30 Brain-Building LEGO Activities

Who didn't spend their childhood clicking plastic bricks together and creating the internal workings of their imagination? LEGO is the perfect toy for the budding engineer, the promising physicist, or the young artist.

Perfect for whiling away rainy afternoons, or keeping them busy when they wake up at 5.30am on Saturday, these 30 LEGO activities will get those neurons firing.

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Spelling Blocks

If you're looking for a way to use the duplo bricks that your little ones have grown out of, then our spelling activity is a great idea. Fix letters to the sides of the bricks and practice making your favorite words.

LEGO stamping

Kinetic sand is a staple creative toy in our house, and here you can find out how to use it with lego for some fun stamping fun. Over at And Next Comes L they even have some fun twists.

Disaster Island Challenge

The text reads "Disaster Island! Build an island, pick a disaster card, and fix the problem" The image is of a volcano island on a blue and green base with a scattering of paper slips below — Source: Lego Librarian

Not only does this activity mean creating a fun desert island, but there's a secondary challenge! Lego Librarian has devised a collection of disaster cards to guide your creative play. Will you run out of food or be invaded by zombies?

Color sorting

The text reads "LEGO dumping, fun colour sorting activity" The image is of 3 small tubs one red, green, and blue. In front is a yellow dumper truck holding red lego bricks. In front of this is a larger bucket full of mixed lego — Source: Teach me Mommy

Color sorting is a great activity for younger children, and as an added bonus you end up with a perfectly sorted LEG collection! Teach Me Mommy has found a way to make it even more fun.

DIY LEGO sundial

on a patio is a large green lego board with a tower in the middle and 12 white lego blocks arranged in a circle around it — Source: Mombrite

If you've had the question (probably just before bedtime) of how people told the time before watches, then this is a great project to get stuck into. Make your own LEGO sundial with Mombrite, and answer the incessant questions.

Famous landmark challenge

on a table are 4 cards with famous landmarks on them — Source: 123 Homeschool4me

Not only can you use this activity to boost your children's building skills, but you can also help them learn about famous world landmarks. 123 Homeschool 4 Me has a whole load of landmarks to choose from.

Balloon-powered LEGO cars

on a white marbled background are two lego cars with deflated balloons in the back of them — Source: Mombrite

This is a great activity from mombrite to help your little ones discover some of the laws of physics. Learn how to make these balloon-powered cars and have fun racing across the kitchen all afternoon!

60 second building challenges

10 bordered cards with 60 second challenges on them — Source: Etsy

Looking for a game to purchase for your next birthday party or playdate? This 60 second challenge collection from The Joys of Boys Shop will keep a whole room-full of childrne happy while they're waiting for cake.

Bridge building challenge

a lego bridge is put over the drawing of a river. A lego boat sails under it — Source: Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

Challenge your kids to build a bridge across a river with this activity from Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls. Whether you use a real river or a colored one is up to you!

Domino chain reaction

coloured lego bricks are arranged standing on their ends in a heart shape — Source: **Mombrite**

Your budding STEM genius can use their spare time to explore cause and effect as well as kinetic energy. Mombrite has this great challenge with domino LEGO bricks for your small scientist.

Minecraft LEGO grid game

on a white table are 2 grey and black grids made out of lego. Scattered arounf are three minecraft figures and some minecraft lego bricks — Source: Stir the Wonder

Is your tweenager as obsessed with Minecraft as mine is? Then this LEGO grid game will make them very happy and give you 5 minutes to yourself. Stir The Wonder has all the details.

LEGO rainbow

A rainbow made out of lego sitting on a green board — Source: Mombrite

As simple as this challenge might sound, making a rainbow that looks like an actual rainbow is tricky! Mombrite helps you through this challenge.

Feed the monsters sorting game

the text reads "Feed the LEGO Monsters" The image is of a blonde girl feeding lego pieces into paper bags painted to look like monsters — Source: Toddler Approved

Go one step further with your sorting game with these cute paper bag monsters from Toddler Approved. Your preschooler will love making the funny faces and feeding them LEGO bricks.

Candy dispenser

Are you trying to find a way to make your kid's sugar craving a little more creative? This DIY candy machine from Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls is a fun activity to delay the candy slightly!

LEGO volcano

a hand pours red liquid onto a pyramid made of lego — Source: The STEM Laboratory

Do your little ones like making a splash? Then they'll love this volcano made out of LEGO from The STEM Laboratory. They can learn about design, construction, and chemistry all in one activity.

