why. Where this monument exists in the world and anything else you'd like to add about your creation.

Here you can see what other kids from around the world created for this challenge.

Earth Day Photos

by Easy, age 7, Seven Valleys, Pennsylvania, USA

This is a beautiful little garden growing with lush flowers and grasses. It's even a habitat for a little red snake. Perfect creation for Earth Day, I love that the photo was taken outside on your own dew covered grass. Awesome Easy!

by Justin, age 11, Seven Valleys, Pennsylvania, USA.

The sign says, "Don't be a glacier, and save the nature (meaning do something to save nature)."

What a great scene you've made here. I just love the sign. It looks as though the wild creatures are holding their own little Earth Day demonstration for us humans to take note of. Great addition to your creation by taking the photo outside, it really adds a wonderful element of nature to it.

"Bird House" by Will, age 5, Selah, Washington, USA.

"Birds need more houses."

What a cool bird house. If I were a bird, I would want this to be my house. I love that it even looks like a bird too. Great reminder that we could all put out a bird house for our flying friends! Superb Will!

"Picking up Trash" by Casey, age 8, Selah, Washington, USA.

"Picking up trash is important everyday."

How great to see a crew out cleaning up this beautiful looking space. You've made me want to go outside and pick up some litter in my own neighborhood. Thanks Casey!

"Garden of the Earth" by Simon, age 7, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"It's a garden that helps the Earth. There are flowers, trees, shrubs and bushes all giving us oxygen. To me Earth Day means not littering, planting trees and flowers and helping the Earth."

This is a beautiful, lush space you've created. It makes me want to take a stroll through it and breathe in all the wonderful smells. Lots of green space to celebrate the Earth on. Nice work Simon!

"Clean the Earth" by Sophie, age 5, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"A river and grass and lots and lots of litter. There is a Stormtrooper picking up garbage. To me Earth Day means helping the Earth."

Wow, what a lot of litter scattered about. How great that this Stormtrooper has taken it upon himself to clean up other people's garbage. If we all just picked up after ourselves, we'd have a very happy Earth! Wonderful Sophie!

by Lennon, age 10, Ontario, Canada.

"Lennon's favourite gift from the Earth is a flower garden. (I really love that there's a pirate tending a flower)"

This is such a beautiful, colourful garden. I love that there are many people working in it. It looks like a quiet, peaceful place. How amazing that you call gardens "gifts from the Earth"! The Earth laughs in flowers. Great creation Lennon!

by Islove, age 3, Ontario, Canada.

"This is a big flying bird animal."

Beautiful creature Islove! I love his outstretched wings. The more critters the better, especially flying bird animals! Way to go Islove!

by Faenin, age 5, Ontario, Canada.

"This is a kangaroo pushing a stroller."

I love this because it seems so funny that a kangaroo, who has a pouch for carrying her baby, would be using a stroller. So cute, funny and well built. Great creation Faenin!

by Ethan, age 8, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"It's a recycling plant. It takes old junk, which gets crushed up by a hammer, and then sent down the track into the giant fire, and out comes new things. Then the water cools it down. It's run on the power crystals located at the corner of the base."

What a fabulous recycling factory you've built! I love that there are different processes that happen and in the end something totally new is made! Great thinking Ethan, and perfect design for Earth day!

by Michael, age 5, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"It's an earth-friendly recycling factory. It grinds up stuff from the big saw; melts it down in the big heater (there's also a little fire blower at the side). It's a recycling machine, sort of like my brother's. And it's run on power crystals."

That is one deadly looking saw, I bet it grinds up all sorts interesting things. I love that this factory cuts and melts things people don't want anymore. But best of all, the fact that it's earth-friendly! This is great Michael.

by Isaac, age 5, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"This is Isaac's solar-powered rainforest village. The vehicles and homes are all solar-powered (they all have flat panels on top). Can you see the propeller beside the door of the straw-bale house? That's a windmill. There's a couple cruising the swamp in a little black and white boat. The names of the vehicles are, from left to right: Bumper Man, Crocodile-in-the-Swamp, Bumpermaran, Swampadrive, Bulldozer-Fordo, Rover/flying-space-object (it is kinda like a spaceship that drives on Mars), Dangerous Swamp driver (warns people about the dangerous crocodile in the swamp and that people in the motorboat have to be very careful to go around the crocodile.)"

