It probably makes sense that I am a huge supporter of teaching children how to make, fix, cook, and create. I have seen in my own life the many benefits of being a maker on our family budget, in my mental health, and in my interactions with others. I have also noticed how society has become much more consumer-driven, and that trend starts working on our kids early on. Anything that can help point my kids toward making and remaking rather than using up gets a thumbs up from me. And that is why I adore LEGO® toys.
LEGO® JUNIORS is designed to give children aged 4-7 a great first experience with LEGO bricks through iconic, fun and easy to build models. LEGO JUNIORS sets contain quick start elements and numbered pre-packed bags that can be built without help from Mom or Dad – which makes any small builder extra proud.
As children make things, they gain confidence in their ability to bring their ideas to life. LEGO® Juniors is a perfect way to introduce materials to inspire making and are designed to guide a child’s development of and confidence in his building skills. Those skills translate to more than just making, too.
LEGO® blocks help kids practice fine motor skills, which improve their manual dexterity. That crucial hand-eye coordination will help them use eating utensils, dress themselves, and write and draw. All essential life skills that can be improved by playing!
The imaginative play that is inevitable with LEGOs allows kids to flex their creative muscles, but it also helps them learn “real life” skills too. As my daughter was playing with the LEGO® horses she was verbalizing a complex story about the knight and his quest. Boom. Language skills. She had to figure out how to make the knight figure actually sit atop the horse. Wham. Problem solving. She imagined the knight riding off to “work” in the castle. She was dipping her toes into the responsibilities and routines of the adult world.
My kids worked together building their LEGO® sets for two hours. Two hours of cooperation, listening, taking turns, and speaking politely. It was glorious. I don’t think I have to outline the real world skills that they were practicing while they were playing.
The Knight’s Castle set came with several hundred LEGO® pieces, divided into bags that coincided with the directions for step-by-step building of the castle. One instruction manual gives pictorial directions for building the castle, and the other Build and Rebuild manual gave suggestions for how to use those same pieces to build other toys.
My son is 6 and put together the entire set on his own. He followed the directions and solved his own problems. It was so cool to watch him work.
I supervised him while he made this rolling trebuchet, but then I let him go to town on the rest of the set. That was three days ago. I don’t think he’s stopped building since.
The Pony Farm set is slightly smaller, but it is arranged in the same way as the Knight’s Castle set’s two different instruction manuals. While I don’t think that girls specifically need girl LEGOs, my daughter was geeked that her LEGO® box and some of the blocks were pink.
She is not yet four, so she needed more help from me to follow the directions to build the farm. Once the pieces were assembled though, she intently acted out various scenes with the LEGO® horse trainer and her horse. That’s another great feature of LEGO® toys, the same kids will get different enjoyment out of the blocks at different stages of their development.
LEGOs aren’t the cheapest toys you can find for your kids, but they are obviously worth the investment because of the skills and enjoyment they provide your children. Young makers turn in to adult makers — inventors, chefs, plumbers, even creative bloggers. Grab some LEGOs and get creating with your young maker today!
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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Thanks, Jessica
We love Lego but have never tried Lego Juniors. They look awesome though and I think we’ll pick some up for our younger children.