LEGO Masters’ Ben Edlavitch brought a different kind of building challenge to Richmond

A television builder at the community table

In July 2024, LEGO Masters contestant Ben Edlavitch helped young Richmond-area builders tackle a challenge with no television judging panel: use bricks to express ideas about a more sustainable future. The session offers a useful example of what a builder’s community role can look like after appearing on the show.

According to LEGO’s July 29 announcement, Edlavitch led a Build the Change workshop for Northside Club members aged 10–12 at Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond. The company described him at the time as a Henrico County architecture student and a season-four contestant who had competed alongside his grandfather, David “Poppy” Levine. This is a look back at that event, not an announcement of another workshop.

The conversation came before the model

LEGO’s account describes a group discussion about sustainability followed by a building session. Edlavitch also talked about his own experience with LEGO, while company volunteers supported the activity.

That sequence is the detail worth considering. In our reading, asking children what a subject means to them before asking for a model gives the model a purpose. A collection of bricks can become a proposal that its builder explains, questions and revises. An adult’s useful contribution may be a question about the idea rather than a correction to the construction.

For LEGO Masters fans, it is a welcome way to think about expertise. A spectacular personal build can attract attention; helping somebody else make their idea understandable is a different skill, and one a community session can put to work.

Resources families and facilitators can explore

As checked on October 19, 2026, LEGO’s Build the Change page offers free challenge packs for adult facilitators working with children aged 7–12. The packs include videos, presentations, speaker notes and printables, with subjects spanning social and environmental challenges. The program welcomes LEGO bricks and other creative materials.

Those resources provide a practical starting point for readers interested in the approach. They do not establish that Edlavitch is running a current session or that a local club has an event scheduled; use the program’s own materials when planning an activity.

Make room for the explanation

Our suggestion for a family or club session is to give each builder time to explain one choice: who is this idea for, and what would it help them do? Keep that explanation beside the model when sharing the work. Otherwise, a thoughtful proposal can become just a photograph of an interesting construction.

The Richmond session is an encouraging community example because the children’s ideas were the reason to build. The familiar television name helped introduce the activity; the young builders supplied the possibilities.