Introduce small legos
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Anonymous
| Daycare suggests I to buy some legos (the small ones) for 3 year old to play at home because the teachers observe that my child has difficulty & gets frustrated to play with them. What should I buy to begin with? Do I need to get a lego table (with lego plates on top of it)? How do you organize those tiny legos? And, in the long run, does people buy one box each year, buy new or buy used in bulk? |
Anonymous
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No Lego table needed. My son plays Legos at the kitchen table on a rimmed baking sheet or on his little IKEA table that has a bit of a lip to keep small pieces from rolling away.
He started at 3 with the Lego Junior sets that we would build together. Then he graduated to the 3 in 1 sets that we would do together. Eventually he would take them apart and re-create them himself. Each set has a few extra pieces and a book. I keep those in a gallon zip lock and if he ever takes sets apart we put them back in that back. After about a year and 4-5 sets, he started to enjoy the big Lego creative box we got him and around 4.5 he started making up his own creations and not just following instructions. My kid likes new sets because a few we got at garage sales turned out to be missing pieces when we took them apart and tried to recreate them with the instructions we downloaded from the Lego website. That said he doesn’t need a lot. Most of the 3 in 1 sets are $12-20 and he gets a set from us and 2 more from grandparents for Birthday and Christmas. |
Anonymous
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Frankly age 3 is too young for little Legos. I am surprised about the daycare's suggestion. Are you sure you heard them correctly? At that age, what is wrong with Duplo?
Bricklink for used Legos. Organizing Legos is a big job. Every family does it differently. Some play on a sheet that gets bundled up when finished. Some use tables. You don't need Lego plates. Some kids sort their pieces by set, others don't. Some kids don't even take apart their sets after making them so there's no cleanup to do. |
Anonymous
| My 3 year old really likes legos but I refuse to buy any because I have a crawling baby. It's pretty much impossible to keep them separated. I would tell daycare that he likes to play with legos at daycare and to encourage him there. |
Anonymous
| 3 is too young for little legos. At that age there is still a choking risk (some 3 yos will try to put the little pieces in their mouth) and their motor skills are not good enough for the small ones and it is too frustrating. Have you see the boxes -- it says 5-12 (or sometimes starting at 4 for the junior sets). This age is for Duplo. |
Anonymous
I find 3 to be too young for the small legos. No wonder your DC is frustrated! I know this is a bit of an overkill, but I would rethink my daycare choice if I were you. While this on itself is not a big deal, what other poor decisions does your daycare make? |
Anonymous
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Small legos can be difficult for adults to manipulate!
Duplo all the way. |
Anonymous
Why doesn't the daycare give your child other toys to play with? My son couldn't play with the little lego until he was five or six. It doesn't appear to have harmed him in any measurable way. |
Anonymous
| Another vote for more play with Duplo size blocks. Playdough is also helpful in building fine motor skills and hand strength. Play should be fun and not overly frustrating. I'm surprised they have the small Legos out at daycare for 3 year old children. Any other developmentally inappropriate things going on? |
Anonymous
| I would wait until at least four, and even at that age they can play with the finished product, not put them together. Why is your daycare suggesting something developmentally inappropriate? |
Anonymous
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For all those who say it’s too young. I think it depends on the kid. My almost 5yr old does sets for age 11+ by himself with no adult help. He has been doing this since Christmas. Our 2.5yr old plays with the things the older kid makes. When we had a crawling baby / toddler, we supervised closely and had the older kid play on a surface with an edge so small pieces didn’t fall on the floor to be eaten.
The same kid that built a 2000 piece rocket in 2 days also loves playing Duplos with his brother and they play Duplos or magnatiles most days. I don’t think small Legos are too much for an average 3yr old IF that kid likes to build and WANTS to get good at Lego. If they aren’t naturally inclined to like Lego, try Duplo or other building toys like Magnatiles first. |
Anonymous
For what it's worth, it's not that I think a 3 year old should NOT play with small lego. But from OP's post, it sounds like the daycare feels like the 3yo MUST be able to play with small lego. Fine motor is one of those spots where kids develop unevenly -- some kids get it early, which is fine; other kids take longer, which is also fine. |
Anonymous
| I don't know, my 3.5 year old just got her first "real" Lego set and is really into it. I have to help her snap some pieces in firmly, but she likes following the instructions to assemble it. Then she plays with it for a day, takes it apart, and reassembles it. She's fine, but not super advanced with fine motor skills. |
Anonymous
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No lego table needed. To foster creativity, buy a generalized set at first rather than the specific sets that require following the instructions. There's absolutely value to learning how to do that, but they should be doing free play with them first.
My 2.5 year old still mostly plays with Megablocks and Duplos, but really loves the little legos that DH and I have (full disclosure, we're Star Wars legos nerds  ).
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Anonymous
| Just fyi the duplos can be used with the small legos. They all fit together. |