OT: Ninjago help!
 

Looking for good gift ideas for my 5 year old son. He recently said he likes playing with my nephew's Legos so I'm trying to figure out what to get...regular Legos or themed? Do you recommend Ninjago and if so, what is a good starter set or two? Is is better to get a few small sets or one big set? Thanks in advance!

My honest opinion is that you need to buy the bricks that are made for 3-5 year olds. I am not sure if the Ninjago sets come in that age range. DS8 is really into legos but he is just within the last 9 months or so really able to put the sets together himself and keep them together. Prior to that he would get sets and just make his own designs. There are a LOT of little pieces with the sets. I know every kid is different :) Oh so my vote would be either lego/duplo sets for his age range or the smaller sets with less pieces.

Does he like building with legos, or the lego guys better? My 8 year old will build a lego set once, but then play with the minifigures endlessly. You can buy packs with just minifigures, and they sell a lot of Ninjago characters separately (without the building set). If he's into building, I would recommend just a box of legos -- Wal-Mart usually has a tub of legos on sale for a good price.

Here's my opinion from a very Lego family!
Ninjago is huge in our house! They love it! They watch the show, they have some of the cards (big for my 7 yo), but they do the spin guys and have fun with that. My 4 yo loves it too, and can play with it by himself.

Starwars is another set they both love. But my opinion is, like a pp said, just get the bricks. 2 years ago for Christmas Santa brought them each a box of Legos. Funny thing was he dumped them into their stockings! So when they poured them out, out came 100's of Lego pieces. Kids loved it.

My 4 yo will build for hours, creating planes, cars, robots, etc. He's very much a son of an engineer.

This is what I bought them (2): http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-Bricks-Mo...3148327&sr=8-2
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg

Good luck! We love Legos, it's the only toy that both kids play with for hours at a time. :cool1:

I second the minifigures. My boys love the minifigures, not so much the sets. We build'em & they break'em into pieces. The guys are endless play!

The Ninjago ses can be tricky. I would start with some bricks and mini figures. Best of both worlds:-)

Thanks everyone!! I really appreciate your suggestions! Is each mini figure one piece or does it contain pieces you put together? I also saw 60 piece Mario Kart figures...do you think those would be good or better to wait on anything specific/themed to be built?

I have a 6-year old and we have some of the various Starwars and Ninjango sets. Huge hit for boys this ages (some girls too). A little complex for them, but it's also a great time we spend together with me helping/coaching on the instructions and finding the pieces.

Minifigs are in about 3-4 parts. Easy to put together and cheap ($3.50-4 ea at TRU or Target).

My ds11 has a lot of the Ninjago sets. He built each one 1 time and they are displayed in his room. He plays with the figures and the basic bricks all the time. Last year he got a box that had a ton of basic bricks and he loved it.

I would respectfully disagree. This may be true for a lot of kids, bu my son would be crushed to get the "baby" legos. He has been able to put together most sets since he was 5. I think his brain is just wired for this sort of stuff. So if he is asking for real legos, that's what I would get.

FYI- the ninjago line is supposed to be discontinued in 2013 so if he is crazy about that one I would get them now, and if not I don't think I would get him hooked on that line.

My DD(6) would not have been interested in the 3-5 sets for long at age 5 and would have been disappointed if she had been playing with someone else's older kid Legos and got those. I would recommend something that the age on the box starts at 6 if you can find it. You may have to help him some with it, but we thought it was fun to help at our house.

ITA that the regular Lego blocks are the way to go. My 5 yo can put together Lego sets better than my 7 yo, so it really does depend on the child.
Ninjago has sets called spinjitzu (?spelling), they are between $12.99-19.99 depending on the character, and include the character mini figure as well as parts to a game. Some of the ninjago sets are quite difficult to build, but if you stick to the ones labeled 5+ or 6+ they should be able to do it with a bit of help.
Lego Star Wars is also immensely popular around here, and there are some smaller sets of star fighters, x-wings etc that have a few mini figures along with a small Lego project. IMHO that would be a great starter set. However, the sets get frustrating because you can't make as many things with them as you can with the box of bricks. So you really do need a box of bricks too to do instruction-free building.
Now we have so many sets that we have bins in our Lego bins categorizing the parts...I only wish the rest of my house was as organized as the Lego bin lol!

I am not here to brag on my children. My son has been playing with legos for YEARS and in fact is very very good at following directions. That said the majority of Ninjago sets say 7 and up. There are a few things that are 6 and up. A few. Most kids at 5 want to build what their imaginations tell them too. Loose bricks of whatever is age appropriate might be the best bet.

That is why I said it depends on the kid. 5 is a rough age because it really is not that big but it is not that little either.

Just because a kid is asking for something doesn't mean that they can actually build the sets and that leads to frustration. The box doesnt show all the teeny tiny pieces it just shows the cool finished product.

My 4 and 6 year old love lego guys and are always happy to get them.

I'd also look at Trio's. they're posts and 1 inch by 1 inch interconnecting blocks and come in lots if different themed sets. We have Green Lantern, Batman, and a police station set. They're very fun and versatile. In a starter set, you can build animals, houses, aliens, anything you can imagine. they're great.