LEGO Model of a Cell {Life Science Activity}

Build a LEGO Model of a Cell!

Why make a model of a cell out of candy, play dough, or other messy materials when you can use LEGO bricks?! This is such a fun life science activity for upper elementary and middle school students.

It’s also the perfect project for when your child tells you at 8:00 pm that they need supplies for a cell project that is due the next day. No need to run to the store! Just pull out the LEGO bins!

My 6th grader is studying the human body in science right now. She and I worked together on this LEGO cell, and then she wrote a description of what each organelle’s function is within the cell. We’re homeschoolers, though, so we didn’t have to do a late-night scramble on this project haha.

You can easily build a plant cell or an animal cell. We chose to make an animal cell.

For a plant cell, I would recommend adding a second layer of bricks on the outside of the cell membrane to make the cell wall.

We used a cell diagram in our science book, and got to work building organelles!

This really is a fun project because kids can truly use whatever bricks they have. For example, we used a 4 x 4 white round plate for the vacuole, but you can also use a 4 x 4 round brick or even just regular bricks.

I’m especially proud of the Golgi bodies haha. We’ve had these light gray curved bricks for a long time, but according to BrickLink they are still a current LEGO element. Here’s the link in case you want to order some: 4 x 4 round corner brick.

I wanted to make the mitochondria an oval shape, but I couldn’t find any bricks that worked for what I had in mind. I’m really happy with the smooth endoplasmic reticulum and the rough endoplasmic reticulum. We used 1 x 1 round plates as ribosomes on the rough ER. Worked great!