Firstly I'd like to tell everyone looking at this to click on the image so you can see it larger. There is so much detail here that needs a closer look! Rainforest, solar-power, windmill, straw-bale house! What an amazing super-charged Earth friendly landscape you have created. I like all the amazing details and different areas you've created. Too cool Isaac!

by Kiera, age 3, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"This is a pack of Killersauruses that lived on Earth. Killersaurus is a dinosaur that starts with "K". Their leader is a teenager names Susan. They have babies."

What a wonderful pack of meat eating dinosaurs! I love that they have little babies with them and they are staying so close to the grown ups. How cool that this dinosaur's names starts with the same letter as your name! I think it's so cool that their leader is a teenager! Wonderful creation Kiera!

Interview About Lego Quest

Come check out this wonderful interview I did for Faith at Enjoy Life Unschooling. She asked me all sorts of interesting questions about my Lego Quest project. I am honored and grateful!

Lego Quest interview.

Quest #13 - Earth Day

April 22nd is Earth Day.

What does Earth Day mean to you? Create something that reflects your ideas about Earth Day. It might be something that is inspired by the list below, or it might be some sort of invention that helps the Earth in a certain way?

Here is a list of words that remind me of Earth Day, you may have other words that inspire your creation.

Recycling

Wilderness

Protection of Animals and Wildlife

Deterioration of the environment

Oil Spills

Power Plants

Pesticides

Global Warming

Clean Energy

Pollution

Habitat Destruction

Bees

Trees

Ecosystem

Landfills

Litter

Oceans

Oxygen

Preserve

Rainforest

Reuse

Tell me all about your creation. What it is inspired by, or what function it has that relates to our Earth.

Here you can see what kids from all over the world designed in response to this challenge.

Mixed Media Photos

"California" by Bryce, age 6, California, USA.

He says he was "inspired by the crane being used to build the new Bay Bridge in San Francisco." He used yarn for part of the crane.

This is so awesome! I'm loving the yarn and how it is tied onto the Lego beam, which I also think is a great little creation. It looks like the gears at the top rotate and lift up the load on the yarn. This is wonderful mixed media and a creation that is truly functional. How very cool that R2D2 is part of the construction crew! Too cool Bryce!

"Petshop Park" by Sophie, age 5, Saskatchewan, Canada.

This is a super neat little scene. It reminds me of the park close to our house that we visit regularly. The play structure has wonderful stairs and a slide, but I especially love the climbing wall! Nice to see a lemonade stand, wouldn't it be nice if our park had one of those! Very cool that you built a play area for your pets. Way to go Sophie.

"A Rock Collector" by Spencer, age 5, Arizona, USA.

"This is a spaceship that collects rocks and stores them inside."

What a cool vehicle. I wonder if this spaceship collects rocks in the atmosphere, or on planet surfaces? I can see the hollowed out area where the rocks are stored. Great use of ordinary objects like rocks along with Lego to create an awesome machine. Nice work Spencer!

"Fighter Ship on Attack Mission to the Death Star", by Ethan, age 8, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"This submission for mixed media is an installation that uses Lego and Transformers."

I absolutely love the way this photo was taken. It looks like a scene from a movie. I am especially liking the string used to hold up the Fighter Ship. This creation nicely connects to separate objects to one common theme. Great mixed media Ethan!

by Keira, age 3, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"A little house for unicorn and a wolf."

This is a wonderful little house for these two lovely creatures. The wolf on top of the house seems to be on a lookout. Perfect use of creatures along with your Lego to create a great little mixed media scene. Way to go Keira!

by Finnegan, age 6, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"This is a scene from South America. There is a temple, a mountain, a South American Dragon, and other stuff."

I love all that is going on here Finnegan. Such a cool scene full of creatures and characters. The two stacked pillows are a nice juxtaposition to the hard edged Lego. Is that a dragon on the top pillow? Great world you've created, makes me want to know more about the story I see here. Just wonderful Finnegan.

by Isaac, age 5, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"Isaac's FOODLAND Adventure Park, complete with racetrack (top right), city hall (bottom left), white hill (top left), crane (bottom center). Mixed media: includes lego, creations from homeschool clay class, food, hot wheels cars, and crane."

