Hi everyone! At our LEGO studio where I live in Ohio, we guide kids in Master Builder Quests to practice our awesome skills as builders. Quest nine is called "Model" and kids are challenged to use building bricks to make their best representation of something from real life. My favorite thing to model is animals.
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I've done sloths, tigers, lions, bears, beavers, rabbits, coyotes, giraffes, porcupines, penguins, sheep, doves, alpacas, crocodiles, and I'm working on so many more. If you could have seen my bedroom as a kid, this would be no surprise at all. While my floor was covered in LEGO, my walls were covered in pictures of animals torn out of magazines. Combining my love of LEGO with my love of animals is one of my favorite things to do, and I get to share that with kids!
What's your favorite animal? Is it a dog, or a cat, or an axolotl? Whatever it may be, I challenge you right here and now to make your own brick model of that animal. What are that animal's unique characteristics? How does it move around? What's your favorite thing about that animal? Make sure to include all of this in your model.
To give you an example, I'm going to walk you through how I made this eagle.
Why an eagle? Because they're awesome. Why else, because this July I'm thinking a lot about eagles and what they mean to people all around the world. In the United States, the bald eagle is a symbol that we use in our celebrations of Independence Day. The eagle is also a symbol of freedom for many other countries, and its meaning stretches way back. The Ojibwe people tell us of how the migiziwag have soared majestically through the skies over America for thousands of years.
The Bible tells us about eagles inspiring people like Moses and David. Eagles inspire me too. I hope this build of an eagle inspires you! As always, you are free to make this design your own and use different pieces. The original instructions include a list of the pieces from my design on the last page. The instructions I'm posting here in the blog will include all 28 steps to make your own eagle, some fun facts about eagles, and some inspiration from scripture. You can build this at home or at church, on your own or as a group.
Let's start with this incredible bird's body. Did you know that an eagle, and all birds, have vertebrae and backbones just like you? They need really strong backs to hold up their wings and we need really strong backs to hold up our big--super smart--brains.
Next, we'll build the shoulders, then flip the eagle around and add one tail feather.
We're continuing with the eagle's back. This is where you'd sit if you rode on an eagle. Can you imagine that, riding through the sky on the back of an eagle? The prophet Isaiah imagined it. He described flying like an eagle being like how God lifts us up (Isaiah 40:31).
Let's finish off the eagle's back and tail with some feathers. Did you know that eagles have 12 tail feathers? Eagles move those feathers to fly in new directions, or spread them out to slow down and come back down to earth.
Now turn your eagle around to add the beak. You're as strong as an eagle's beak. No really! Even as a kid, you can squeeze your hand as strongly as an eagle can bite down with its beak. That beak is also made out of the same stuff as your fingernails. Although, eagles have us thoroughly beat when it comes to eyesight. They can see small details from miles away.
Let's get started on the eagle's wings. My design includes wings that can flap. They can move mightily up and down to carry the eagle into the air like God carried the people to freedom out of enslavement in Egypt (Exodus 19:4).
Those wings can also curve around a nest to shield and protect little baby eagles from harm, just like God shelters and protects us (Psalm 91:4). Flip your eagle over so that you can finish one wing and then start on the other wing.
Keep working on that second wing. Bald eagles and golden eagles can have wings up to 7.5 feet across, and sea eagles can have wings even longer than eight feet. That's bigger than a kid's bed, a parent's bed, or even a pro basketball player's bed!
We're almost done. Flip the eagle over to work on its legs. An eagle can grab a fish right out of water, but its legs and talons are also gentle enough to guide or hold a little baby eagle.
Add the talons, and your eagle is complete!
At the end of his journey, Moses sang a song to the people about how God had always looked out for them, just like God continues to look out for us:
As an eagle flaps over up its nest
and embraces its young,
as it extends its wings, carries them up,
and holds them in its feathers.
Deuteronomy 32:11
Do you know what bird Jesus used to describe God taking care of us? He talked about a chicken (Matthew 23:37)! Animals are all over the bible.
Do you know what bird Jesus used to describe God taking care of us? He talked about a chicken (Matthew 23:37)! Animals are all over the bible.
- What other amazing animals can you think of to describe how God looks out for us and gives us strength? Maybe it's like riding on the back of a great elephant or swift horse. Maybe it's like a cat curled on top of you to keep you warm or a dog who always runs to your side. Maybe it's even like crocodile carrying its babies in its mouth.
- Can you build those animals? Yes you can!
- What other amazing animals are there in scripture? What about the great fish that carries Jonah or the donkey that carries Jesus? What about Daniel's new lion friends or Esther and Mordecai's royal horse? What about all of the sheep?
- Can you build those animals? Yes you can!
- Can you build a minifig of yourself riding on those animals? Yes, what are you waiting for!?! You don't need my permission.
Keep building the things that bring you joy, but that also challenge you. Keep building the things that excite your imagination and get your brain firing on all cylinders. God made you with all the gifts you need to be an amazing maker too. I can't wait for the world to see what you can create.
