The Wider World of WeDo: Five Must See Models

Despite the LEGO WeDo kit’s simplicity, people all over are finding innovative ways to take WeDo model building to the next level. I thought it would be fun to showcase a few videos that feature the potential of the WeDo kit.

1. The WeDo Cable Car

Stefan Bracher shared his web resource with me in a comment on my home page. His site, which he will hopefully continue to expand, contains videos and instructions for unique WeDo and NXT models.  Detailed instructions on how to build the cable car model featured in the video can be found on his site.

2. The WeDo Drawbridge

This video posted by wedouser on his youtube channel highlights the intersection of imagination, art, and engineering as the child in the video walks a LEGO man up to the edge of the water he has drawn and waits for the drawbridge to lower so he can safely pass. Notice the printer paper he’s used to draw his water… brings back memories. 😉 

3. The WeDo Conveyor Belt

This conveyor belt model posted on youtube by user sanmishr uses few pieces that are not included in the WeDo kit, but none that are hard to come by. I can easily imagine tying this model into a social studies lesson on Ford and the assembly line.



4. The WeDo Windmill

One of the things I love about this video posted by glglace, is that despite the fact I do not speak Chinese (I think it’s Chinese), I am able to appreciate the interaction between the child and adult in the video and understand the child as she describes and demonstrates how the model is working. (One of my favorite moments from teaching the Grade 1 unit last year, was listening as the children easily articulated how models worked during their final assessments.) This terrific windmill model could easily be incorporated into a green energy lesson.

5. The WeDo Shuttle Launcher 

This video posted on youtube by user sakiv features a boy explaining how his creatively designed shuttle launcher works.

Do you have an innovative LEGO WeDo design you’d like featured here or that you’d like to share? Post a comment and tell us about it!

LEGO WeDo Vehicle Challenge: Using WeDo kits with older students

The LEGO WeDo kit is designed and marketed for early elementary children. It’s so basic that even a first grader can use it, but be careful not to write this kit off as a “just-for-the-little-kids” kit too quickly.

This year, one of my favorite mini-lessons with the 7-9th grade students in the after school STEM club was this “WeDo Vehicle Challenge”:

Design a WeDo vehicle that has either 2, 3, or 4 wheels. Use only the pieces in the Wedo kit. The vehicle does not need to have steering, but it must be able to drive forward and in reverse. Innovation is encouraged. You have two class periods (1 hour each). We’ll present at the end of the second.

The kids usually take a look at the WeDo kit and presume the challenge will not be much of a challenge. Once the students get started, it isn’t long at all before they realize what makes it challenging; there is only one motor, the motor is fairly heavy relative to the parts, and that the axle sticks straight out of the center of the motor. Hmmm….

I’m guessing the challenge is probably easier for students that have prior experience working with LEGO kits and robotics; I’m not sure. (Let me know if you try it.) All my students were new to working with the NXT kits when I tried the WeDo lesson. I wanted to see how they worked when asked to think out of the box and to be creative. Following a blueprint is great for developing spatial skills and following instructions, but it doesn’t necessarily foster innovative thinking.  I found that forcing the students to work with the limited parts of the WeDo kit encouraged them to be persistent, to attempt multiple solutions, to redesign and improve, and to work together.

I’m curious if other teachers and after-school educators have tried using the WeDo kits with older students? Let me know!

Here are a few examples of our WeDo vehicle designs if you are curious… (The kids filmed the clips.)