Legos!

Madison College (MC) recently hosted a Lego league tournament for our area.  They had about 40 teams of elementary and middle school students participating in the exciting competition.

Since we love Legos and new experiences, we decided to venture down to MC to see what this tournament had to offer.

It was beyond obvious that MC was enthusiastic about hosting the event.  There were numerous friendly volunteers that greeted everyone as they entered.  Signs were placed throughout the building guiding crowds to various areas.  And everything seemed to be moving along basically on schedule.

Unfortunately, there were some glaring issues that made this a very unfriendly event for spectators.  We stayed for about 45 minutes and then left, at the urging of our kids to “just go home.”

TIP: Don’t ignore your kids when they tell you they are ‘done’ with an activity.  Sometimes things don’t quite go the way you planned.  Listen to your kids, think of a way to turn the day around, and head off in a new direction.

The lighting was horrendous during the opening ceremony.  All overhead lights were out as the teams paraded in with their handmade signs.  It was so dark, you could barely make out the kids faces, let alone enjoy their handmade signage.

There was nothing interactive offered to satisfy a curious, young spectator.  We envisioned an area that would perhaps pose a little Lego challenge for visitors to complete, with a tiny sticker or lollipop as an award for finishing.  Or some boxes of Legos left out for kids to tinker with and enjoy.

In the pit areas, if one or two volunteers had been staged to engage visitors, and give information on what was happening and why, it would have made that experience much more fulfilling.

We applaud MC for hosting this event and for their dedication to encouraging youth to pursue these types of endeavors.  We just hope that next year, they give a little more thought to the crowd that is watching.