Make a Chess Board out of Legos

I’m a sucker for Lego projects. It’s fun to take these blocks to different places beyond the purchased kit or the basic things your kids might come up with to build on their own.

I’m blown away by this Lego chess set from Teach Beside Me. Such a brilliant use of black and white blocks.

Building it is a great STEM challenge (even little kids can do the pattern making involved in making the board), and of course playing chess is a great learning activity because you have to be able to remember the rules for the different pieces, use strategy, take turns, pay attention, etc.

(I don’t actually remember how to play chess, but Chess Kid looks like a good place to start for kids and adults who need a refresher.)

I’m guessing you could make it a checkerboard, too, using the little single round pieces as your checkers.

Do you play chess with your kids? I’d love to know at what age you started and how it went.

[Photo via Teach Beside Me.]

Check out this Brick Subscription box, Building kits delivered to your door each month.

A great gift idea for little Lego building engineers.

Next Plan Idea:

Lego Building Ideas and Challenges for Summer

If you want to teach kids the basics of Hanukkah in the classroom or at home, the picture book Hanukkah by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Rotem Teplow is a nice place to start.

The book explores the Jewish holiday through the eyes of Lior, a boy whose name means “my light” in Hebrew, which is appropriate for talking about the Festival of Lights.

The book goes through all the preparations the family does, including cleaning, setting the table and cleaning the menorah. It talks about what the menorah symbolizes and the Hanukkah story of the oil in the Holy Temple of Jerusalem lasting for eight days when it should have only been a one-day supply.

The meaning of the letters on the dreidel are also explored, in that when you are in Israel they have a different fourth word (the letters symbolize the Hebrew letters for “a great miracle happened there” or, in Israel, “a great miracle happened here”).

Because the story of Hanukkah involves oil, a lot of the foods that are eaten during the celebration are fried in oil, such as latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (fried jelly doughnuts). Other foods mentioned include challah, noodle kugel and sour cream and applesauce, which are served with the latkes. Family and friends drop by to share their food, light their menorahs together and play dreidel (the game is explained in the story). It also talks about how the candles are lit through the eight days and what happens at the end of Hanukkah.

The book includes Hanukkah blessings in English and Hebrew and talks about the lunar cycle of the Hebrew calendar, which is why Hanukkah is sometimes celebrated in November and sometimes in December. It also talks about why Jewish holidays are celebrated beginning at sunset rather than in the morning.

Other topics covered include Hanukkah greetings; how to spell Hanukkah; how to make an edible menorah and an tzedakah box (to collect money for charity); recipes for latkes and applesauce; and a more detailed story of Hanukkah than is included within the story of the book. There’s also a quiz to see how well you were paying attention.

This sweet little book is a quick read and a cute overview of the basics of Hanukkah and what the symbols, foods and games mean. It’s a great book for classrooms or at home for sharing basic knowledge.

About the book: 48 pages, hardcover. Published 2024 by words & pictures, suggested retail price $14.99.

Next Plan Idea:

Have you read?

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