6 – 8 years of age is known as middle childhood and brings many changes in a child’s life. Having independence from family becomes more important now. Events such as starting school bring children at this age into regular contact with the larger world. Friendships become more and more important. Physical, social, and mental skills develop quickly at this time. This is a critical time for children to develop confidence in all areas of life, such as through friends, schoolwork, and sports.
Children in this age group might:
- Show more independence from parents and family.
- Start to think about the future.
- Understand more about his or her place in the world.
- Pay more attention to friendships and teamwork.
- Want to be liked and accepted by friends.
They may also:
- Show rapid development of mental skills.
- Learn better ways to describe experiences and talk about thoughts and feelings.
- Have less focus on one’s self and more concern for others.
Best Learning Set for 6 - 8 years
LEGO Friends 41335 Mia’s Tree House Creative Building Set
LEGO® Friends Mia’s Tree House construction toy is packed with features and details to create hours of fun for Mia, her brother, and their friends. There’s a folding ladder, scramble net and a zip wire for access to and from the second floor. There’s also:
- Includes 2 mini-dolls plus 2 animal figures.
- Includes Mia and Daniel mini-doll figures, plus Mimì the bunny and Cinnamon the bird figures.
- Features a tree house accessed by ladder or scramble net, attic with opening roof and storage box, tree trunk with storage box and a bunny house.
- Accessory elements include a skateboard, water gun, torch, ghost stories book, artwork tiles, pizza, ‘I love Heartlake City’ mug, board game, map of Heartlake City Park, boomerang, love letter tile, ball, bird nest, egg and a carrot.
- Whizz down the zip wire and then scramble back up the net to the tree house.
- Prepare an exciting night in for Mia’s friends with ghost stories by torchlight, board games and pizza, then discover Daniel’s box of belongings in the attic!
- Take the skateboard for a spin in Heartlake City Park, or have fun outside the tree house with the sports equipment with this great construction toy.
- Help animal-lover Mia look after her pet bunny in her house and the cute little bird nesting in the tree.
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Open-ended Learning Possibilities
Due to the variety of elements in this set it lends itself to hours of fun. Being a fairly open-ended set is perfect for story telling. The children can use the buildings and characters in many different ways. Encourage your child to tell you the story of their building, and why they built it that way. It’s also great for maths and science / engineering concepts. Ask them to estimate how many blocks are needed for particular types of buildings. Also ask which type of structures are stronger, and how you could test them.
This set will also test their reading skills as the instructions are more detailed than sets aimed at younger children. Due to the number of pieces in this set some children may need adult assistance to build. However the fact of being a large set gives the children a wider scope to build variations of the original.
Best Value Set
LEGO City Police High-Speed Chase
Kids are part of the action with this set. They can call in Chase McCain to help stop the crook escaping with the loot in the stolen sports car. They can use the police helicopter and police car to chase the bad guys.
Building kit includes police helicopter with spinning rotors and a lowering winch with hook, police car, a sports car. Includes Chase McCain, helicopter pilot, officer, crook minifigures plus accessories
LEGO City is a realistic LEGO world for your child to explore and stimulate their creativity. Iconic vehicles and buildings form the bustling backdrop. LEGO City building toys are compatible with all LEGO construction sets for creative building
Most Versatile Set for 6 - 8 years
Lego Creator Plane - has three different versions
This set gives the flexibility of three sets in one, combine with other Lego kits to provide endless opportunities.
- Build and rebuild 3 models with this 3 in 1 set. Build the Futuristic Flyer and then rebuild and head into space with a Futuristic Spaceship. Or enjoy sci-fi fun with a flying Futuristic Robot!
- The Futuristic Flyer toy airplane features forward swept wings, fixed landing gear, a tinted cockpit, flaming jet engine and an awesome dark red and white color scheme
- Futuristic Flyer measures over 2” (7cm) high, 7” (20cm) long and 8” (22cm) wide. Futuristic Spaceship measures over 1” (4cm) high, 6” (17cm) long and 5” (14cm) wide. Futuristic Robot stands over 3” (10cm) high.
Children are always fascinated by space travel, and at this age are learning about space and the planets at school. This set provides the opportunity for further learning in these key areas.
I would also be asking children questions about flight, and working through with them basic science. They can learn engineering principals of flight and materials that are used in aircraft construction. Some children will only be interested in constructing the different models. Others will show a keen interest in all things related to aviation.
This set lends itself to collaborative play, as the whole family can join in. Younger family members can use Lego to create other airport associated buildings, older family members can build more complex pieces.