Map Photos

by Yash, age 6, Hong Kong.

"My map has a castle with a king and some soldiers. There is a road that takes us from the castle to the stable, the village and the rotten cars place."

This is a fantastic arial view you designed. It shows us perfectly how to navigate from castle to stable to village. I especially love all the details like the soldiers, the little houses and the vehicles.

by Bryn age 8 and Emi age 6, Figanières, France.

"This is an imaginary map. The map is from a magical land. There is a blue pond and grass. There is also grey gravel surrounding the grass. We made two ships that take you around the park. They float above the ground. There is a little house at the park. There is a person riding their bike on the road leaving the pond. This is a bird's eye view of our park."

Awesome arial perspective! This is similar to google maps in that it captured all the people doing their everyday things like biking. I really like all the bike racks and the beautiful park. Wonderful collaborative effort!

by Simon, age 8, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"This is a map showing different land types. There is grasslands, the ocean and the desert. The darker green is the thicker forest portion, the darker blue is the deep spots in the ocean, and the red spots are the really really hot portions of the desert."

Great geological map! You've symbolized each type of surface with a different color, making it very easy for us to differentiate the different land types. I especially like that you used varying shades of the same color for more detailed contrasts.

by Aaron, age 6, Tucson, Arizona, USA

"This is a map of a trail. You can see the map to the side of a cabin you see at the start of a trail. The red circle on the map means "you are here". The areas with lines going up and down and to the side are farmlands. In front of the cabin you can see the yellow trail that is on the map."

This reminds me of going on nature walks and looking at the 'you are here' maps along the way. This creation shows clearly where the trail is, and how to get to the cabin in relation to the walking path. Great design!

by Alex, age 6, Missouri, USA.

"It is a treasure map and the three pirates are going to get the treasure. The treasure is near a river and a sidewalk, between two train cars."

Fantastic large X marks the spot! The pirates are so close to the area where they need to start digging. Cleverly hidden between two trains, an unlikely place for a treasure. Very cool!

by Avery, age 8, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.

"Avery is sending in a map of his home state, Indiana. He has labeled some of the bigger cities in Indiana. He also labled Bloomington, where we live!"

Fabulous territorial map! This design shows clearly the political borders of Indiana! I really love how you've marked some of the major cities with small bricks and a single stud on top. Adding your written city names really brings this creation over the top!

by Aidan M. age 8, Cincinnati Ohio, USA.

"This is a topographical (3D) map of a canyon trail. The black part is a restroom ("Great Relief Hall") and the different colors are different trails. The white is the canyon wall and the tall pillar in the center is a carved rock. The rock is so tall it reaches out of the canyon."

This is a great topographic map with the added feature of letting you know where the high and low points are with the addition of 3D. Hilarious that you named the restrooms "Great Relief Hall"! Smart use of different colors to show different trails to hike on.

by Micah, Age 6, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"The whole land used to be a desert, but then the forest took over most of it leaving a little bit of desert. Then the ocean flooded most of the land. This map is in Asia. The icebergs in the ocean show it goes up to the North of Asia."

Fabulous geological map. This design clearly shows the different land types. Desert, forest and ocean. Interesting how the desert has been overgrown by forested areas and the ocean has enveloped most of this land mass due to flooding.

by Eli, age 5, Greenville, South Carolina, USA.

"Treasure Map"

"A bad guy buried chocolate coins on the beach. This is the treasure map that shows how to find it under the white circle. The guy on the map is me, and I have a walkie-talkie and a shovel to dig up the treasure. The blue stuff is water and there is a yellow and green coconut tree. When I find the treasure I'm gonna eat it up!"

How cool that you actually buried treasure you can eat! I love seeing LEGO pieces half under the sand, they look so interesting. Installing your creation outdoors takes this design to a new level. Great treasure map!

by Samuel age 5 and Sawyer age 3, North Carolina, USA.

"This is Morton Town. We live in the house surrounded by the beautiful flower and vegetable gardens. It is summer here in Morton Town and we are looking forward to a great harvest this year. Further down the map shows the Super Target where we can get anything we might need. Follow the path and you will come across our towns lake that is stocked with fish waiting to be caught. An enchanted forest is next on the map, but beware for there is some kind of strange creature lurking in the shadows of the trees. Next stop on the map is the YMCA where we can play soccer, baseball and basketball. Our church is in between my house and the YMCA. I love Morton Town."

