TJ Weston competes Saturday during a speed build at the Lego tournament at Old Union Presbyterian Church in Adams Township. Weston won the event, which required building an exact copy of a model in the quickest time. Joseph Ressler/Butler Eagle

Joseph Ressler

Jack Fiore, 10, of Cranberry Township, and Connor Moore, 9, of Evans City, compete against each other in a speed build contest Saturday at the Lego tournament at Old Union Presbyterian Church in Adams Township. Twenty-six children, from first to sixth grade, competed in different events at the annual tournament. Joseph Ressler/Butler Eagle

Joseph Ressler

ADAMS TWP — “Legos down!”

As the Rev. Peter de Vries announced the end of time in the third of five competitions in the Old Union Prebyterian Church’s 11th Lego tournament, 26 children stopped what they were doing and prepared to show the judges what they’d built.

The contestants, all in first through sixth grades and seated on the church’s basement floor or at tables, were taking part in what de Vries called the church’s push for cooperative play.

“The whole purpose of it is to encourage creativity and imagination in the winter months,” de Vries said.

Building kits aren’t allowed, so all of the creations came from what the children spontaneously thought up or had practiced previously.

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Arya Pavlina, of Cincinnati, builds during a partner event at the Lego tournament at Old Union Presbyterian Church in Adams Township on Saturday. Pavlina and her partner won the event. Joseph Ressler/Butler Eagle

Joseph Ressler