A day without LEGO is like a day without sunshine! At least, that is the opinion at our house. We love building with LEGO and we love sharing our ideas. We want you to think of this book as a creative guide that will spark new ideas in your own imagination.
This book contains two types of LEGO projects: Step-by-Step and No-Instruction Creative Challenge.
We have included step-by-step instructions for many of the projects because we have found that it can be frustrating to try to copy a design without being able to see which bricks were used. These projects begin with a detailed parts list to assist you in finding all of the pieces you will need.
The No-Instruction Creative Challenge projects are simple to build from the pictures or are more openended and imaginative in nature. They are designed to inspire your own building and it is not necessary to use the exact bricks we used. These projects begin with a key elements list which specifies the pieces that are essential for making the project work the way it is pictured and then you can get creative with your own bricks from there.
For any of the projects, don’t feel limited by the colors and bricks that we chose! If you don’t have the exact parts needed for a project, make substitutions with your own bricks. You may even discover an improvement that makes the project look better!
It’s definitely possible that you will find a project in this book that you want to build but don’t have all of the bricks needed. It’s always good to get creative and make substitutions. If you really want it to look like the project in the book, however, it’s not very difficult or expensive to get your hands on individual LEGO bricks.
There are basically two options for ordering bricks and both will require help from your parents. One is to order from the Pick-A-Brick section on lego.com and the other is to order from a third party LEGO seller. You might not be aware of this, but every LEGO brick has a tiny ID number on it, usually on the underside. This ID number is specific to that part but not specific to the color. So if you put that number in the search bar on lego.com’s Pick-A-Brick page, you will be able to see all of the colors available for that brick. Then you can order the one that you need. However, note that orders from Pick-A-Brick ship from Denmark and it can take a long time to receive your order. We have had orders take up to one month to arrive.
Another option is to order from http://bricklink.com. Brick Link is a site that hosts many different sellers of LEGO bricks and you can also purchase unopened sets and custom sets. The prices on Brick Link are related to supply and demand, meaning that a basic brick in a common color will cost very little while a hard-to-find collectible minifigure will sell for much more. Each vendor on Brick Link charges for shipping separately, so be aware of this when adding bricks to your cart. If you buy 8 different parts from 8 different vendors, you are going to pay 8 different shipping fees! What seems to work well is to look for a vendor with a high feedback number next to their name. If they have a lot of feedback, they have completed a lot of transactions and that means that they probably have a lot of bricks to offer. It’s more likely that you will be able to find several bricks that you need from the same high volume vendor and you can save on shipping.
LEGO bricks come in many different colors. The colors are listed on the Pick-A-Brick section of lego.com and the Brick Link site also includes a color guide. Because Brick Link vendors sell both new and used LEGO bricks, they have a system of color names that includes older colors that have now been discontinued. For example, the current light gray and dark gray bricks are referred to as light bluish gray and dark bluish gray on Brick Link.
Be sure to clear any purchases with Mom or Dad and get their help when using websites like Brick Link or the official LEGO site!
Have fun creating new worlds with your LEGO bricks!
