Category: Creativity

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Don’t lose it, reuse it! How the Paw Patrol motto can inspire children to create new builds from existing blocks

Today, let’s have some fun with a paraphrase of the great motto from the popular cartoon Paw Patrol: ‘Don’t lose it, reuse it!’. We assume there are very few people who would build a new block set and then throw it away. However, based on our observations, ‘freezing’ sets is already very common. Far too many sets are treated as ‘one-time builds’ and end up collecting dust on shelves and bookcases as decorative items. So maybe instead of ‘Don’t freeze it, reuse it!’ We’re sure Paw Patrol would support us wholeheartedly in this idea!

We are big supporters of taking original sets apart, sorting the blocks using the previously suggested methods, and having fun with these resources!

Remember — the more loose blocks you have, the more fun and easier it is to play with blocks and with Brikido!

Let’s add a pinch of ecology, which children naturally absorb — with this approach, we reduce the amount of single-use plastic. So once again: ‘Don’t freeze it, reuse it!’.

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Play with blocks without any pressure for results! Brikido is meant to be an inspiration for a play only!

Today we’d like to share a reflection on pressure for results (in building).

At the core of the Brikido idea was the belief that it should first and foremost serve as an inspiration for a play. In the right circumstances, children need only a few sticks to enjoy hours of great fun. The same applies to building blocks.

Without pressure for results

Play is about enjoying time together. Building (including with Brikido) should not involve too much pressure to achieve a specific outcome. Some models are challenging and can be unstable at times. One of our young testers was building an elephant, but made a mistake in the instructions and finished the construction according to his own idea — ending up with a horse. He then built a few additional horses and enjoyed two days of fantastic play!

Modify Brikido builds!

Over time, a child (or a parent/caregiver) may start experimenting with Brikido instructions, creating their own modifications and improvements. Such activities foster creativity and teach how to take on challenges. Thanks to this, it’s sometimes possible to build even better structures and experience even greater satisfaction! To sum up — there is no single correct solution in play!

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Gigantic Mammoth – only for tough guys and tough girls!

In the last post it seemed that the largest elephant – dad Twight is big. But today’s mammoth is a really mighty animal: Mammoth 39!
Its body length is as much as 39 cm. To give you an idea of its size, one of the photos shows a comparison to a ‘figure’ measure , in this view the built mammoth is 6 ‘figures’ tall.
It was really a lot of work, which is why we recommend such structures to advanced and patient builders. And this is not a hidden subliminal marketing, but a statement of fact. The level of complexity is high, and the construction time is long. But satisfaction after construction – guaranteed!

PS1. Notice that the ‘little’ Mammoth 12 is really cute! Start with it.
PS2. I recommend taking a look at a progenitor of this giant built from many years ago in one of the photos.

What a Giant!

The Giant compared to dad Twight

The Giant measured with a ‘figure’ benchmark

and finally the progenitor of the Giant from many years ago:

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Family Elephant Build!

Last weekend we built a whole family of elephants with Brikido – take a look at the results in the attached photos!
The family consists of:

You can play with different Brikido creatures in a similar way!

Or maybe you can even organize a competition – children build brick-children, and adults build brick-parents, whoever finishes the building first – wins! Children have it easier. The most agile children are definitely faster than their parents, so let them build parents from the elephant family. Unless you prefer this competition with mammoths or tigers? You’re free to go!

Please note that in Brikido it is possible to order only one figure in one order. So when ordering, we check whether you declare enough bricks for one given build, and not several at the same time. It is worth keeping this in mind when ordering a group of figures of different sizes, so that you have enough brick to accomplish several constructions at the same time.

Important note: while you start your playing with Brikido, please pay attention to order smaller figures. The complexity and time of building larger buildings increases disproportionately quickly with its size. We also comment on that here.

mom Dodosen

dad Twight

older son S-Teen

daughter Dosen, and

son Teen Junior.

And Parents together:

Children:

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Mr Splitter also likes to have fun!

I guess all fans of building blocks sometimes have trouble separating some pieces. The problem is most striking especially in case of completely new sets, as intensively used bricks tend to stick to others a little weaker.

By looking at our oldest bricks, we could analyse our dental development, but we do not recommend such solution for separating pieces – and neither does your dentist.

An interesting way to disconnect the blocks is to use a paraphrase of the principle that a bigger problem drives out a smaller problem. Since the problem usually lies in separating couple of plates – attach a brick  to one or both resistant plates and try to separate the stubborn pieces.

Partly that might have been the principle upon the creation of the  so-called by us Mr. Splitter – a special functional piece. 

Everyone has experienced extremely difficult cases to disconnect pieces at some point. Our toughest case is a combination of two blocks:

with the same, but reversed:

Just don’t connect these blocks, it’s really difficult to separate them! Mr. Splitter won’t be of any help here.

Ok, but the post was supposed to be about something else – about the creative use of Mr. Splitter and his clones – an example is shown in the photo. In our opinion, brick-worms are Mr. Splitter’s natural environment!

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Wish you were here! That was an epic naval battle!

Today we combine two previous posts – ships and organizing bricks.

It turns out that when we have a box of same type bricks on hand, we automatically start building various structures. This time we made fancy ships from bricks of the same color, while the figures we made from elements from another box (“tiny sloped tiles “). We made the ships modular – they can connect with each other, dock next to each other, etc.

And for those who prefer more “organized” ships mada of bricks, we recommend a Brikido construction – a Viking ship, all range of sizes available here!

Aerial view of the battle:

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Small is beautiful – play ships with us!

Today we have an inspiring idea for great fun – let’s call it the ‘ships game’.
How about we build a fleet of ships? Container ships, aircraft carriers, destroyers, battleship ships. The rule is simple – ideally the ship is 1, 2 or 3 bricks wide! (However, we also produced some bigger ones.)
The proposed game has many advantages, including: we have a quick effect in the form of an interesting built and an exercise in imagination development.

PS. The recently watched cult movie “Das Boot” was inspiration for this play.

Titanic

Container ship

Aircraft carriers

Battleships