Lego My Lego

We all have our obsessions, the thing that makes us go bonkers with desire. For my little guy it's Legos. He can spend an awful lot of screen-time time searching for collectable Lego sets, building Wish Lists with five-digit price-tags. He really isn't picky though- an equal-opportunity collector as excited by Atlantis or Space Police as he is his beloved Star Wars. And the mini-figures...he knows which square-people come with which brick set and will advise me excitedly when one is popular enough to be featured in various sets, facilitating multiple options for scoring a "min-fig" (as they are known by "brick masters".) Because the little building blocks seem to power his imagination with absolute jet-fuel, it's an obsession that is well supported by all of us.

Until recently, the only way to make him really happy was a new box of blocks. (Or a new box of rigid-edged foot-finders.) But we don't have a Lego Tree and it's a long wait for the holiday and birthday double-whammy that is December through February at our house. About a year ago I made light-sabers in the required colors (anyone that follows Star Wars knows the very significant difference between a green or red or purple saber.) I used old poster tubes, metallic paper and packing tape. He loved them and battled them to their death. He doesn't really seem to build with the blocks as much as he embodies them with personality and agenda, so could this approach not work with his drive to collect Lego sets? We tried it out by making a Star Wars carrier ship (the Republic Cruiser, to be exact) using empty toilet paper rolls, cut pieces of clear packaging and some plastic strapping. He loved it! It lives right next to the official Lego X-Wing that cost $60. But would this approach work with the.....the mini-fig?

Last week, in a hurry to satisfy his hunger, I printed out a few images of the mini-figures that he ached to acquire. I asked him to paste them to a piece of a used cardboard box, and then we helped him cut out around the more detailed perimeter of the image. They went into immediate service with not one size comparison nor mention of plastic inadequacy. Now he can search the internet for a new character for his collection, and minutes and zero dollars later, we have a full-size figure ready to rumble. As a fan of the Antoinette Portis books, I should have known it would work. One quick and almost thoughtless solution on my part and our guy has proven that his imagination is much larger than my wallet could ever be, feeding his obsession one free piece of trash* at a time.

*Another footnote about trash? My friend recently posted on Facebook that now she is a parent, unexpected visitors can plan on finding toys and food crumbs gone astray. Any visitor to my house, planned or otherwise, should brace themselves for the mound of craft supplies aka recycling perpetually growing in the corner of our kitchen. Of course the reality is that it isn't really free in any way, but this upcycling-waiting-to-happen strecthes our grocery dollar that much further. Not too trashy.

Beauty is in the Eye of the Holder

We are lucky to have a phone that rings often. Blessed with the Nickelodeon Parents' Pick Award as Best Kids Party Place in Chicago, many of these calls are about birthday parties. Our artsy, craftsy, super-duper-kooky parties. The kind of parties that kids don't want to leave. Or when they do, they are still walking on sunshine. Seriously. We've been called "angels in aprons." A relative remarked that perhaps we've been drinking highlighter fluid for breakfast...and it was a compliment. Our workshop is a like a little Willy-Wonkavator of creative fun.

I suppose it's a fair question: "So, what do the kids do at a craft party?" Maybe another way to ask the question would be, "What craft activities do kids do at your parties?" And the answer is simultaneously easy and complex. You ask us this question, and we will ask you three or more questions in return before supplying an answer. Why? Maybe once it was because the phone call was too early on a Monday morning, but it's usually because there is no one answer. There may be a finite number of art supplies and craft materials that immediately come to mind, but the combinations are infinite and when you throw trash* into the mix.....you never know what's going to come out on the other end. As easy as it would be to have a standard set of projects, a menu to choose from, we really prefer to know the guest-of-honor a bit before suggesting an activity to help celebrate a big day. And even when a project is perfectly planned and facilitated, you still never know what's going to come out on the other end. That's the beauty of it.

We wouldn't have it any other way. The visible self-esteem of a young artist that believes that they really are an artist. The beauty in the eye of the holder, as they proudly present their creation to a parent or caregiver. If it could be bottled... well that would be highlighter fluid. It's why we do what we do every day. It's why things so often erupt into spontaneous dance-parties of joy. It's the Everlasting Gobstopper of the work week that never ends. As tired as I might be this Sunday eve, I can't wait to get to work in the morning and cook up new ways to make fun.

*We don't make much of it. Keep an eye open for how every piece of packaging can be repurposed and the materials almost craft themselves.