Thank You! Aiken STEAM Room to Receive LEGO Wall

Thanks to the generosity of 11 investors, Aiken Elementary School will be able to construct a LEGO Wall for its STEAM Classroom. Nearly $750 was donated to the project, which will benefit more than 200 students in grades K-5. This is the second LEGO Wall that will be constructed this year because of donations from members of the community. 

About the LEGO Wall
Keystone Oaks School District launched a STEAM class for all elementary school students (K-5) beginning with the 2016-2017 academic year. As the District continues to build the program and the activities available to students, elementary STEAM teacher Mr. Aaron Colf is looking to incorporate a LEGO wall into the STEAM classroom at Aiken Elementary School.

The benefits of block play for young children are numerous and, according to an article from the National Association for the Education of Young Children, through playing with blocks children learn problem solving, imagination, self-expression, mathematics, continuity and permanence, creativity, science, self-esteem, and social and emotional growth. These are the areas of child development that we are emphasizing in our STEAM class, along with encouraging students to work collaboratively to complete a project or achieve a goal.

The LEGO wall will allow Mr. Colf to engage students in a number of hands-on projects, including designing a marble drop with bricks, solving fractions, telling and creating stories, playing, and more. The students will love it! And it’s a great opportunity for them to exercise creativity, spatial thinking, fine motor skills, and mathematical reasoning. Finally, it will help to support our school’s culture of including creativity and discovery in instruction.

In order to build the recommended 80’ x 80’ LEGO, we will need 64 baseplates that measure 10” x 10". Our local Home Depot has donated the plywood for the LEGO wall (thank you!). If we meet our fundraising goal, we would be able to build a LEGO wall that would benefit nearly 200 students in kindergarten through 5th grade.