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Homeschooling and LEGO: A Conversation with Mark & Steven Erickson

Do you have a LEGO lover in your house?

The love affair with LEGO bricks has been going on for the past 11 years here - if you’ve never seen all of the LEGO printables and resources here at Homegrown Learners you might want to take a few minutes to check that out!

Last March my son started a job at a local independent LEGO store, the Atlanta Brick Co. To say that this job has kicked his love of LEGO up a notch is an understatement! His love for LEGO is now in overdrive - it’s been such a fun few months around here.

This past summer, we all eagerly awaited each new episode of LEGO Masters Season Two. We watched not only because we’d watched Season One and loved it, but also because we had a connection with one of the teams in the competition. Mark and Steven Erickson (spoiler alert - the team that WON Season Two!) live just around the corner from us, and my son works with Mark at The Atlanta Brick Co!

How fun is that?

We’ve been star-struck and enamored by these brothers and their amazing LEGO-building abilities. Naturally, I had to ask them to come and talk to our readers!

Homeschooling and LEGO

Fun fact: Mark & Steven were homeschooled their entire lives.

When I found this out I nearly jumped for joy! As I got to know Mark and Steven it felt like I was watching the very best that homeschooling offers. These young men are articulate, caring, humble, highly creative, and joyful.

In this interview, I ask them a lot of questions about being homeschooled and also (of course) a lot of questions about LEGO. I passed along several questions sent to me by kids and parents.

Mark and Steven shared with me that they are both dyslexic. They talked about their favorite books, their favorite LEGO memories, and what stuck out to them the most from the time homeschooling.

It was just such a joy to be with them (in their studio with approximately 2 MILLION BRICKS!) !

Your children will love to watch this interview because they will be inspired and encouraged.

YOU will love to watch this interview because you will be inspired and encouraged, too! As a mother, I found my time with Mark & Steven to be a breath of fresh air and validation for doing what I do with my own children.

Relax and watch our conversation (we had FUN!) and then be sure to check out some of their recommended resources below.

AND, stay tuned for a video coming soon: LEGO building and storage tips with Mark and Steven.

LEGO Resources

These are the resources Mark and Steven mentioned in the interview - notice the first book is Steven’s! I have also included a set of basic bricks in case you are new to this whole LEGO building world!

Here are the sites Mark and Steven mentioned, as well as where you can connect with them online:

If you’d like to ask them a question or pass along something to them, feel free to leave it in the comments below - or in the comments of the YouTube video itself.

I hope you enjoyed this conversation half as much as I did!

United States Geography and LEGO Bricks

For many years of our homeschool journey, I saw learning through the lens of a LEGO lover.

This is NOT an exaggeration.

We integrated LEGO bricks with nearly every subject. We built LEGO animal cells, LEGO landmarks, LEGO continents. My son spent several years building simple (and more complex!) machines with LEGO. We learned about rhythms in music with LEGO. Multiplication was learned with LEGO.

You get the picture. (And, you can see the journey for yourself at the LEGO Learning page!)

When I received this United States Geography/LEGO Brick building kit in the mail, I knew I had to share it with you… we received it on our doorstep at 6:30 p.m. and it was built by 9 p.m. (That’s how much my 15 year-old loved it!)

Learn About United States Geography with LEGO Bricks

(I received this product in exchange for my honest review. There has been no other compensation provided. I am simply sharing this with you because we loved it and think your LEGO lover will, too!)

United States Map Building Kit

Designed by Paul Bacio Custom Brick Sculptures, this kit comes with the following:

  • 1,395 new LEGO bricks to build the US Map (and yes, they are LEGO bricks, not an off-brand)

  • Digital Download (175 pg. PDF) with the building instructions AND facts about each state

  • Finished creation is 32x17 inches

The box is very well organized. The bricks for each state come in a labeled bag (see the video I made below).

The directions for me to access the instructions were in the box and I quickly downloaded the PDF and sent it to my son so he could access it on his Chromebook.

As you can see, my son squirreled the set up to his room and laid everything out on his desk.

I did not hear from him for the next few hours!

A few quick checks allowed me to see that he put the map together exactly as shown in the instructions. He would find the labeled bag, and complete the state.

He did keep telling me, “What a cool idea this guy has!”.

We also remarked that our friends in Classical Conversations Cycle 3 (American History) and Challenge A (drawing the continents) would really like this resource.

Here is the finished product. It’s impressive when you look at it.

Our Thoughts About the United States Map Building Kit

My son and I are very impressed with Paul Bacio’s creativity and think there is a much-needed place for this type of LEGO learning product.

I encourage you to check out his entire site for even more ideas and resources.

My wheels are still turning with ideas on how you could use this with younger children - focusing on just a specific geographic region at a time and going deeper with individual state studies.

The price is $175, but with the code HGL10OFF, you receive 10% off this kit, which makes it comparable to any LEGO kit out there. This code is good for anything on the site, too.

Offer expires 12/31/20.


Leave a comment below if your child adores creating with LEGO bricks.

Have you discovered any fun ways to learn with them recently?