Games and Challenges to Make with Lego

Sometimes when the kids are home from school you need some little games and time fillers to keep them entertained while waiting for some event or something else is going on. Since most people seem to have a cache of Legos, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some Lego games and activities you can try with your kids.

The first thing I found was this post on minute to win it style games you can do with Lego bricks from Kids Craft Room (there’s a review of a Lego book at the top but just keep scrolling and you’ll find the ideas). One of my favorites is the chopstick challenge, where you have to pick up bricks from a pile and move them to another pile one at a time using chopsticks.

Another really cool idea that takes just a bit of prep is using Lego pieces to make sudoku challenges. I originally found this idea on a website that is not in English, but I did successfully download the printable game boards there if you want to give them a try. The pages use four colors of bricks and 2×2 grids that are partially filled in so kids can figure out what bricks go in the other spaces.

Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls has a version with 2×3 grids but instead of using a printable you design the game board then take a few bricks off and let the person playing solve it. You can make the board any size you like if you’re building it in this way as long as you follow the rules (all colors must be present in each section, and they don’t repeat across the same row or column).

This last one isn’t really a game but with the nations of the world posts that I’ve been doing I wanted to share it, too. I found this pin on Pinterest that doesn’t like to a website but its credited to Meredith Anderson of Momgineer but I’m not finding it on her website. Still you get the idea I think. Just pick some flags that have simple colors and designs and try to build them with bricks. Then you can also find those countries on the map or play a guessing game where other people try to figure out which flag was made.

Check out the kids craft section on Craftbits.com

10 Ideas To Have The Best Lego Themed Birthday Party [Party Ideas]

19 AWESOME Ways To Decorate With Legos [Home and Garden]

20 Lego Gifts For Ever Budget [Kids Crafts]

When my daughter was younger I would spend a lot of time trying to come up with activities she could do in the car on long road trips and things to entertain her when we were waiting at restaurants and things that didn’t involve screens.

But it turns out there are a lot of great activities you can do with just a piece of paper and a pen.

What Do We Do All Day has a great collection of pen and paper games, including some that can be done with just one person, though they’re all more fun if you have at least two.

There are some classics on here like hangman and dots and boxes, but there are also quite a few I hadn’t heard of before.

I don’t want to spoil the whole list for you because you should definitely click over there and look around, but I will share about the one that you see pictured above.

This game is called Bridges, and you start by making the big random shape and the dividing it into a bunch of sections (the post says 30-50 sections is ideal but I think this one is smaller than that).

Each player gets their own color marker and you take turns drawing bridges from one space to another, crossing a third. Once there’s a bridge, no other bridges can start, end or cross in those spaces. Keep going until no more bridges can be built, and the person who makes the last bridge wins.

Check out the post over at What We Do All Day for more great ideas for no or almost-no prep games you can play with your kids or that kids can play together. I’d love to know if you have a favorite paper and pen game, whether it’s on this list or a different one.

[Photo: What We Do All Day]

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