Building Lab
Coming Summer 2012!
Special Opportunity: Become a founding sponsor and have your name on the Building Lab forever – Donation levels start at just $150! View Building Lab Founding Donor Levels
General Description
Our new Building Lab initiative is a major component of our youth programming and offers children the time and space necessary to fully explore their creativity and develop advanced critical thinking and problem solving skills. The Building Lab will foster interest in a variety of construction and engineering fields by allowing participants to engage with and experience the joy of building using, to begin with, thousands of LEGO® bricks. The Building Lab will also promote enhanced spatial thinking and fine motor skills.
How It’s Innovative
The art center’s Building Lab is an innovative environment that allows kids the freedom to fully explore their creativity using thousands of LEGO® bricks. Unlike traditional arts classes, in which students simply re-create the instructor’s project, the Building Lab encourages participants to generate and execute their own unique ideas. This approach allows students to not only create and evolve their ideas, but to problem solve when they face challenges during the building process, giving them the opportunity to overcome obstacles and become more resilient. This learning process helps students develop advanced critical thinking and problem solving skills. In addition, the Building Lab helps the center become more financially and environmentally sustainable, since LEGO® bricks can be re-used over and over with no waste.
Program Outcomes
- Advanced critical thinking, problems solving, and spacial thinking abilities
- Increased interest in building, architecture, and engineering fields
- Improved fine motor skills
Additional Programming
The Building Lab will also provide the following opportunities:
- Educational field trips for schools and community groups
- A local qualifying round for FIRST LEGO® League international robotics competition
- Annual LEGO® sculpture competition
If you are interested in finding out more about the Building Lab project please contact us with your questions, ideas, or comments!
