Calling all Lego Moms...I have a question

[jacksmomma]

DS is 3. He is starting to show an interest in Legos and has a few of the Duplo sets that he has had for a while. My question is when do you start giving kids the "real" legos aka the smaller blocks? I am not worried about the choking hazard aspect. I know that they can be good for fine motor skills. However, I do not want to get him a set that he gets frustrated with because it is beyond his skill level. (Although I am sure he would be happy just building and not following the directions! )

Thoughts?

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

We started dsNow16 on the little legos when he was three, mainly to improve his fine-motor skills on the advice of his preschool teacher. He was already freeform building with Duplos (aka not following set directions). We purchased one of the larger bucket sets that had interesting pieces like wheels, doors, etc.

Now his Lego inventory is 20,000+ pieces!

 

[luckymom4]

Buy him legos when you get a hankering to step on one on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

J/k. My DS5 will get legos for Christmas this year. Up until this point he has only wanted to build with wooden blocks. We have a HUGE set. But DH wants to try legos, so here we go.

 

[Tracy041500]

My boys were around 3ish, and my daughter is 2 and she plays with them and loves them. My kids never put things in their mouth so I never worried. I better go and knock on wood now...lol

 

[jacksmomma]

My boys were around 3ish, and my daughter is 2 and she plays with them and loves them. My kids never put things in their mouth so I never worried. I better go and knock on wood now...lol

Mine is the same way, I never worry about them going in his mouth.

 

[doclegler]

who just turned 7 really started getting into the tiny lego sets at age 6. They are quite complicated sets, but he seems to catch on quickly and can now do a Star Wars jet in just over an hour. Maybe he'll be the next Imagineer!
The bigger lego's are really great for the smaller bunch. The small sizes aren't too bad once they are about 5. Buy a box of the mixed legos to start with...then do the sets as they get more confident about building.
Toni

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

I started by purchasing my son a small set probably when he was 4. I believe it was from the Lego store at WDW! We have been good to make sure we kept the instructions and the legos in a baggie so he can rebuild the sets again as he wants.

Now that he is older, of course he has decided to do away with our organization, in order to build skyscrapers!

I happily just found out this week my child due in February is going to be a boy! So yay, I will be set for Legos when he gets older too! You have to love a toy that never ages and never wears out!

 

[brergnat]

We bought our son the first "bucket" set of 400 pc legos when he turned 4.

He has a younger brother (20 months younger). They BOTH played with the legos from the get-go. Our duplo play table was abandoned immediately.

Our younger son WAS one to put things in his mouth, so in the beginning, whenever DS4 wanted to play with the Legos, I made sure to really supervise them carefully. But, younger DS never put the legos in his mouth because he was too interested in building with them.

I think 3 is a good age, if you know the child will not mouth them. Don't buy any of the building kits though. Just buy the "buckets" that have lots of different types of bricks in them. There is a blue bucket with 400-something pieces that is a great starter set. It's only like $20 and can be found at Target and Toys R Us. That's the one we started with.

We have slowly added some sets as DS has gotten interested. He's actually a VERY talented brickmaster at 5. He has very good spatial organization skills and can build some pretty complicated stuff from just looking at the pictures, without even the instructions. He actually built the Beach House pretty much without any of our help, when he was about 4.5 years old. I'm jealous of him.

 

[momof3+twins]

My 3 year old twins have been playing with their older brother's legos for at least a year. I would worry about them being a choking hazard. My daughter swallowed one. I couldn't keep them away from them though.

 

[PHXscuba]

I would second the advice about buying the buckets to do Legos free-form. Following the directions for the sets, even the little sets, takes more maturity and dexterity, which I think is why most of the sets are labeled for 6+.

I would say that if they are old enough not to put things in their mouth they could probably have fun with the little Legos, as long as they don't seem frustrated.

It seems that kids who do puzzles well do very well with following the set directions. Both my older DS and my nephew were good with larger puzzles at a young age and started building sets quickly without help. My younger DS isn't as interested in puzzles and still prefers to free-build.

PHXscuba

 

[jacksmomma]

If anyone is interested I found these awesome instructions for a DIY lego table. It even has a light! It seems pretty easy to do too! Check it out!

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2008/06/weekend-project-1-hack-lego-table.html

 

[bumbershoot]

The one mainstream thing about us is that we follow the age recs on toys. So DS only had the big buckets that were age-appropriate.