Wow, Morton town has everything to live a happy, busy life, surrounded by beauty! I love how you used the thin LEGO bricks to show a pathway to all the different amenities of this lovely town. This looks like the perfect map of the things you enjoy in your life!

by Reece age 8, and Cole age 4, Nova Scotia, Canada.

"This is a map of Nova Scotia. The red roof is our house. I am in blue pants, blue shirt and a blue cap. My brother is in the black pants, white shirt and black cap. The fireman is in there because he lives close to us. The other people are some of my friends."

Great to see you've put yourself, brother and some of your friends and neighbours in your map. This is like a random google maps photo showing all of you walking down your street. Great collaboration!

by Ursa, age 11, Maryland, USA.

"It's a treasure map. The red path leads to the X where the treasure is."

Awesome treasure map! I love the red path and the way you constructed the X. The path seems to go through water, sand and treed areas, taking you on a bit of a wild goose chase instead of going straight. Very cleverly hidden!

by Finnegan, age 6, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"It's a map of Africa. Yellow is desert, red is scrubland/semi-desert, light green is savannah, dark green is jungle, black is mountains, and blue is water."

Fabulous geological map! You have shown such diverse land types in this creation. This shows us clearly what to expect when travelling to this area of the world.

by Keira, age 4, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"This is a plan for a theatre where the Firebird will dance her ballet in (I think the double row of blocks - with the plant - is the stage, the single row of blocks opposite is a balcony)."

How wonderful that you mapped out the theatre! this would help the dancers see a different perspective on their performance space. Nicely done!

by Luke, age 7, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"This is a 3D map of Mt. Everest. You can see it is helpful for helicopter pilots."

This would be such a helpful map for anyone wanting to navigate Mt. Everest. It would show you all the key points and routes when climbing. Extremely important for rescue missions! I love that you've shown a helicopter flying over top.

by Roel, age 5, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

"This is a treasure map. There is a volcano and a docked pirate ship. The yellow parts are beaches. The clear piece is the lava soaking into the sand."

I just love the Jolly Roger flag you designed. What a great personal touch. The locations of the beaches are very smart, always where the land and water meet. I really like how you designed the X marks the spot! Very nice map!

by Sam, age 7, California, USA.

"This is a map that I created and where you see the two brown blocks, that is where you start. Then the red lego bricks go into a line, those are the lines you have to follow. There is an 'X' under the two skeleton treasure guards and they are fighting a guy who is trying to get the treasure. The guy is kicking one of them, and I put a support behind the skeleton treasure guard so he could lean and look like he was falling. The red fabric is lava."

Great pirates treasure map! I love the action you created of your mini figure kicking the skeleton. The leaning really makes it look like it is falling over! Smart use of support system to keep the skeleton propped in place. It's great that you actually have a treasure chest.

by Drew, age 8, South Carolina, USA.

"This a globe. It is nowhere in particular. Most of it is covered in trees. The brown dot in untreed land. The rest of it is just ocean."

This is such a great design. It is unlike any other creation that was submitted for this challenge. I really love how you created the whole globe and approached your construction in an 'in the round' fashion. This allows your viewers to see it from all angles, top, bottom, any side. It is free standing and had to be designed to look good from all directions. Very clever.

by Lyric age 7 and Emmet age 3, Oklahoma, USA.

"This is the map to my daddy's work. There are gas stations and there is my daddy at his work. He has his truck and a tall building for his work. And the yellow block is my home with my brother and I standing out front. That is my map!"

This is a great map of how your dad goes from your home to work, maybe stopping for gas on the way. I really like the pattern you used to show his route with the thin yellow, white and black bricks. Nicely designed and great collaboration!

Quest # 30 - Map

Can you create a map out of LEGO? A map is a drawing, outline, picture, plan, design, composition, that is used to visually represent an area of the earth.

Maps of the world show us territorial borders (countries, cities, towns) or geological features such as mountains, forests, deserts, soil types, fault lines, oceans, and rivers.

This map can be representative of a real place, or it can be something from your imagination.

What is the place you created and what are some of the features on your maps.

