Crocheting with Kids - Getting Creative with Legos

It used to be easy to crochet for an extended amount of time. Before Elijah, I had TONS of time to do whatever I wanted (hurray for being a college instructor and only working 2-4 hours a day). After Elijah (and the initial sleep deprivation), there were 3 hour nap periods. Now, he's 4 1/2, rarely naps, and isn't usually in bed until 9:30. During the day, my crochet work gets interrupted to put shows on TV, make food, play games, clean up messes, etc. During the evening, it gets interrupted by my need to sleep :). I've had to get creative with how I deal with all the creative things going on in my head, and still spend quality time with my kid.

(Case in point, while writing the above paragraph, I stopped to straighten a blanket on the floor, to get Elijah a granola bar, to get him a glass of orange juice, and to change the Netflix show.)

Enter Legos.

Elijah has only recently gotten into Legos. We have a box from when I was a kid, and we got a couple more boxes of blocks for Christmas. Both James and I love playing with Legos, so we're excited that Elijah is entering this phase. The other night, I decided to do some crochet planning while playing with Legos.

How cute with this be as a granny square blanket?

 

And those tiny 1 square blocks? Perfect for planning tapestry crochet designs. I was imagining a little coin purse.

For me, this is the perfect solution. I get to work on my stuff and play with Elijah at the same time. He has now even started to make his own "designs", which just means he fills up a board with random blocks. I just might take a picture of one and make him a blanket of his own creation at some point. How sweet would that be?

Even if you don't have kids, using Legos to plan out crochet projects is fun, but expensive if you don't already have the blocks. Weren't these things cheaper when we were young?

How do you get creative when crocheting with kids?