Until....we started questioning WHY they had those high age limits. There were small things in the buckets, so it couldn't be safety.

And finally, I wrote to Lego, asking them about it. And they pretty much answered that the higher age limits are for frustration levels, dexterity, etc. That as long as they are out of the mouthy age (and of course as long as there are no mouthy ones around), it's just the maturity of the child.

And so we made the One Big Exception. DS loves it. And I love it too, because we had a big conversation about why we were making this exception (he knows numbers, so he KNOWS that he's not the "right" age), so if he does start to get cranky and frustrated, it's just a quick word to remind him that he agreed to just walk away if he got frustrated, and he goes back to being OK and trying again.


So that's what we did. He didn't get the big-kid sets until he was 5 and could really understand it all (not sure what age I would have given in if I'd written to Lego when he was younger).

 

[hoosiergirl7]

We introduced our son to the little legos when he was about 4 but didn't really show any interest in them until this past summer and he'll be 6 in Dec. We still have a huge set of Duplo blocks that he and his little sister play with. It really depends on the child.

 

[KristinU]

About 4 for us too, DS is now 5.5. Funny thing is that he's obsessed with Legos but never really got into the Duplos. And like a PP said, the age thing is more about the complexity of the set after the 4-5 age range...there's a Star Wars one that is rated like 17+...not that it isn't safe for a 16 year old, LOL!

One thing that I think we're getting DS for Christmas is www.box4blox.com Not inexpensive, but really cool looking for finding those itty bitty pieces.

 

[jacksmomma]

One thing that I think we're getting DS for Christmas is www.box4blox.com Not inexpensive, but really cool looking for finding those itty bitty pieces.

That is really cool! I love the sifting action! That was my first thought after DS started talking about the legos...how will we store all those tiny pieces?!

 

[brergnat]

Lego sets are very complex toys, but the TRUTH is, a child that is capable of putting together a set marked 5+ is ALSO capable of putting together a set marked 17+. He/she will just need help.

My husband is a HUGE lego fan, especially the Star Wars stuff. He bought that giant Death Star set...and we've been working on it for MONTHS, and it's still not done. He and I AND our son all work on it during the weekends for about an hour at a time. It's a collaborative effort. I honestly don't know how ONE person could put that thing together...regardless of age.

Our son just turned 5, and he's been playing with "small legos" since he turned 4. As I mentioned, he practically put the Beach House (an 8+ set) together independently. He has Autism, and his brain is just wired with that spatial skill set that makes him REALLY good at doing Lego sets. It has nothing to do with "maturity", because he does get frustrated, but he also is a perfectionist, and his frustration stems more from being overly forceful with the bricks sometimes, and the pieces breaking apart mid-build. When he "messes up", he feels he has to start over. So, there's a lot of convincing him that he can just fix it and keep going where he left off, rather than destroy the WHOLE thing and start from Step 1 again...

Lego sets are a wonderful teaching tool. We use the Legos as a way to teach patience, perseverence, fine motor skills, and how to follow directions. On their own, the legos are great for inspiring creativity and imaginative play. I think they are one of the best toys ever invented.

In my humble opinion, the sets shouldn't have age markers on them. The kids should just get sets that interest them. And, parents should be prepared to help them if needed.

 

[jacksmomma]

Lego sets are very complex toys, but the TRUTH is, a child that is capable of putting together a set marked 5+ is ALSO capable of putting together a set marked 17+. He/she will just need help.

My husband is a HUGE lego fan, especially the Star Wars stuff. He bought that giant Death Star set...and we've been working on it for MONTHS, and it's still not done. He and I AND our son all work on it during the weekends for about an hour at a time. It's a collaborative effort. I honestly don't know how ONE person could put that thing together...regardless of age.

Our son just turned 5, and he's been playing with "small legos" since he turned 4. As I mentioned, he practically put the Beach House (an 8+ set) together independently. He has Autism, and his brain is just wired with that spatial skill set that makes him REALLY good at doing Lego sets. It has nothing to do with "maturity", because he does get frustrated, but he also is a perfectionist, and his frustration stems more from being overly forceful with the bricks sometimes, and the pieces breaking apart mid-build. When he "messes up", he feels he has to start over. So, there's a lot of convincing him that he can just fix it and keep going where he left off, rather than destroy the WHOLE thing and start from Step 1 again...