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

2 Cups of Random Bricks Photos

I am always blown away by the creativity I see with each challenge. Below are 40 submissions, my comments are more brief due to the number of creations. Enjoy!

by Joshua, age 12, Texas, USA.

"Joshua's Glasses. I was lucky. I got lots of two piece legos and I could easily make the frames. They won’t fit on any of us – we’ve tried.”

This is such an amazing creation! I can't believe you were able to design a pair of glasses! Very creative use of your random bricks!

by Noah, age 11, New Jersey, USA.

"The top picture is a destruction drone about to destroy the abstract Lego sculpture. The bottom two pictures a close of the blaster and the destruction drone's face.
My 1st reaction to 2 cups of random Legos was, oh no, I'm never going to be able to do this. I'm used to picking out my own PIECES!!! I tried at least 3 other sculptures, and they all looked bad, until I came up with this one which is much better than the other ones!!"

Brilliant robotic design! I love the weapon mounted on his shoulder. Very impressive creations. The abstract LEGO sculpture is really awesome! I am so impressed that you tried this challenge several times then picked your favourite.

by Sam, age 9, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA.

"I built a house with a deck where Plankton created a machine to make people's faces disappear. The two police are there to arrest him."

The evil Plankton is at it again! This is a very creative scene you made. The story about it makes it extra interesting!

by Sage, age 8, Maine, USA.

"This is my creation from the 2 cups of legos and I'm calling it the Weirdo Speeder! That was a fun Lego Quest assignment."

I love your title! Interesting vehicle came out of your random pile of bricks. I love how you used the wine glass!

by Ben, age 7.5, Akron, Ohio, USA.

"A Lego Junkyard, where Mini-figs go for spare parts."

This is a great concept! I love your scene with the LEGO people looking through the piles of junk. Nice use of all your random pieces.

by Julia, age 9, New Jersey, USA.

"This is a limo bus that has a special room for the driver and a separate room for the people. It can fit 6 people and it has 3 sets of double seats for the people."

What an interesting Limousine design! I really like how it looks like a little house on wheels. Very imaginative use of your random bricks.

by Cassandra, age 9, Selah, Washington, USA.

"All the colors reminded me of Kevin (the bird from the movie UP). So that is what I made."

The colors do remind me of Kevin too. Clever construction. I love that you were artistically motivated by the colors!

by Annalies, age 6, London, Ontario, Canada.

"This is what I made with 2 cups of Lego. There are different machines. One of them flies. One is a jail for naughty people. If you have to go there, you have to stay for 100 days. You don't want to be naughty!!!!!"

Wonderful assortment of machines you created. Your jail has some very interesting architectural elements to it. Love your concept of the 100 day jail!

by David, age 11, London, Ontario, Canada.

"This is a gold machine. You put "stuff" into the machine on the left and it comes out as gold on the right. The two men who are working on the machine are going to be very rich!"

I love the machine! The purple gear is great. The bricks you used for gold are perfect and the LEGO guys action poses really add to this design! Ingenious.

by Mikey, age 7, New Jersey, USA.

Great selection of contraptions! Some of them look like really cool vehicles and the other like interesting machines.

by Gavin, age 9, New Jersey, USA.

The guy with the sword sticking in his back is hilarious! I love this interesting, chaotic, mound of random bricks. It looks like some sort of bizarre, sci-fi machine.

by Tal, age 11, Southern California, USA.

"Thingy. I build this not knowing at all what it was going to look like."

Great title. This looks like an ultra modern loft built above the street or treetops. All the random strange pieces make this design unique.

by Katherine, age 5, Central Florida, USA.

"This is a boat. My boat has mini figures on it. Two mini figures are waving. One mini figure is sitting and one is standing up. One mini figure is in the corner of the smokestack, and he is looking at you. The last mini figure is under arrest."

Great boat design! All the LEGO people make this more dynamic. I love that you took the photo on a blue drop cloth, it looks like real water.

by Ethan, age 9, Oregon, USA.

"In space there was a gas station. A man came to fill his ship but couldn't reach the credit card scanner. He got a box and then he could. I feel lucky that I got a lego person and a crystal in my scoop. This was fun! "

This space gas station is so cool! What a great idea and design. I love that your LEGO guy needed a box to stand on to be tall enough. Too funny!

by Justin, age 12, San Diego, California, USA.