Isaac, your wonderful little imaginary places always amaze me. I just love that you used tomatoes, carrots, oranges, onions and apples, not to mention, pottery and hot wheels. There is so much going on here. I have to say, the food really stands out to me as a super cool element!

by Cassidy, age 4, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.

I was told that ZomeTools were used as the mixed media portion of this creation. How cool. I love the vertical height of this structure and how perfectly the rods seem to fit into the lego bricks. I didn't know about ZomeTools before Cassidy, thank you for introducing them to me. What a wonderful creation!

by Bridger, age 7, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.

"This is the shark catcher. It is a huge machine that catches evil sharks. First, the small red machine that you see in the lower part of the photo sucks up the sharks in the back white part, then spits them out the other brown part into the turbo vacuum, which is the water bottle. There are two gates to allow workers to get in."

Evil sharks! I'm glad you made a machine that captures them. What a cool vacuum system you built, and the water bottle is the greatest containing unit, you'd be able to see the sharks swimming around. I spy ZomeTools, a grey pencil and a jam jar lid! Great mixed media creation Bridger!

by Angus, age 6, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"These are my Playmobil people standing on a bridge guarding the treasures in the ocean. This is a real sand dollar from the beach in B.C."

How wonderful, all those great treasures in the blue ocean below. I love the patterning on your bridge supports, very much in your creative style. Smart of you to put a center third support to your bridge for stability. What a cool B.C sand dollar! Great creation Angus!

"Cat in the Hat Horse Stable" by Lyn, age 8, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"I used markers to hold up the roof. The wheat is from harvest last fall. I also used pine cones, shells, beads and a pipe cleaner."

This is a wonderful two story structure. So neat that you used markers as pillars. It perfectly holds all your lovely horses. I love that the roof is the book The Cat in the Hat, it also seems to serve as a sort of sign to the stables. Wonderful little embellishments on the rooftop. This is so neat Lyn!

Quest #12 - Mixed Media

Mixed Media means to combine one or more, other objects or art mediums with your LEGO creation. Your creation can be anything you like.

Often an unusual, seemingly unrelated combination of materials work best.

Here is a list to get your creative juices flowing;

Beads

Cardboard

Clay

Drawings

Edible materials

Found objects

Fabric

Glue

Ice

Jewels

Marbles

Metal

Paintings

Paper

Plastic

Sand

Stone

Wax

Wire

Wood

Here are the cool mixed media creations kids from around the world made in response to this challenge.

Shadow Photos

by Lyn, age 8, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Lyn, this is fantastic! I love how dark of a shadow you were able to get! This reminds me of a wind up robot with a long neck, struggling to climb a hill. I want to know the story of this guy. Great creation Lyn!

by Angus, age 6, Saskatchewan, Canada.

You also have a nice dark shadow Angus! This seems to have religious references at the bottom, with the cross, yet circus act at the top, with what looks like an elephant balancing a giant hamburger on his trunk? Fantastically tall Angus!

"Mega Reflector" by Isaac, age 5, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"This is my 'mega reflector'. Can you see the blue windows in the shadow? I had fun making it."

Incredible creation Isaac! This looks like some sort of city skyline, or could it be a bunch of machines rising over the horizon, coming towards us? Love the addition of the blue window, subtle colours in the shadow look so cool! So awesome Isaac!

"S" by Sophie, age 5 and Simon, age 7, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"This is the letter S for our names. We used three flashlights because there was no sunshine."

Super cool letter S guys! I love that I can see the choppiness of the curves, showing the bricks trying to turn flowing corners. Why does this remind me of Sesame Street? Pssssst, wanna buy a letter 'S'? Way to go Simon and Sophie!

"Snail in the Sun" by Will, age 5, Selah, Washington, USA

"It's a snail, or sometimes a car depends on how I feel."

This is wonderful Will! I love that it can be either a snail or a car, depending on mood. Nice strong sunshine shadows here. I especially like the antennae in the shadow! Great creation Will!

"Iron Giant" by Cassandra, age 8, Selah, Washington, USA.

Cassandra says, "I really didn't know what I had until I took it out into the sun. I love how the top looks like a face; it instantly reminded me of the story The Iron Giant."

This is great! Your creation was made the way a lot of artists and sculptors make their work, by simply creating then seeing what comes out of their work once finished. I love that you noticed your design came alive once out in the sun and casting its shadow. And how cool that it reminded you of a story you read, so awesome Cassandra!

