spin-off: your Lego philosophy

[Anonymous]

My house has 2 huge bins of legos. My house also has a bunch of sets that I have hidden from my 6 yr old because he is not old enough to put them together. Should I just let him do his best with the sets (10-25$ sets, not really expensive and all gifts) or wait till he gest older so he has some actual sets?

For those of you who keep them all organized, do you do it, or your child? Did you make a system that your child follows? If yes, what age?

He just found one of the little hidden sets and I was pleased that he put it together and thought maybe he's about old enough. I was also impressed with the little set of vehichicles that he made and thought he could learn fromputting actual sets together but he's also already having fun.

Yes, I'm over thinking this.

[Anonymous]

I don't have a philosophy, but having one seems hilarious to me.

My son loves legos and has forever. He put together a star wars one from a kit last night (he is about to be 12).

He loves kits and has seen he was 5 or 6, putting them together and following directions.

He also has a bunch of mixed up ones from old kids or whatever that sometimes he plays with but for him, he prefers the sets. Perhaps your kid can have his own philosophy about legos?

[Anonymous]

Yes. You are overthinking this. Let your kid have Lego sets as they are age and ability appropriate. Otherwise, Legos should have no "systems" and "rules," except they need to be in a bin, and not where people can step on the. They are free play toys that encourage creativity. Let your kid enjoy his free play time with as few rules, restrictions and systems as possible. And enjoy seeing what he can come up with.

[Anonymous]

I feel like a typical 6 year can do all the $10 to $25 sets if they are interested in Lego. Those are generally less than 200 pieces and the instructions are all pictures. I'd let him at those. My fairly typical 6 year can do most sets up to 500 pieces with no help from us and has been doing those smaller sets independently for well over a year.

[Anonymous]

My kids have a mix of kits and free play Legos. The kits stay put together and the kids use them kind of like dollhouses or action figures. The free play Legos are stored in plastic drawers. My younger son started putting full kits together around age 4 and now can build just about anything without supervision at 5. Our house is a little Lego obsessed.

[Anonymous]

No philosophy and no legos. It works out swimmingly.

[Anonymous]

DS is almost 7. He has never built from a kit and doesn't show much interest in doing so. But he does spend hours free building with legos. I say give the kits to your child -- he can try to follow the instructions or not, his choice. When and if he wants to build from a kit, you can get him one at the next gift giving opportunity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No philosophy and no legos. It works out swimmingly.

+1. Perfect example of a problem arising from too much disposable income (and no, we're not immune to such problems either, but that doesn't mean I can't point it out).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No philosophy and no legos. It works out swimmingly.

+1. Perfect example of a problem arising from too much disposable income (and no, we're not immune to such problems either, but that doesn't mean I can't point it out).

[Anonymous]

My 8 year old has special needs and often needs help doing a kit, though he loves them. Would you be interested in doing one with your son? I find it kind of enjoyable...I just sit there drink tea and reading the news and periodically check in to see if he is still on the right track.

[Anonymous]

I think you all are missing her question. I don't think she's against free play with legos once they're mixed up. I think she's asking whether it makes sense to try to keep some kits intact for her DC who doesn't seem to mind mixing them now but may enjoy having the kids to rebuild when DC is older. If it's the later she's looking for methods.

[Anonymous]

Is it that difficult to sift through a bin of legos if you have directions to find the right pieces for a kit again?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it that difficult to sift through a bin of legos if you have directions to find the right pieces for a kit again?

It can be. We must have a bushel or more of legos and some of the kits have small, unique pieces so it's not like when I was a kid and just needed to find a 2x8 red block and there were lots of them. (Not op)

[Anonymous]

#FirstWorldProblem

[Anonymous]

We have a Lego room. Bins of free build, and boxed kits to be "checked out," built, and returned to the box and reshelved. My husband is an engineer and we have the space, so why the hell not?