Your 9 – 12 year old child’s growing independence from the family and interest in friends may be obvious. Healthy friendships are very important to your child’s development, but peer pressure can become strong during this time. Children who feel good about themselves are more able to resist negative peer pressure and make better choices for themselves. This is an important time for children to gain a sense of responsibility along with their growing independence. Also, physical changes of puberty might be showing by now, especially for girls.
Here is some information on how children develop during middle childhood:
Emotional/Social Changes
Children in this age group might:
- Start to form stronger, more complex friendships and peer relationships. It becomes more emotionally important to have friends, especially of the same sex.
- Experience more peer pressure.
- Become more aware of his or her body as puberty approaches. Body image and eating problems sometimes start around this age.
Thinking and Learning
Children in this age group might:
- Face more academic challenges at school.
- Become more independent from the family.
- Begin to see the point of view of others more clearly.
- Have an increased attention span.
Best Value Set
Lego Marvel Avengers Ultimate Quinjet
Team up with the Avengers and fly into conflict against the Chitauri in the LEGO® Marvel Avengers 76126 Avengers Ultimate Quinjet. This awesome jet features an opening minifigure cockpit, stud shooters, adjustable wings, spinning rotors, opening passenger compartment and an opening rear compartment with a fold-out 6-stud rapid shooter and stud-shooting trike. This popular toy building set for kids has 6 minifigures—including Black Widow, Hawkeye, Rocket and Thor, all with new-for-March-2019 Avengers team suit decoration—and cool weapons to recreate thrilling scenes from the Marvel Avengers movies.
Get set for battle against the Chitauri with the Avengers Ultimate Quinjet! Prepare the weapons with Rocket and Thor in the passenger compartment. Jump in the cockpit with Black Widow and take off. Fire the stud shooters and the 6-stud rapid shooter. Make a smooth landing and continue the fight on the wings. Then surprise the enemy with the stud-shooting trike!
- Piece count: 838.
- Conduct experiments with Tony Stark and capture the Outrider with the LEGO® Marvel Avengers 76125 Iron Man Hall of Armor, featuring a modular lab that can be combined and stacked in many different ways for endless play possibilities.
- The hall includes a rotating podium with 2 posable robotic arms for Tony Stark to get suited up as Iron Man, a desk, kitchen, weapon storage, tool storage and Iron Man suit storage modules, a radar dish and more.
- This versatile Iron Man construction toy includes a posable Igor Suit mech with minifigure cockpit, a posable mobile robot and 5 minifigures—including Iron Man MK 1, Iron Man MK 5, Iron Man MK 41 and Iron Man MK 50, plus Tony Stark face and hair elements to attach to your chosen Iron Man minifigure.
Best Learning Set 9 - 12 year olds
LEGO Technic 42093 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
Recreate engineering excellence with this LEGO Technic 42093 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 replica. Developed in partnership with Corvette, this exclusive model really captures the essence of the iconic supercar and comes with an authentic orange and black color scheme, black spoked rims with low-profile tires, large rear wing and 4 tailpipes. This collectible model car also features working steering and a visible detailed V8 engine with moving pistons. You can also rebuild this sports car model to create a Hot Rod replica.
This car will appeal to all model car enthusiasts, and will challenge many builders. While the build is manageable for ages 9 and older, younger kids may struggle with some of the instructions, and need adult help.
It is a great set though for introducing many of the STEM concepts in a fun way. Again, the most learning will occur if a parent is joining the child in the building of this set, and can explain what the parts are and the engineering behind how the system works.
This set contains over 500 pieces, and will be a collector’s item once completed. The beauty of the set is also that it can be rebuilt as an entirely different car. You are in effect getting two cars for the price of one.
Most Versatile Set for 9 - 12 year olds
Lego Sunshine Surfer Van
Build a toy camper van with kitchenette, surfboard, parasol, BBQ and camping furniture!
Includes 2 LEGO minifigures: a woman and a man, both ready for summer adventures
3 in 1 construction toy – Rebuilds into a Lifeguard Tower with quad bike or Beach Buggy
Sunshine Surfer Van measures over 3-inch (10cm) high, 9-inch (24cm) long and 3-inch (8cm) wide Lifeguard Tower measures over 5-inch (13cm) high, 5-inch (13cm) wide and 6-inch (17cm) deep Beach Buggy measures over 1-inch (5cm) high, 5-inch (14cm) long and 2-inch (6cm) wide. This set contains 379 pieces.
This set is great for a few reasons. Firstly it appeals to boys or girls. Being a three in one set allows for multiple builds, and uses when combined with other Lego sets. The set contains many accessories, which again can be used in other Lego sets to create a much larger scene. Many purchasers have commented that this is their most played with set.