LEGO balance math activity

a set of scales made out of lego with 2 baskets filled with goldfish crackers, and a crocodile. In front is a blue bowl full of goldfish crackers — Source: Frugal Fun for Boys and GIrls

For another STEM project, this set of scales you can make with Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls is fun to build and fun to play with. You can weigh all sorts of little objects in a whole afternoon of experiments.

DIY catapult

The text reads "Easy LEGO catapult and tension science experiment" The image is of a catapult made of lego with sweets at the front — Source: Little Bins Little Hands

Made with only simple LEGO bricks, this fun DIY catapult from Little Bins Little Hands is perfect if you only have a small LEGO collection.

Wind racer challenge

in front of a fan are 3 vehicles made of lego on wheels, with paper sails — Source: The LEGO Librarian

These wind racer vehicles are the perfect carriers for your Ninjago characters or just your ordinary policeman. The LEGO Librarian uses them to demonstrate wind power and direction, and then the fun continues!

Ice excavation

The text reads "Rescue the lego men from the ice" 7 lego figures are encased in blocks of ice — Source: Umbrella Tree Cafe

These hot summer's days make it hard to occupy little ones while keeping them cool. Umbrella Tree Cafe has a great activity that only requires some fun LEGO figures and some ice cube trays.

Zipline fun

on a zip wire hangs a square of lego with a superman lego figure inside it — Source: Mombrite

Mombrite has all the great STEM activities for you to build with LEGO. This guide to making your own zipwire leads to lots of fun with your favorite figures!

Ramps and slides challenge

a tower made of lego sits on a table with a cardboard slide attached to it — Source: The LEGO Libriarian

Add some cardboard to your LEGO collection and you can see which one of your children can build the best slide. The LEGO Librarian had great success trying this out at her LEGO club, and your kids will love it too.

Star Wars printables

on a green lego board background is an R2D2 figure made of lego — Source: Childhood 101

I've just started watching the Star Wars films with my son, and it's been a lot of fun watching him get all into the plot. He loves LEGO as well, so these printable plans for LEGO mosaics from Childhood 101 are going to be our next Saturday morning activity.

LEGO playdough pictures

on a yellow paper bacground is a picture made of playdough of a house and a sun. Scattered around are some lego bricks — Source: The Artful Parent

If you want to do some printing, but you don't have any kinetic sand to hand, then you can use playdough instead. The Artful Parent has loads of ideas for encouraging your child to be creative.

Boat engineering challenge

a child's handshave just dropped a lego boat into a bath. Pennies are scattered into the bottom of the bath — Source: Innovation Kids Lab

Water makes everything more fun! With this LEGO boat challenge from Innovation Kids Lab, you can explore the concept of buoyancy as well as building skills. You just need some LEGO, water, pennies and a timer.

Flags of the world

on a table top are several different flags made of lego — Source: Momgineer

Do you have a little one who loves learning about new countries? Then this activity from Momgineer will delight and challenge them. You can build simple flags, or try some more complicated ideas for older children.

Scavenger hunt

4 bordered cards are laid out with clues on them and a lego figure in front of them — Source: Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

Using these printable clues from Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls you can set up a fun and challenging scavenger hunt indoors or outdoors. It's a great activity for a birthday party, too.

Road trip i-spy

A ziplock bag is filled with rice and lego bricks. It is labelled as "LEGO I-Spy bag" and a tag with lego bricks pictured is attached to it — Source: Learn with Play at Home

Keeping your kids occupied on a road trip is one of the greatest challenges of parenting! The cries of "are we nearly there yet?" can be stifled for a while by this fun game from Learn with Play at Home. You're welcome!

Secret codes

a sand colored lego board has strips of paper with the alphabet written on them. A lego brick is assigned to each letter — Source: Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

Your budding spy is going to love this ingenious game from Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls. Make your own spy code with smaller LEGO blocks from your collection. Learn how on their site.

Painting with LEGO

a young girl leans over a piece of paper on a table. She is printing with lego bricks dipped in paint — Source: Domestic Mommyhood

This task from Domestic Mommyhood is great with Duplo for younger children or smaller LEGO for your older ones. You can get really creative with this painting activity, and your children will love the fun geometric designs that can make.

Marble maze

a child sits cross-legged on a bed holding a lego maze with a marble in it. a pile of lego is next to her — Source: Mama Papa Bubba

We'll finish up here with a simple idea, but one that encourages logical thinking and problem-solving. Make your own marble maze from LEGO like Mama Papa Bubba for hours of fun.