Yesterday we had yet another Lego League meeting. But this one was different. You see, BigGuy (the oldest kid on our 3 boy team) has decided he thinks it would be really cool to participate in the local JFLL Expo this January. No problem! We can do that. Of course, that means I have to actually figure out what to do for the challenge and how to do it. Uh huh. Alrighty then.
Well, we had a good meeting anyway. We talked about the different sources of energy in the kitchen here, and how I was wasting energy. (I purposefully left my coffee pot, clock radio, and microwave plugged in just for that reason.) In my research ahead of time, I learned where our power was generated and how, so we checked out the website. I had also found a short movie on the power company’s website that illustrated how a coal-burning power plant worked, so we watched that too. Then the little guys lost interest and ran off to play. BigGuy stuck around to ask questions about the challenge, and brainstorm ideas for our “Show Me” poster. He suggested right off the bat that since our team name is the Padawans, we really should do something with a Star Wars theme. Dude read my mind.
Really, they are supposed to do the challenge. They are supposed to do the research, they are supposed to come up with the ideas, they are supposed to to do the builds. And I will do my best to make sure they do as much as they can. But realistically, I’ve got two 6 year olds and a 9 year old. And the 9 year old is more into it, the 6 yr olds just want to play. So I’ll do the research to teach the kids about the different things, and then give them prompts, and try to steer them into a path in which I have an idea of what to do. When they get stuck, I’ll push them along. but really, they have to do the work.
So the BigGuy was sent home with the task of coming up with a way to build a part of the project. I have an idea of something that should work in case he gets stuck, but it will be all him in putting it together. It should be fun.