Architect Stephen W. Schwartz wants to build you a downtown. With the help of kids.

Sunday afternoon, they built downtown Summit.

Schwartz, who is based in Livingston, founded Building Blocks Workshops (www.buildingblocksworkshops.com) to bring kids and parents together for “a great family bonding experience” making miniature versions of New Jersey downtowns with Lego (www.lego.com).  

At the event in Washington School in Summit, some three dozen families received 60,000 Lego blocks and got their pick from photos of local historic buildings. When they finished, everybody laid out their masterworks on a 400-sqare foot map of the downtown drawn by Schwartz.

Sharon O’Sullivan and her kids tried their hands at a classic “rail car” style diner dating from 1938. “We hope it will look like the Summit Diner when we are done,” she said.

Ten-year-old Ryan Bonko, a lifelong (well, pretty much) Lego fan, came with his family wearing his Lego t-shirt, still excited about his visit last year to Legoland in California (www.legoland.com). He worked on a replica of Summit Unitarian Church, built in 1913.

Ryan listened carefully when Schwartz, making the rounds, arrived at his table and pointed out architectural elements like the columns and gable of the portico, inspired by 242-year-old St. Paul’s Chapel (www.saintpaulschapel.org), which survived the collapse of the World Trade Center and served as a place of refuge for rescue workers.

“These workshops are a great way to teach a child history,” Schwartz said. “All of a sudden, they become more aware of their architectural surroundings.”

But it’s not homework-ish history. “It’s fun to put together stuff and be creative with it,” Ryan Bonko said.

So far this year kids have also built the downtowns of Montclair and Harrison-Kearny. For 2009, Schwartz hopes to add Morristown, Princeton and Westfield. Local historical societies will benefit from entry fees.  Kids benefit, too. And have a blast.