Just another Lego site?
I know, there are a gazillion websites out there about Lego. So why did I build another one I hear you ask. As a very experienced educator and parent, I strongly believe that everything we provide for our children should have some educational value. We all know that children love Lego, and there is a huge range to choose from. I’d like to help you choose the best ones for your children.
“I have no special
talents. I am only
passionately
curious.”
– Albert Einstein
Children are born with an innate sense of curiosity. It is our job as parents to nurture and encourage this special gift. One way of doing this is by providing the child with toys that are open-ended in their versatility, engaging, relate to the child’s world, and fun. They also need to develop spatial awareness and encourage collaborative play.
Lego fits the above criteria perfectly. It has engaged generations of children. The dilemma for many parents though is ‘which Lego set is best for my child?’
Our about
Lego becomes a much more collaborative activity for older children and teenagers. It is also an excellent off-screens activity and great for lateral thinking and problem solving.
Lego has huge learning benefits for young children. It doesn’t have to only be about building things. Patterns, colours and numbers can all be part of the learning process using Lego.
How does our site help parents?
Our site is designed to make choosing the right Lego toys for your child easier. We have chosen Lego sets based upon age ranges, and defined criteria. The sets are chosen for their educational value, value for money, and versatility.
The site also provides an outline of the stage of development your child is within at particular ages. This is useful for determining what you need to look for in particular Lego sets. Below is the stage of development guidelines for children between the ages of 3 and 5.
At age 3 – 5 years the toddler years are behind them, and children are more able to concentrate for longer periods of time. These are also the years they transition from parallel play (where they play beside each other with little interaction), to actually playing together. They will talk constantly and ask many questions as cognitively their attention span increases and their understanding of stories, and relationships between numbers and objects grows. Their fine motor skills improve, and they are able to build more complex structures.
If you are buying a Lego set for this age group, the important criteria to consider, based on the above developmental outline, would be:
- The child’s concentration ability has increased
- They are beginning to play collaboratively
- Their attention span is increasing
- Their understanding of stories and relationship between numbers and objects is growing
- Their fine motor skills are improving
Based on this information, I would be looking for sets that challenge the child but is not so difficult that they won’t be able to experience success. I would also be seeking sets that two or more children could collaborate on the building and playing with. They could also move from Duplo to the smaller Lego bricks if their fine motor skills are sufficiently developed.
Important note: All children develop at their own rate. These guidelines are to be used as a guide only. You, as a parent, know your child best.
Lego is an ideal toy to encourage incidental learning as children and parents play together. There are countless ways these Lego sets can develop educational concepts across all learning areas. Please be sure to check out our education page for lots of ideas in how you can assist your child’s learning through Lego.
Our Articles
Although this site started as a Lego review site, we will be adding articles related to toys and learning. As a parent I found that many toys I used to buy for my children became ‘five minute wonders’. By that I mean the kids were delighted to receive them, but within five minutes the novelty had worn off and they were on to the next toy. I found the problem here to be two-fold.
- The children had too many toys – which led them to be completely distracted by the sheer number of toys around them, and,
- Often the rejected toys were ones that ‘did’ something. That is, they had one particular function such as a musical toy they wound up and it played a song, or any other toy which is similar.
To cure this problem I decluttered the children’s toys, stopped buying so many toys, and became much more selective about what I purchased. You can read more about this process here.
Please return often to our Articles page for many more articles relating to children, toys and learning.