"I liked this challenge, but I had to get my legos from my little brothers buckets, because all of my buckets are color organized and I didn't think that would be very random."

Great decision you made about where you got your random bricks from! This is a very unique contraption you made. They look like a couple of state of the art aircrafts!

by Cody, age 8, San Diego, California, USA.

"This was kinda hard mom really made me measure and no going back for extra parts that is why one guy has a block head. in the back are the extra left over parts."

Great to hear you worked only with what you had, it is extra hard that way, you really have to use your creative building skills. I love his block head, he's so unique that way. These look like two war machines in mid battle.

by Caedmon, age 5, and Jude, age 2, South Carolina, USA.

"Tom Thumbs House? A Bug, a Bear, a Star Wars ship. I hope you like my design. I started builiding and then decided what they would be. My little brother made the house, and I thought it looked like Tom Thumb's house because it was so small."

These are fabulous creations! I love that you just built and went with the flow and then decided what they would be. Many artists approach their creative practice in exactly this way! Nice collaborative work!

by Conall, age 7, Evanston, Illinois, USA.

"Science Station. The design came to him as he was working."

What an interesting place you designed. I love the different helmets on the side, all the weapons and the horse! First horse in space I bet.

by Eli, age 5, Greenville, South Carolina, USA.

"A Drill-Gun Spaceship. I just started building and this is what it turned into. This spaceship can turn into an airplane or a helicopter. It has a drill that you can control that drills into the ground. The guy has a winter helmet that he keeps on the spaceship, but the one he is wearing is his working helmet. It keeps the sun out of his eyes. There's a gun to shoot bad guys so they don't get his work."

I love how this design just appeared as you were working on it. It's great that you had to decide what it was after it was built, very imaginative. Amazing aircraft morphing abilities!

by Mesa, age 9, Sarasota, Florida, USA.

Very interesting creation! It looks like the all black LEGO figure is somehow pulling the giant grey mass. Nice effect having the tiny bits of color on the grey.

by Samuel, age 5 and Sawyer, age 3, North Carolina, USA.

"This is a secure, top secret, helicopter landing site. The good guys helicopter lands on the blue roof. Rocket launchers from the window, roof and left side keep bad guy helicopters at bay. An army man on his segway patrols the grounds before going up the ramp in the back and sleeping in the barracks."
It kind of came to life as they built it. They wanted to build a house and started talking about helicopters pretty quickly after the building started.

Very sophisticated construction. I love all the rocket launchers, especially the ones coming out from the windows. I love the Segway vehicle you built!

by Jack, age 4, South Australia.

"I made two cars and a gun with a thing. One of the cars has two guns."

Great creations you were able to make out of your scoops of random bricks. I really like the car with two guns on it!

by Laurence, age 8, South Australia.

"I made two ships. The ship on the right has an engine on the bottom and on the side. It also has a hose with a scared rock monster dangling down. It has a little brush at the front. The ship on the left has something to slide down to get off at the front. There is a guy who puts the gun on the right angle. Instead of a steering wheel I put a wheel on it."

Fantastic ships you were able to create out of your random selection. The dangling rock monster is a cool added touch. I also love the brush at the front, makes it look like some sort of cleaning machine.

by Charlie Rose, age 9, South Australia.

"The creation on the right is a droid. The thing in the middle is a flying ship. To get inside it you need to go round the back because there is a door there. The thing on the left is a sensor, which senses if there are any intruders coming. I didn't plan it, I just started making something and this is what it turned out to be."

These designs are so creative! I love that you just built, then decided what they were going to be. The droid's head is awesome and the sensor is very clever!

by Nithya, age 7, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

"These people have come to visit the newly built fountain. The gate is making sure that the people do not get wet. The object appeared before her eyes as she was building it with the random pieces."

Wonderful that you just started to create and then it transformed into something. Nice scene you've built. The LEGO people behind the gated area is very cool. Great fountain.

by Micah, age 6, Saskatchewan, Canada.

"This lego creation is of a challenge between a crocodile and a snow trooper. The vehicle is the snow troopers car. The challenge was to see who could break down the structure on the green base first."

