This 7-year-old from Springfield is a budding LEGO master

The 7-year-old from Springfield is a rising LEGO star.

After winning the LEGO Washington Regional competition in May, young Lawrence Ross Jr. narrowly lost in the recent LEGO Mini Master Model Builder of North America competition.

Ross, “or LJ” to his friends and family, took first place in the LEGO Mini Master Model Builder competition held at the LEGO Discovery Center in Springfield from May 6-20, beating out more than 50 builders and earning a chance to compete for the title of Mini Master Model Builder of North America on June 20.

LJ won the May competition by building a toucan bird. According to the young master, the idea to create the bird came from looking at photos of birds with his mother until he found the right inspiration.

LJ said the key to his victory was making his creation as realistic as possible. To achieve this, he built moving parts, such as wings and feet, for his winning creation.

His prize-winning toucan is a far cry from the days when LJ first started playing with LEGO bricks. He credits his older sister Naomi with getting him into the hobby when he was just 4. LJ started out with a Duplo set that included large LEGO bricks, which he used to build an alphabet train. From there, he moved on to competing with cars made from standard LEGO bricks, and his skills have only evolved since then.

His parents, Lawrence Sr. and Zoma, were there to watch LJ go from a Duplo set to building a LEGO pool where he can just sit and create.

“Whenever he had a new creation, he proudly displayed it on the mantelpiece,” they said. “As he became more skilled, he asked for other kits to build. He would take apart the more ‘simple’ creations and replace them with more advanced designs.”

It was his mother, Zoma, who found out about the DC competition and encouraged her son to enter, believing it would be great fun for him.

“It’s exciting to see him compete at the national level,” the parents told InsideNoVa. “He put a lot of time and thought into preparing for the competition and we think Washington would be proud.”

This article was written by FFXnow news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for a free InsideNoVa.com email subscription today.