"Diamond" by Tal, age 11, Southern California, USA.

I absolutely love how strong the colour shows in your shadow. The wonderful blues and reds are so beautiful in this creation. This design is perfectly balanced and has great symmetry. So many negative space areas let the light shine through, creating a very delicate piece of shadow architecture. Amazing Tal!

by Bridger, age 7, Minnesota, USA.

"Do you see the shadow of the person on the top of this creation? It's a figure with a backwards baseball cap and white pants. I used a piece with lots of holes in it to make the grid that you see near the bottom. My creation kept falling apart when the whole top part was only connected by one notch. So, I connected it all by two notches."

This is such a cool creation! I love the height and how delicate this structure seems. How great to hear that you were able to come up with a solution to it falling apart, making it a more stable design. The person at the very top is so perfectly balanced. Wonderful piece of architecture Bridger!

Quest #11 - Shadow

Build something, or a number of things, that you think would cast a great shadow.

Take your creation to a sunny spot, inside or outside on a sunny day. Observe the shadow it casts. Move it around until it makes the shadow you like best. Notice how the shadow changes when it is cast on a wall, compared to the sidewalk, compared to the texture of a tree trunk. Where do you like the shadow best?

Take a picture of only the shadow. 

Here are the awesome shadow creations kids from around the world made for this challenge. 

Spring Photos

"Redberry Lake" by Isaac, age 5, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"This is Isaac's springtime vision of Redberry Lake. On the left are the trees, a green hill in the foreground, blue lake, yellow sand, then the clubhouse, garage/drive-in, a picnic shelter just past the beach. Do you see the front of the limo parked in the drive-in/garage/driveway?"

What a magical place you have created Isaac! I want to go to Redberry Lake now! I am just loving the transition from water to sand and the slightly lighter shades of blue in the water make me think of waves. The clubhouse and picnic shelter are so cool. Did you drive in a limo when you went to Redberry Lake? Awesome creation Isaac!

"Untitled" by Lorelai, age 21 months, Arizona, USA.

Created with big brother Spencer's help.

Lorelai, your creation, as usual, is perfect. But I have to say, I think I love your toes even more. Would you mind if I took a nibble? Very sophisticated to have an "untitled" creation. I love all the red, it makes the one grey brick really stand out. I bet Spencer was a big help!

by Spencer, age 5, Arizona, USA.

"Strawberry like in my garden."

I just love this interpretation of a strawberry! It makes me think of my strawberry patch that is starting to peek out of the ground now too. Great curved edges, making it's shape very much like the real thing. My favorite part of this is the stem, what a smart use for this piece. Way to go Spencer!

by Finnegan, age 6, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"These are birds.

Back row (L to R): Great Horned Owl, Blue Jay, Red Tailed Hawk, Sparrow

Middle row (L to R): Orange-Bellied Bird, Red Beaked Woodpecker, Twilight Bird, American Kestrel

Front row (L to R): Yellow-Winged Blue Bird, Green-Winged Bird."

Finnegan, you never cease to amaze me with your elaborate creations! When I go through the list, and match up the names to the creatures, I really can see the perfect details that make each one unique. You seem like quite the young bird expert! So awesome Finnegan!

by Keira, age 3, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"It's a spring monster...it's eats flowers...but only the bad ones."

This is so cute! I learned two new things from you. 1. that there are spring monsters, and 2. that there are 'bad' flowers. This is a wonderful creation Keira!

Ester, age 10, Pennsylvania, USA.

She says it is herself spring cleaning. The white thing is an iron.

This is wonderful! Really shows the spirit of spring cleaning that goes on in so many houses this time of year. I love your interpretation of this challenge! Great creation Ester!

Issac, age 8, Pennsylvania, USA.

He created a flower, because spring reminds him that flowers will soon be up.

What a lovely flower Issac! This reminds me of the lone crocus that pops its head out of the ground this time of year, surrounded by all that lovely grass. Great use of the clear plastic disk! I wonder if there is a flower out there that is transparent? Awesome Issac!

Rachel, age 12, Pennsylvania, USA.

"A person gardening."

This is a great interpretation of spring! My back hurts just looking at this, since I have already been in this position in my garden! I love the little fence around the garden patch. Wonderful design Rachel!