Nathan Kept Building

Some sculptors use bronze, others prefer marble. But Nathan Sawaya is a world-famous artist who sculpts with Lego. From a very young age, Nathan loved building with those colorful toy bricks. He built skyscrapers, spaceships, and even a pet Lego dog. But while he was playing, Nathan also built his imagination, his creativity, and even a new career. In this episode of "Once Upon a Playtime", we’ll learn about how Nathan went from lawyer to full-time Lego artist, how construction toys advance STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) skills, and how playing can increase motivation in children.

“Using your imagination as a kid seems so simple, and if you can hang on to that as an adult, man, you're going to go far.”

Narrator:

Welcome to "Once Upon a Play Time", a podcast from the Genius of Play for parents and their kids about the serious value of playing around. I'm Jennifer Lynch, your narrator, a play expert and a new cool mom. Each episode, a fascinating guest will share with us how playing changed their life. And to make things more fun, we turned those interviews into a story time you can listen to by yourself or with your kids. Today's story is Nathan Kept Building, a true tale about the value of play at any age.

Nathan Sawaya:

I'm Nathan Sawaya and I'm an artist who works with Lego bricks. And this something I've done for years now where I've made a career out of doing large scale sculptures using this childhood toy.

Narrator:

Once upon a play time, long, long ago, the 1980s to be exact, a young boy named Nathan lived in a rural town in Oregon called Veneta. This was a tiny town of less than three miles, where the wildlife heavily outweighed the human population. There weren't many other children, so Nathan had to play by himself. Nathan played all kinds of ways. He liked climbing to the tops of trees. He liked kicking soccer balls. He liked coloring with colored pencils. Sometimes he would even play make believe with his sister. But Nathan had a favorite way to play. Nathan loved to build.

Nathan Sawaya:

I realized, like Lego bricks could be anything I wanted it to be when I discovered that I didn't have to build what was on the front of the box. If I wanted to pretend to be a magician, well I can build a top hat out of Lego bricks. If I want to be rock star, I can build a guitar out of Lego bricks. And once I realized I could use this toy to create other toys, well, from then, it was an aha moment, really. It was like, "Wow, anything is possible at this point."

Narrator:

Nathan loved to build. Nathan built Lego characters and skyscrapers. When his parents didn't allow him to adopt a dog, he built one out of Lego. And without realizing it, Nathan also built his imagination. Research and reports show it helps a whole lot because having free time to play helps build our brains.

Nathan Sawaya:

When I was growing up, uh, my folks were very accommodating. They let me have a 36 square foot Lego city behind my couch in the living room, which made for a great conversation piece when the neighbors came by, because, you know, they're like, "Oh, uh, how's your kid doing? He's still, still got that Lego city I see."

Narrator:

The neighbors thought Nathan's Lego city was cute but inconvenient. It sprawled across the floor. You see, part of being grownup is having opinions about interior design, which is why HGTV exists. They said, "Soon you'll be too old to play. In school, you'll put your toys away." But Nathan's mom and dad saw that Nathan was having fun and building his imagination. They said, "Nathan, play away." So Nathan kept building.

Nathan Sawaya:

I would use it in school for science projects. Oh, we, we're doing a project on wind? Well, I will build a windmill out of Lego then. Thank you very much. We have this project on math and doing some calculation. Well, I will show you how that calculation works using all these individual Lego bricks. It became my, my back stop almost. It was something I could just say, "Okay. If I got a school project, I can always use this toy to illustrate the issue."

Narrator:

Nathan built projects for physics and calculus and geometry, and without realizing it, Nathan also built his creativity. Research and reports show it helps a whole lot. In fact, teenagers who combine play with learning are more motivated in school.

The teachers thought that Nathan's Lego projects were fun but silly. No other children used toys in their homework. You see, part of being grownup is trying to fit in, which is why social media exists. They said, "You're almost too old to play. In college, you'll put your toys away." But Nathan's parents saw that Nathan was having fun and building his creativity. They said, "Nathan, play away." So Nathan kept building.

Nathan Sawaya:

I had Lego bricks under my dorm room bed in college. I had a small Lego version of my neighborhood on my desk in law school.

Narrator:

Nathan graduated from law school and became a lawyer at a big international firm. But he didn't really want to be a lawyer. It just seemed like the grownup thing to do.

Nathan Sawaya:

I graduated from college and, you know, you have to make this choice, uh, after college of like, well, what's next. And there's some real societal pressures to become a professional and to pay off those student loans and become a professional and get a job, and I saw law school as a way to put off some of those decisions. But I, I wasn't happy as a lawyer and after a few years I really realized, you know, I still had this passion of creating, of being an artist and that's what led me back.

Narrator:

As soon as Nathan finished dealing with complicated contracts, tricky torts and long winded litigations, he would run home and start to build.

