Buying LEGO’s for Kids? Tips For Successful Building

Have you thought about buying LEGO’s for your child or as a gift? I can’t believe how many kids love to construct with LEGO’s. I said it before when I reviewed the LEGO Duplo Creative Sorter, my son sits with my LEGO media kit binder, flipping through it like it’s the Bible, consuming every picture, asking questions and commenting on the characters.

Today I brought the LEGO Duplo My First Build Kit into school. LEGO Duplo’s are larger blocks, geared for younger builders ages 1 1/2 to 5. I decided I’d give it a whirl and use it with a few kids, all boys, 2 seven-year-olds and a 6-year-old. I took a chance giving it to 3 kids out of the suggested age range, but they all really enjoyed their time with the kit. I was shocked in all honesty, that I didn’t hear anything about this being for little kids or “babies.” I was more concerned with some of the comments they made about their ability to build with LEGOS.

This particular set is neat because it includes 59 multi-colored pieces, but there are 4 double-sided cards. One side has a picture of something that can be built out of the included DUPLO’s. The other side includes a step-by-step tutorial on how to make a different item. Kids can either follow the directions, or similar to the Creative Sorter, they can place the pieces on the card like a template. I’m a concrete learner, step-by-step directions and pictures are my best friends, and for some kids, this is also true. Others are imaginative and have the ability to create from scratch and wow you with their final product. So this feature alone allows 2 different types of learners or children with different skill levels to customize their experience and build at their level.

While we were building I started asking the kids questions about LEGO’s. 1 child reported he had one of the LEGO video games and that he had a Star Wars kit at home that he plays with, but that his father built for him. Another child,  stated, “I don’t have any. I’m not a good builder.”  Now my opinion might be swayed in that I was using this kit with children who are having some visual spatial skills at school. However, this got me thinking, in general, as a parent even though your child may have a specific interest prompting you to head to the store looking for pirate ships, Avengers characters, Star Wars sets, you name it, something big with loads of pieces that all their friends are asking for. But what if they don’t have the skills to build it? Meaning, what if they can’t follow the instructions, or they don’t have enough hand strength to push the pieces together? Even the kids I worked with today had poor awareness of their force, they’d push to hard, part of it would fall, bumping into another structure they had already built with a piece that would then fall off like a domino effect. Then comes the frustration and anger, turning something fun into a disaster.

Here were some ideas I had on how you can gauge your child’s ability level with LEGO’s and help them be happy, successful constructors.

– For kids in that borderline age range like 5 or 6, they are bridging between a Duplo and the regular sized LEGO bricks. If you are purchasing the smaller LEGO’s, opt for a smaller set that has fewer pieces to save on cost and really get a sense of how much help they may or may not need with larger sets, that is unless you are a closet LEGO loving adult who is happy to build all of the structures yourself!

– A few years ago I attempted to put together LEGO Ramses’s Pyramid with another child and we way underestimated how much time it would take to build the structure nevermind learn how to play the game included, so set a reasonable time limit, and complete the project in stages

– Many would say, searching the  floor or pile for the correct brick is part of the fun of the process, but for some kids, this can be completely visually overwhelming. Pre-sort the pieces and give them only the pieces they will need to follow each instruction, guiding them with verbal clues along the way for placement

-Switch off, they place a piece, you place a piece to share in the process and build stamina, what ever the case, allow them to place the first pieces and the last pieces so they can have a sense of initiation while finishing a project to completion

Do you have any strategies that are helpful when building with LEGO’s in your family?

LEGO provided this toy free to facilitate this review. The opinions provided are my own.