Home STEM/STEAMBrick City: A Disaster Card Building Challenge

Brick City: A Disaster Card Building Challenge

by Peggy Reimers

Need a fresh challenge for your LEGO bricks or whatever building materials you have on hand?
Brick City Heroes is a spin-off of my Mars Mayhem LEGO Challenge, but this time the action stays right here on Earth. Instead of surviving on Mars, your builders are solving real-world city problems with creativity, teamwork, and a little bit of hero thinking.

Brick City is busy.
Brick City is growing.
And like any great city, it occasionally runs into a few problems. That is where your builders come in.

Brick City Heroes is a printable set of 16 city-themed design challenge cards that put students in the role of problem solvers.

  • Power Outage Panic
  • Traffic Tangle
  • Park Problem
  • Skyscraper Shake
  • Lost Pet Rescue
  • Community Garden Growth
  • Stadium Surprise
  • Library Upgrade
  • Celebration Station
  • The Mystery Smell
  • The Heatwave Hangout
  • Skywalk Surprise
  • City Sign Surprise
  • Duck Crossing
  • Hospital Helicopter Pad
  • Monkey Mayhem

Students are not just building towers. They are tackling meaningful challenges. Each challenge invites students to design, test, and improve a solution. And just like Mars Mayhem, there is no single correct answer.

These cards fit just about anywhere:

  • STEM centers
  • Library makerspaces
  • Summer camps
  • After-school programs
  • Robotics or LEGO clubs
  • Early finisher stations

Print them. Laminate them. Toss them in a bin with bricks. And watch what happens.

  1. Give students time to build a base structure
  2. Have them draw a challenge card
  3. Set a timer for problem-solving
  4. Students build a solution without taking apart their original design
  5. Wrap up with a quick share or gallery walk
  6. Use a baseplate or carpet square to keep builds contained.

To take it up a notch, the set also includes 16 Hero Trading Cards. Each challenge has a matching hero. As students build, revise, and collaborate, they earn cards like:

  • Solar Spark
  • Captain QuickRoute
  • Prime Playmaker
  • Steel Steady
  • Sky Saver
  • Green Guardian
  • Bright Beam
  • Lumen Legend
  • Festival Flash
  • Fresh Air Force
  • Cool Commander
  • High-Rise Hero
  • Skyline Sentinel
  • Feather Enforcer
  • Rescue Ranger
  • Jungle Jumper

Suggestions for using the Trading Cards:

  • Award one card per challenge
  • Let students collect the full set
  • Create a “Brick City Wall of Heroes”
  • Celebrate students who earn all 16

The cards feel collectible. The challenges feel meaningful. And suddenly your building center becomes a city full of problem solvers.

Submit your information on this Google Form before 5 p.m. Central on May 17, 2026, for a chance to win a free laminated set of the Brick City Hero trading cards. Two winners will be drawn, and your laminated sets will be sent by mail. Good luck, and happy building as you save the day in Brick City!

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