Nice action packed scene! This is an interesting challenge you have created, your story about this creation makes it so fascinating!

by Travis, age 9, Orlando, Florida, USA.

"This is called Drag Racing through the Dump. The two race cars have been built with scoops on the front to push the garbage out of their way as they race through the pile of Legos in the dump."

What a cool concept for a race. I would love to see that in real life! Very clever creations!

by Titus, age 5, Arizona, USA.

"It's a truck, since it has a trailer. The tall tower in the trailer is the electricity that makes the car go. The red part blows cool air on the people."

Wow, an electric truck that generates its own power and air conditioning! Brilliant design! This is such a unique construction.

by Eamon, age 7.5, Arizona, USA.

"it is a death tower. The guy is supposed to help destroy the world with the giant monster".

Yikes! Very interesting design, I love the scary LEGO creature running the machine. I see you've got your Bionicle counter set to 5, is that the level of power the death ray will use?

by Noah, age 11, Texas, USA.

" I made a robot making machine. It’s awesome, to me. I’m really happy I joined this club and this machine shows that an escalator at the front goes into a hot furnace and comes out of the furnace to be flattened, and then comes down to be crushed and smushed into the right shape and then gets dumped into a chute that they will be put together in – making tons of robots!”

Smart design! I love the production line construction of this machine. Very clever use of your 2 cups of random bricks!

by Hannah, age 8, Texas, USA.

"It’s called the pretty ship! If you can see, there’s a windshield where the passenger seat is behind. And there are back passenger seats and two wings, like a butterfly.”

Wonderful arrangement of random pieces. Amazing that you were able to create a ship that looks like it could fly.

by Eli, age 7, Dayton, Minnesota, USA.

"This is a rusty junk yard where some things were created from. If you find the 2 hidden items (a little robot and a frog), you have a good eye."

Clever of you to create a search and find within your creation! This does look like a big messy junkyard, the perfect place to find just the right piece!

by John Paul, age 5, Staunton, Virginia, USA.

"Blue Head in Spaceship on the Moon. Blue Head is a guy from our Lego country. It's a self-contained space ship.

This is an interesting little object you designed! Nice compact, clean design, perfect for navigating small spaces.

by Anson, age 6, South Carolina, USA.

"This is called the "star blaster" and I thought about it while I was building it. The Droid is holding a gun for protection against the invisible guy that's right below him."

I love that you had a vision of what you wanted your finished design to look like and worked towards it. That is extra hard to do within the confines of using only what you scooped out. Very cool construction.

by Malcolm, age 8, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

"It was the first thing that came to mind before I started building. Space ships are cool."

Great to have an idea of what you'd like to transform your random pieces into. It looks like your ship turned out very well! Nice aerodynamic construction.

by Cody, age 7, London, Ontario, Canada.

"This is a deep-sea diver's sub. It can go 0-5000m down and the part sticking up on top is something that comes off and goes down ahead of the sub and uses sonar to see what's down there. People can sit inside and see through the holes (windows) at the front. It started out as a space shuttle but then I thought it looked like a sub so I built the sub instead. Lego quest is so fun!"

How cool that your creation morphed into something else as you were building it. Great that you had the flexibility in your creative process to let this happen! This is a very unique, compact design and your story about it makes it even cooler.

by Hannah, age 11, London, Ontario, Canada.

"This creation is a Crystal Keeper in Atlantis.

I was just building a space shuttle landing place and it wasn't really until I was finished that it just jumped out at me. I watched Atlantis last week so that gave me the idea."

Great construction. You have nice architectural elements, and some great symmetry making this design feel very successful. Wonderful, sophisticated creation!

by Wesley, age 6, South Carolina, USA.

"The base plate wasn't in the two cups but everything else was. I just made it up. I don't know what it is."

Very cool scene you have made! It seems action packed with a weapon in mid blast and what looks like an alien of some sort making a get-a-way. Great use of totally random pieces!

by Phoenix, age 9, North Carolina, USA.

"I some how got all good pieces!"

Wow, no kidding you scooped all good pieces! This is such a great aircraft design!

by Henry, age 9, Virginia, USA.

"S.W.A.T team portable base. It shoots a grappling hook and also has a winch."

Clever design! Compact for portability and full of feature rich elements. Great creation!