Community Program 2026

Talent Lab — Buzz Zone

⛑️KIDS IN ACTION

🛠️FINAL CREATIONS

🏆WINNERS

From Building Blocks to Live Circuits

Following the success of our very first Talent Lab — Building Values Through Play with LEGO, our community returned for the next chapter: Buzz Zone — the Electric Maze Challenge. This time the children swapped LEGO bricks for brass wire, copper wands, and 9V batteries — but the heart of the program stayed exactly the same: building character while building a creation.

The mission was simple to describe and tricky to master: build an electric maze game from scratch — as a team — and guide a loop wand through the bent-wire track without touching the wire. One touch and… BZZZT! The buzzer sounds, the LED lights up, and the team learns where to steady their hands and their patience.

Seven Teams, Three Roles, One Mission

We organised 21 children into 7 teams of 3, with each team carrying three carefully designed roles so every age group had a meaningful contribution to make:

• Creative Designer (6–9 years) — Chose the team theme and decorated the base and the wand. The youngest hands set the tone and identity for the build.

• Construction Engineer (10–12 years) — Bent the brass maze track, shaped the copper wand into a loop, and mounted everything onto the base. This was the hands-on craft of the project.

• Circuit Electrician (13–16 years) — Wired up the 9V battery, the buzzer, and the LED — then tested the full circuit to make sure the maze actually buzzed when the wand made contact.

The instruction we gave the teams said it best: "Everyone works at the same time. Ask each other for help." The older children weren't there to take over — they were there to mentor. And the youngest weren't bystanders — their design choices shaped the final piece.

The Same Rubric, A New Challenge

The evaluation criteria for Buzz Zone was deliberately the same "Rubik's Rubric" we used for our LEGO Talent Lab. To reach the top score of "5 — Excellent," teams had to demonstrate all five core values throughout the build:

• Mutual Respect (Ihtirām)

• Kindness (Rahma)

• Clear Communication (Qawlan Sadīdan)

• Fairness ('Adl)

• Trust (Amānah)

It's not just about whether the buzzer sounds at the right moment — it's about how the team gets there. Did the eldest electrician explain the circuit to the youngest designer? Did the team share tools fairly? Did they keep their materials safe — an amanah from the community? The score reflected the journey, not only the result.

The Materials & The Build

Each team received a set of materials: a wand loop wire with connector clips, brass maze track wire, a 9V battery and battery snap connector, a buzzer, a 5mm LED with wires, and copper wire for the wand. They worked on a shared wooden or foam base, with tape, glue, pliers, and wire cutters between them.

The build flowed through six stages: prepare the base, bend the maze track, make the wand, make the circuit connections, install the components, and finally — the moment everyone waited for — test the Buzz Zone. When the first buzzer sounded across the room, every team turned to look. When the first wand made it from start to finish without a single buzz, the cheer was deafening.

Prize Money & Generosity — A Tradition Continues

As with our first Talent Lab, prize money was awarded to the top three teams. And — just as before — the children were given the choice to donate a portion of their winnings to support families experiencing hardship in our local community.

What happened next reminded us why we started this program in the first place. Without hesitation, the children once again chose to give. The spirit of generosity that began with LEGO bricks carried forward into Buzz Zone. The funds raised went directly toward providing hot food for families in need through our own Woodlea Neighborly Table — a community-led initiative we run independently to serve warm meals to neighbors doing it tough.

This is becoming a tradition, and a beautiful one: technical wins lead to community wins.

Voices from the Heart

Why Buzz Zone Matters

Buzz Zone is the second step in a much bigger journey. With LEGO we learned to build with our hands and our values. With Buzz Zone we learned that the same values carry into electronics, circuits, and real-world problem-solving. The skills got harder. The patience got deeper. The trust between team members grew stronger.

Our long-term vision remains unchanged: From LEGO to Robotics, and beyond. Each Talent Lab event raises the technical bar a little higher while keeping character development at the very center. Buzz Zone proved that our children are ready for that progression — and that they will keep choosing generosity at every stage of it.

Thank You

We are deeply grateful to:

• The 21 children across our 7 teams who showed up with curiosity, patience, and open hearts.

• The parents and volunteers who supervised, encouraged, and celebrated alongside them.

Through Buzz Zone, we didn't just light up an LED — we lit up something far more lasting in the children who built it.