The building blocks of a good education come in many shapes and sizes.
PS 188 students and parents put their construction skills to the test at “Family Fun LEGO Education Day,” a June 23 workshop centered on the colorful plastic pieces that have entertained generations of children since they were invented in the 1940s.
The workshop wasn’t all fun and games — playing with LEGOs is also educational, said event organizer Scott Krivitsky.
“LEGO requires a lot of critical-thinking skills,” said Krivitsky, a kindergarten teacher at the Coney Island school. “The kids were amazing.”
More than 50 people attended the event, turning out an array of mini cities, boats, and other complex objects.
“We build LEGO a lot at home,” said Tatiana Baranova, who helped her first-grade daughter Valeriya build a one-and-a-half-foot-tall space shuttle complete with a nose cone and bright-orange rocket engine. “It was a lot of fun to do it in school.”
Rose Vega showed up to help her second-grade daughter Marlene build a trim white house.
“I always go to all the activities they have at the school,” Vega said. “LEGOs was great.”
The event was funded by LEGO, which was started by Ole Kirk Kristiansen in the Danish village of Billund in 1932. The company unveiled its first plastic building block in 1949.
Reach reporter Daniel Bush at dbush@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-8310. Follow him at twitter.com/dan_bush.
