Free building
Tables covered in sorted bricks, no model to follow, and hosts moving between them. This is the format that absorbs a head count you did not know the day before, a rainy afternoon and mixed ages.
- 1.5 hours to a full dayDuration
- From 5Age
- Rotating groupsFormat
- On requestRate
- The bricks leave with usAfterwards
What is on the tables
We lay out a stock sorted by shape and colour across the tables, with base plates and a few parts that spark ideas: wheels, doors, windows, figures. No instructions are given at the start.
One child sits down and builds for twenty minutes, or for two hours. Another takes it all apart and starts again three times. Levels sort themselves out, and nobody is stuck on a model they cannot follow.
The hosts circulate, nudge anyone going round in circles with a short challenge — a bridge that holds, a four-wheeled vehicle, the tallest tower possible — then move to the next table. With 118,000 part references in stock, the boxes we bring are matched to the age of the group.
How it works
- You give us the slot and the roomA duration, a rough number of children, a room with tables, chairs and light. We size the stock and the number of hosts on those three facts.
- We set up before the children arriveSorted bricks, base plates and protective covers. Set-up happens outside your slot.
- The workshop rotatesIn a holiday centre, groups come through one after another on the same stock: half an hour or an hour per group, depending on how many rotations the day needs.
- The hosts hold the roomOne host for around thirty children; beyond that we come as a team. Your own staff stay present as regulations require, without having to run the session.
- We pack upThe builds are shown, then dismantled: on this format the bricks leave with us. They are washed and dried at the workshop before the next booking.
When this is the right format
A head count you don't know
Twenty children announced, thirty-five present: the stock is not counted per participant. You just add a table.
A rainy afternoon
Indoors, no heavy set-up and nothing to prepare on your side. It is the fallback activity of holiday centres and holiday clubs.
After-school slots
The short ninety-minute format fits an evening or Wednesday slot, set-up and take-down included.
Mixed ages
A group from 5 to 12 works on the same stock, each at their own level. The older ones show the younger ones without being asked.
What people ask
What does it cost exactly?
Our rates are provided on request, within 24 to 48 working hours.
Who funds this kind of activity?
The holiday centre's own budget, the local council budget, the school fund or the parents' association. We provide a formal quote for your paperwork, with our company registration number and our professional public liability certificate.
How many children can you supervise?
One host for around thirty children on a standard workshop, and more staff beyond that. Over a full day in a holiday centre we run rotating groups so everyone gets a place at a table.
What do you need on site?
Tables, chairs and a well-lit room. We bring everything else, including protective covers.
How are the bricks cleaned?
Every stock is washed and dried at the workshop between bookings, with an intermediate cleaning on multi-day activities.
Do the children keep what they build?
No: on this format the bricks leave with us. The builds are shown to the group before being dismantled. To leave a finished piece with the school, you need a mosaic or a collaborative model.
From what age?
From five. Below that we use larger bricks and shorten the session. Our hosts adjust the difficulty as they go, according to the group in front of them.
You have a date and a slot.
Give us the duration, the age of the children and a rough head count: that is enough for us to answer with a quote.