Creativity, Engineering and Fun

Introduction

Lego isn’t just a toy—it’s a great tool for developing creativity, problem-solving, and engineering skills. In this activity, Scouts will take on a series of Lego building challenges, testing their ability to think outside the box, work under pressure, and refine their designs.

Scouts can work individually or in teams, and each challenge will test different skills, from precision and structure to storytelling and imagination.

What you'll need

• A variety of Lego bricks
• A flat surface to build on
• A timer or stopwatch
• Optional: paper and pencils for sketching designs before building
• Optional: A scale or weights (for testing strength-based challenges)

Activities

Pick and choose from the following Lego challenges, or let Scouts vote on their favourites.

Speed and Height Challenges:

• Tallest Tower – Build the tallest free-standing tower within a set time limit
• 100 Brick Challenge – Build anything, but it must use exactly 100 bricks
• Lego Races – Complete mini tasks as fast as possible (e.g. build a structure using exactly 5 black, 2 yellow, and 1 red brick)

Creativity and Themed Challenges:

• Footy Colours – Build something in the colours of your favourite sports team
• Word Builds – Create a structure or object that includes your name or another word
• Scout Logo – Recreate the Scouts Australia or World Scout emblem using Lego
• Storytelling – Build a scene from a book, movie, or original story. Patrols can build different scenes for a connected story

Engineering and Science Challenges:

• Floating Challenge – Build a boat, pirate ship, or sea creature and test if it can float in a sink or tub
• Flying Challenge – Create a design that can glide through the air
• Catapult Competition – Design a working Lego catapult and see who can launch a paper ball the furthest
• Marble Run – Create a working marble run using Lego
• Bridges – Build the strongest bridge or a bridge with the longest span
• House Model – Build a Lego version of your house or a room, including furnishings. Older Scouts can measure their real house and build a to-scale model

Teamwork and Problem-Solving Challenges:

• • Eyes Closed Challenge – A 5-minute challenge where Scouts build an object without opening their eyes
  • Lego Relay – Each Scout adds one piece at a time, working together to build a mystery creation

Change the challenge level

Easier:

• Provide pre-selected bricks for specific challenges
• Allow younger Scouts to work in pairs or groups
• Use simple build tasks (e.g., build a small animal or shape)

Harder:

• Add time pressure to each challenge
• Increase the complexity of engineering builds (e.g., weight-bearing bridges)
• Have Scouts design their structure on paper first, then build
• Introduce scale-based challenges, where they must replicate real-world structures

Reflection