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Washington Evening Journal
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Legos bring STEAM to the fair
County fairs are more than livestock and fair queens
MT. PLEASANT – The Henry County Fair Lego contest was left to the youngest fair-goers this year as all contestants were under 12 years of age despite the contest being open to those up to 17.
Lily Galvan’s creative ‘Dream House and Dream Car,’ won her the title of 5-8 Lego Champion.
“There is a small horse pen,” Lily said of her Lego entry. “I didn’t have a lot of room.”
Participants were restricted to a 24 by 24 inches platform for their creations.
According to Lily, her big brother, who also participated in the Lego contest, let her use many of his Legos in her creation.
“I have six containers of Legos,” Lily’s brother Jacob Galvan said as he held his hands out to show just how big the containers are.
“These two puppies are actually from my own Legos,” Lily said as she pointed to the details.
Brother and sister said they worked on their Lego projects for approximately two days before submitting them.
The win for 9-12 went to Brylor Lair.
11-year-old Brylor created a junkyard complete with various vehicles and heaps of junk.
All of the kids got to exercise their creative play muscles as they used their own Lego, Duplo, Mega Blok, or other comparable plastic bricks to put their imaginations on display for the fair.
According to Johns Hopkins University, these Lego projects help kids with spatial reasoning, problem solving, planning, and other skills which could be useful for the training of future scientists, mathematicians, tech professionals, and engineers.
County Fairs are known to give kids the opportunity to build agricultural skills, but with the addition of competitions like this Lego one, they are also given the opportunity to build STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) skills as well.
Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com
Lego contestant Benjamin Hayer, age 7, created these X and Y WWing Star wars Fighters for the Henry County Fair. (AnnaMarie Ward/The Union)
Nine-year-old Lego Builder, Blake Meyer created Blake’s Bait and Tackle and Marina. (AnnaMarie Ward/The Union)
A friendly fly decided Oscar the Octupus, built by Barrett Grandinetti, was a perfect place to perch as he explored the Lego entries at the Henry County Fair.(AnnaMarie Ward/The Union)
Brylor Lair’s junk yard creation contained working vehicles and heaps of junk. (Photo Submitted)
Brother and sister Jacob and Lily Galvan discuss who’s Legos were used for which entries next to Lily’s winning Lego piece. (AnnaMarie Ward/The Union)
