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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, FEB. 17, 2019
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BY COLIN MIXSON
She’s building a business
brick by brick!
A Kensington mom created
an after-school program
and events operation
on the back of her supermassive
Lego collection —
which is so large it defi es
calculation, she said.
“One of my kids once
asked how many Legos I
have, so we did some multiplying,
and gave up after
we hit 10,000,” said Eleanor
Rodgers. “I’ve gotten a lot
more Legos since then.”
Rodgers took her entrepreneurial
turn after failing
to fi nd an appropriate
after-school program for
her Lego-obsessed son in
2015, when, much to her
surprise, she discovered
the fabled mom-clave of
nearby Park Slope did not
boast any kids clubs centered
around the world’s
most popular toy.
“I fi gured they’ve got
everything under the sun
in Park Slope, they must
have a Lego club” said Rodgers.
”But I couldn’t fi nd
one.”
So, like any super mom,
Rodgers built one herself,
creating an after-school
program that same year at
PS 130, which gives kids in
kindergarten through fi fth
grade a chance to play with
Legos four days a week —
and take their creations
home, she said.
“Other Lego afterschool
programs don’t do
this,” Rodgers said. “It’s
one thing I objected to
about them.”
Rodgers’s program —
which costs $24 a session
— includes fi lm classes,
during which youngsters
build Lego sets and use
iPads to record and edit
stop-motion footage they
then stitch together to
make short fi lms, such as
the whirlwind adventure
“Pirate Treasure,” which
clocks in at an epic four
minutes and 16 seconds.
The mom used her after
school program as a
building block to grow her
Lego-themed event business,
which now also includes
birthday parties,
and camps during many
school holidays, including
the upcoming February
mid-winter break, when
she will host a four-day
brick-building bonanza
from Feb. 19 to 22 at Greenwood
Avenue’s Holy Apostles
Episcopal Church between
Prospect Avenue
and E. Seventh Street.
Rodgers’s Lego camps
all revolve around themes
— such as ninjas, medieval
castles, and even food
— that encourage kids to
collaborate to create bigger
and better creations,
she said. But tykes who attend
the camps — which
cost around $60 for a half
day and $125 for a full day
— don’t get to take home
their masterpieces.
The mom-trepreneur
initially promoted her programs
as fun ways to keep
kids busy, she said. But after
watching long-time attendees
signifi cantly improve
their construction
skills, as well as their abilities
to socialize and collaborate,
she now advertises
the sessions as providing
far more than a good time.
“At fi rst I would say this
is not educational, but I’ve
stopped that,” she said.
Sign your kid up for
Lego camp at Holy Apostles
Episcopal Church (612
Greenwood Ave. between
Prospect Avenue and E.
Seventh Street in Kensington,
www.kensingtonlegoclass.
wordpress.com). Feb.
19–22, $60 for half-day session,
$125 for full-day session.
E-mail eleanorlego@
outlook.com to enroll.
BLOCK PARTY
Brooklyn mom builds biz out of Lego obsession
BUILDING THE ECONOMY: Eleanor Rodgers, center, played with kids during one of her after-school
Lego events. Photo by Colin Mixson
/3guysfrombrooklyn.com
/www.kensingtonlego-class.wordpress.com
/www.kensingtonlego-class.wordpress.com
/www.kensingtonlego-class.wordpress.com
/wordpress.com
/outlook.com