Oh Snap! Local Play Center Disguises Learning with Legos

There’s a reason a lot of Lego kits say they are for ages 12 and up. It’s because you never get too old to build things out of the brightly colored, interlocking bricks. There’s just something about running your hands through a giant heap of Legos that never stops being fun.

Now kids of mostly all ages — 2-12 to be exact — can spend hours playing with Legos at Snapology along Fort Couch Road. Founder Laura Barrows says Snapology is the name that was created to describe a new learning concept that combines play and education. 

“It’s educational, it’s different and it’s just fun. There’s nothing negative about it,” says Barrows, who founded Snapology with her sister, Lisa Coe.

A lot of people didn’t quite get it at first, thinking Barrows was just going to dump a huge pile of Legos on the floor and let kids have at it. Soon parents realized there was more to it; that there actually was an educational component.

When kids play with Legos at Snapology, they are learning math, science, technology, engineering and literacy; the catch is that the little builders have no idea. It’s sort of like sneaking vegetables into their dinner. 

Just look around the brightly colored rooms at Snapology and you see the power of Legos. Some kids are stacking giant Legos to see how high they can go, while others play a Lego game on Wii. One boy at a building station digs with both hands trying to find the exact piece he needs, while a young girl meticulously builds, well, something. The kids are all actively-engaged in their projects and overwhelming well behaved.

The two sisters developed the Snapology concept last April, then piloted it with summer camps at local recreation centers. The camps were so popular that they quickly had a wait list. It was then that Barrows began looking for a location and developing the business model. Legos themselves have been around since 1932.

There are open play times in the Bethel Park Discovery Center and organized classes in separate rooms. During open play, parents of kids ages 5-12 can choose to stay and join in the fun or leave the kids under the watchful eye of Snapology employees. Children under age five must have a parent present. It’s not a day care, but rather a fun — and unique — play environment. 

Kids can build freely with thousands of Legos, Zoobs or K’Nex or work with a specific Lego kit. Anything having to do with Star Wars is popular these days. Saturday nights feature ‘Parents Night Out,’ which gives parents somewhere fun to drop the kids so they can enjoy a few hours to have a quiet dinner or do some shopping.

Classes offer more structure and teach kids about robots, computer programming and teamwork. In the robotics classes, kids as young as seven can learn to build and program a real Lego robot. 

“When a young child programs an alligator robot and sees its mouth open and close, the expression on their face is priceless,” says Barrows. “You know they’re learning, but all they know is that they are having fun.”

And unlike the potential waterworks that can occur when taking your kids to a day care or leaving them with a sitter, Barrows says the only tears shed by kids at Snapology are when their parents come to take them home.

Snapology has programs for home schoolers, birthday parties, after school enrichment programs, daytime programs for preschoolers and a jam-packed summer camp schedule. 

Check out the full schedule of upcoming programs, camps and classes at www.discoversnapology.com.