Lego sets are a wonderful teaching tool. We use the Legos as a way to teach patience, perseverence, fine motor skills, and how to follow directions. On their own, the legos are great for inspiring creativity and imaginative play. I think they are one of the best toys ever invented.

In my humble opinion, the sets shouldn't have age markers on them. The kids should just get sets that interest them. And, parents should be prepared to help them if needed.

Wonderfully put!

 

[aetrom]

I would say 3-5 for the small sets. I say that cause my 4 year old (who was early at large motor skills but fine slower) would get VERY frustrated very quickly with legos last year. now he is able to do them to some degree with help. before he couldn't push them together.... so the middle size worked best for us. once you get past the 4 age all legos are the same, just the complexity changes. so once they can do that they could do anything with help.

 

[happymommy]

Lego sets are very complex toys, but the TRUTH is, a child that is capable of putting together a set marked 5+ is ALSO capable of putting together a set marked 17+. He/she will just need help.

My husband is a HUGE lego fan, especially the Star Wars stuff. He bought that giant Death Star set...and we've been working on it for MONTHS, and it's still not done. He and I AND our son all work on it during the weekends for about an hour at a time. It's a collaborative effort. I honestly don't know how ONE person could put that thing together...regardless of age.

Our son just turned 5, and he's been playing with "small legos" since he turned 4. As I mentioned, he practically put the Beach House (an 8+ set) together independently. He has Autism, and his brain is just wired with that spatial skill set that makes him REALLY good at doing Lego sets. It has nothing to do with "maturity", because he does get frustrated, but he also is a perfectionist, and his frustration stems more from being overly forceful with the bricks sometimes, and the pieces breaking apart mid-build. When he "messes up", he feels he has to start over. So, there's a lot of convincing him that he can just fix it and keep going where he left off, rather than destroy the WHOLE thing and start from Step 1 again...

Lego sets are a wonderful teaching tool. We use the Legos as a way to teach patience, perseverence, fine motor skills, and how to follow directions. On their own, the legos are great for inspiring creativity and imaginative play. I think they are one of the best toys ever invented.

In my humble opinion, the sets shouldn't have age markers on them. The kids should just get sets that interest them. And, parents should be prepared to help them if needed.

I know this is off topic, but your son reminds me of a test that my kids took through CTY - it's a program run by Johns Hopkins University called Center for Talented Youth. The kids are given math and language exams to qualify for their programs, and they also can take an optional test that can pick up on other more hidden talents. The test is called the Spatial Test Battery. My kids didn't score high on this one) Your son may have a talent in this area - I think it's cool to let him use the legos to channel it. If you want info on this program, their website is www.cty.juh.edu. My kids enoyed the summer camps for two year (day camp), and my son has adhd, he did fine. I know autism is more extreme, but it's cool to find resources to help our kids use the gifts they're given.

I agree - I think the "ages" on legos are more of a suggestion, like if you're giving the set as a gift, and also they have to say age 3 and up for their liability if a small child put them in their mouth. My son went through a phase where he really loved them, and it is a good quiet time activity. He also loved the bionicles, too. I was amazed at how a 5 or 6 year old can learn so quickly how to put one together! I also found that many times, they were missing one or two critical parts - so we'd have to go back to the store to exchange it, which is frustrating to a boy with ADHD.

OOOOHHHH, I had forgotten about the pain of stepping down hard on a lego in the dark. That was the only time I ever had a bruise on the sole of my foot! Ouch!!!! Definitely pick them up off the carpet after playing!

 

[disneynutsx4]

I started buying red buckets of LEGO before my son was born...rationalizing that the LEGO was on sale right then, and what if we couldn't afford any later on...? So when he was 2, I opened a bucket (4 were in the garage) and showed him what it was. He never did put them into his mouth, but he did like dumping the bucket on the floor...again and again. We then tried Duplo, which he liked for awhile, and we kept the LEGO in the garage until he was about 4.

It never went back there, and now we have buckets, bins, trays...you name it, full of the LEGO we've been buying (not just for him, I say with some pride) over the years, and now he's 11. His little brother just turned 6, and likes playing with the stuff, but he's just not as interested in building as the older kid. The bigger issue nowadays is that they never put the buckets, bins, and trays away after playing for a couple of hours. At least we're not stepping on pieces anymore...