Nathan Sawaya:

When I was a lawyer, you know, I was practicing full days, I was a Wall Street lawyer, you know, I was doing corporate law, and although I liked the people I worked with, I wasn't really happy. And I would find at the end of the day I would need a creative outlet. I would come home at night and I'd want to create something. I would want to draw something. I'd want to paint something. I'd want to sculp something. And I would sculp out of traditional media like clay or wire, but I'd also sculp out a strange things, fun things like bottle caps or, or candy. I did a lot of sculptures out of small pieces of candy. And sculpting out of candy is a lot like sculpting out of Lego, in that you're using tiny pieces to put together these larger forms, it's additive sculpture, sculpting out of candy is more delicious. But in the end, I just thought one day, I thought, "Well, what about this toy from my childhood, Lego bricks? Could I use Lego bricks to create sculpture?" As a lawyer, I miss that creativity. I wasn't getting that creative juice that I had as an artist and I really needed to focus on that because that's what I wanted to do. And that goes all the way back to my childhood where I was creating with random toys.

Narrator:

The attorneys thought Nathan's Lego hobby was intriguing but strange. Playing with toys is for children. You see, part of being grownup is picking a respectable hobby. That's why golf exists. They said, "You are far too old to play. You better put your toys away." But Nathan thought about what his parents would say. He knew they'd tell him to play away. So Nathan ignored all those sensible grownups and Nathan kept building. He built brilliant Lego sculptures of tables, phones and books, and without realizing it, Nathan also built his talent. Research and reports show it helps a whole lot. In fact, it's proven that play increases motivation, resilience and focus, three tools that every builder needs.

Nathan Sawaya:

I was challenging myself to build things out of Lego that I could find in my apartment. That would be the challenge. I would come home and I'd be like, "Okay, there's an apple. Can I build an apple out of Lego? Okay, there's a baseball. Can I build a baseball out of Lego?"

Narrator:

Nathan filled his apartment with Lego sculptures. They sprawled across the floor. And like any good grownup, he cared about keeping things tidy. So he built a website to display all his beautiful art. He hoped that one or two people would want to take his sculpture home. But that's not what happened, not in the least.

Nathan Sawaya:

And eventually my website crashed from too many hits, and I realized this is time to make a change.

Narrator:

People from all around the world saw the things that Nathan built and they said, "We love the things you build when you play. Please don't put your toys away." So Nathan gathered up his imagination. He summoned his creativity. He called upon his talent and Nathan built a new career.

Nathan Sawaya:

I explained, I'm leaving the law to go play with toys full-time. And, uh, surprisingly, my colleagues were a bit jealous. They were a little negative about it. They thought, you know, "You're leaving us? You're leaving us in the trenches? We're, we're all in this together and you're going to go pursue your dream? How dare you." And then my bosses were just confused because I was leaving a very secure lifestyle to go play with toys.

Narrator:

Nathan built sculptures of every possible size. He built a life sized T. rex that was nearly 20 feet tall. He built a Lego Wonder Woman, Conan O'Brien, and Venus de Milo. He even made a sculpture of Hans Solo frozen in carbonite. A single sculpture can use up to 100,000 Lego bricks and Nathan builds each sculpture by himself bit by bit. The things that Nathan builds have been seen around the world from Amsterdam to Sydney, from London to New York. And all the fancy art curators say, "Thank goodness you're not too old to play. We hope you never put your toys away."

Nathan Sawaya:

You know, I keep thinking I'm going to retire, but, uh, there's always something else to build. You know, there's so many bricks. I got 10 million in this studio. It's going to take a while to use them all up. For me, personally, I don't think I'll ever stop playing with Lego. I think I'll always have that as part of my, you know, creative outlet. And so 10 years from now I'll probably just still be in a studio somewhere doodling away, doing something creative. I've had conversations my whole life about, wow, he's still into Lego. This toy has become a part of my life. I even have it tattooed on my arm at this point. So yeah, I've had many conversations with folks questioning what I was doing. But, you know, that's part of, you know, making your own path and following, you know, your passion and finding a way to be creative in something that you love.

Narrator:

When you let your kids play, you're helping them to build their own path. The strengths they develop when they engage with their toys are gifts that stick with them for the rest of their lives.

Nathan Sawaya:

I know creativity and playing and being more creative is important in many different facets. We've seen it with kids who are exposed to art and do more creative art in school. They get higher test scores. They get higher graduation rates. And we know that creative therapy works, that it's therapeutic to do creative art. So what I'm getting at, I guess, is creating makes you happier. Creating makes you smarter. Creating makes you healthier. If those three things are true, then creating just makes you a better person.

Narrator:

So there you have it. Playful children become better people, and better people make the best grownups. And if nothing else, Nathan has taught us that one important lesson – play isn't just for kids. It's for all ages. We all have creativity. It's not just something children do. So take note from Nathan and keep on building. Who cares what your neighbors, your teachers, your coworkers might say. You know what to do. Go out and play.

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