I Dream of LEGO

My son, 8 years, is truly a ‘Lego paglu’. I don’t see him as enthusiastic about anything else as much as he is about making Lego models, exploring more models, finding new ways to use the same old pieces, innovate his Lego models, use his Lego models in his pretend games. I cannot help but marvel at the fireworks of ideas that I witness when he is “at work” with his Lego blocks.

I have seen that he gets hyper-focussed when it comes to LEGO building. He forgets hunger, thirst, discomfort, and stays absolutely immersed in his work for hours. He cannot wait to begin once a new Lego project is at home; he jumps right at it. What’s more, he cannot pause once he begins. I remember two years ago he was gifted a Lego set by his uncle, and he began the project immediately, even though it was late evening. He refused to take a dinner break because his “link would break”, so I fed him dinner while he was busy. Around 11 PM he was still not done but his tired brain was not letting him work. After labouring against his body cues for a while, he finally went to sleep. Next morning at 6:30 I woke up to find that he is missing from the bed. I thought he went with my husband for a walk so I called him to confirm if Anhad was with him; but he wasn’t. Panicked, I sprung out of bed to look for him in the rest of the house, found him in the other room. There he was, sitting calmly on the chair, his project laid out in front of him on the table, nearing completion. The disheveled hair and crusty eyes, clearly meant that he had just gotten out of the bed and jumped to finish his work; he hadn’t even washed his face. We learnt our lesson that time, and now we are more careful about when and where he starts a new Lego project. However, sometimes, he still gets his way, thanks to his enthusiasm and perseverance.

Last evening I saw him build a Lego car with 814 pieces, and it took him nearly 8 hours. Had it not been for me pestering him to take breaks for water, bathroom, and food, and his little brother disturbing him in between, I believe it would have taken him 6 hours at the most. What astonishes me is that when it comes to Lego building, making mistakes doesn’t deter him. I have seen that when he makes a mistake in other activities, more often not he takes a break and comes back to it later, or in some cases quits altogether. In yesterday’s model he stumbled twice, because he had misread the steps, but he didn’t leave it. He kept going until he found the mistake, then went on to correct it, and kept going again. When he finished, it was 12 AM. I sighed a sigh of relief and thought now he would like to sleep. But no, he was super charged at that hour because he couldn’t wait to show off the amazing car he had just built. Each new Lego project for him is like he has seen a Lego model for the very first time in his life. Oh the enthusiasm! I wish I had some that for my own projects; it seems to be slowly fading with time. Anyways, I sat there, watching him explain to me the details of this car, and as he went on explaining I was just wondering what is it about Legos that he loves so much? I asked him this, and I found his answer insightful. He said, “I like building Lego models because in each step I do something new and I get to explore something new. I find it so interesting.”

His answer made me reflect about how solving problems, overcoming obstacles, navigating challenges, and making mistakes, are all essential to the process of learning and growing. These are like the LEGO bricks of learning! In fact I believe the human mind seeks challenges from the very first moment of our existence. Life is another name for learning and growing, and we are constantly learning one or the other thing, whether it is involuntarily on our cellular level, or consciously by way of facing challenges. To be honest, some years ago I didn’t think of LEGOs as anything other than a toy, albeit with a strong potential for creativity, but just a toy after all. However, watching him explore it repeatedly in novel ways has shifted my perspective, that any thing that challenges your mind to think, to use your imagination, and to employ your creativity, is a medium to learn and grow. Whether it is a book or a toy, there is scope to explore it to expand your horizons, and truly speaking no one does it better than children. As long as we let these birds spread their wings, there is no limit to how high and far they can fly!