Legos!

[Michele]

I'm going to take the plunge and get my crew legos for Christmas. Where to begin?

The have the Small Cottage Creator set that I haven't let them play solo with yet, but they love building it with me. They each have a small kit they can build on their own (batmobile, helicopter and rocking horse).

Looking on Amazon and lego.com are overwhelming. I know I need 3 base plates and probably 3 separator tools. I want to have enough pieces that everyone can build at the same time and I minimize fighting. And I know I need some sort of bin/Rubbermaid container.

I saw a Bricks and More Deluxe Brick box 704 pieces for $191 on Amazon. I wasn't expecting that high of a price....maybe $129. But it seems like it has a lot. I thought about getting that and then them each a Creator Kit. Or should I get a wheels kit or something else? I didn't want to spend a crazy amount, but they aren't getting anything else from me/Santa.

Kids are 8 boy, 6 boy and 4 girl.


I should probably search for the Lego thread too huh?

[ides]

You can try ebay for large amounts of blocks. Make sure you do 'bricks' and not 'pieces'.

I'd suggest the Lego Bricks Education Brick set. Lots of just bricks for a good price. We got it for O so he could build buildings and such without being confined to a kit. Then a few bases and maybe a kit for each in a theme they like.

[ides]

Oh, the education set is $56 for almost 900 pieces. It just comes in bags. We also got the giant bricks for storage. They are around $20 each I think.

[spotty_dog]

My kids don't build on base plates. They mostly make cool guys or vehicles, so they build right on a kitchen table. So you might not need that.

To throw an extra variable into the plan, all the 8-10yo boys that I've had in my house (which number is admittedly pretty limited!) have honed in on the Hero Factory/Bionicle pieces. They are super fun and easy to get creative with because the little ball-and-socket pieces and armor pieces pop on and off in different configurations.

Also, at age 8 my DS is starting to leave Creator kits behind and veer toward Technic. He's been building on his own for a long time though.

The bigger kits usually come with a separator, FWIW.

[spotty_dog]

DS got the Lego Idea Book for Christmas last year and it's been great for learning how to get those unique and detailed creations that look way cooler than the squared-off houses I always made when I was a kid. For D you might also look into a Master Builder Academy kit as his individual present.

[Michele]

I think we have a Bionicle guy. D does like it.

The educator kit reviews say it's mostly small pieces. I guess that hasn't been a problem?

My kids are definite Lego newbies! And I didn't have them as a kid either. I like following directions, but I'm not sure which way the kids will be. Probably try to have me build everything for them!

[diggitydot]

Legos!

Have you seen the Lego tables? The top is covered in the flat "base" Legos and there's a center hole that holds the extra pieces. For your kids' ages, that would be a great place for them to use it and learn to keep them contained.

Our youngest always gets various kits, builds them, plays with whatever it is for a while, and then remakes them into other things and mixes them with other kits.

You may also consider getting them their own individual kits for whatever genre they're into.

[spotty_dog]

My kids are definite Lego newbies! And I didn't have them as a kid either. I like following directions, but I'm not sure which way the kids will be. Probably try to have me build everything for them!

So, that's kind of the thing to figure out then. There seem to be two kinds of builders, people who follow the directions and build the kit in order to have the model and play with it or look at it, or people who build the kit but almost immediately dismantle it and spend more time creating from scratch. There's no right or wrong, but the styles might be served by acquiring different kinds of pieces. (Having the second kind of builder, it would have been way cheaper to buy Legos in bulk, but then he isn't so interested in plain rectangles any more, so maybe it wouldn't have saved much in the long run?)

This lazy momma is lazy. When DS started with Legos I promised myself that I wasn't getting involved. If they can't build it on their own, then the kit is too complicated for them and I will volunteer to put it away until they're older. DS and his dad do some of the ones above his age range as teamwork, and I've broken my rule in order to troubleshoot just one construction step or help connect something fiddly in a Technic build, but mostly I am hands-off even if I wish I got to build those cool kits. Better than being at their beck and call while they work! (DD does the very tiny Lego friends kits mostly solo, and the big fancy kits as teamwork with daddy or brother.)

[ides]

We didn't feel overwhelmed by small pieces with the set. We like structures so base plates are good for us. Here's a pic of what O has right now built. He also has several kits he plays with or borrows from.