With Isabel’s birthday approaching in the next few months I’ve been window-shopping for ideas for something cool, something that is going to ‘top’ Boris (last year’s gift). Looking at Tesco’s range of Lego sets it occurred to me that Lego & spin off brands are a brilliant exception to my no-plastic ‘toy snob‘ rules. Lego has all the qualities I look for in a toy: endless possibilities for play, encourages use of the imagination, stands up to rough handling, and something I’ll enjoy playing with after Izz has gone to bed.
We have a big bag of Karl’s old Lego cleaned and ready for action in the utility, but I’ve not yet plucked up the courage to get it out. I have visions of Isabel eating pieces and us finding little Lego men heads in the bottom of the potty; the endless chore of tidying up stray bricks so they don’t end up the vacuum cleaner; and, of course, the perfectly rational fear of discovering the one brick I will have inevitably missed as I creep to the loo in the middle of the night with nothing on my feet.
I’m not generally in the habit of sticking to arbitrary age limits — most of our existing toys are labelled for 36 months+ for example — and I like the idea of a huge box of Lego keeping Izz occupied for hours, but I have a feeling it’s still too early. Best to stick to the Mega Bloks for now…
23 Jul at 10:03 am
Legos are one the best toys eva! I almost want a kid of my own and then we can play together with legos…
23 Jul at 10:20 am
I agree with Hanna. I had the best time playing with legos as a kid! I had very elaborative stories for my little lego dudes :P It was the one “toy” me and my sister (six years older than me) could play together with without fighting :)
23 Jul at 11:17 am
duplo! although I guess the mega blocks are pretty much just that anyway, heh
23 Jul at 11:18 am
They’re the cheaper version. Like the Cindy’s of the doll world :p
23 Jul at 3:27 pm
I still have much more fun with the bigger Mega Bloks than tiny lego to this day. I like how they’re softer and a bit more colourful and I’ve never needed to pry a Mega Blok apart and break a nail in the process (thanks, Lego). That said, I do have a lot of fun browsing the Lego store in my city… something about the ability to mix and match Lego and get the colours I love (and weird colours like sparkly ones and glowing ones) appeals to me. I never really use them, though.
In fact I have a Sponge Bob Lego set that was given to me at a Christmas party 3 or 4 years ago (novelty prize) that I’ve never touched. I should probably chuck it into the Toy Mountain bin next Christmas so a kid can really enjoy it. :)
23 Jul at 3:33 pm
I have never been to a Lego shop :O
23 Jul at 7:31 pm
there are shops just for lego?! ooooh
26 Jul at 12:59 am
Really?!? They apparently have them in Bluewater, Brighton, Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Sheffield, Westfield London and Westfield Stratford in your land. They’re great. The walls are bins of sorted lego blocks in almost every colour you could imagine! :D
23 Jul at 3:37 pm
I don’t think that the kids can tell the difference between Legos and mega blocks anyways. But as long as she’s not putting other small toys into her mouth, Legos should be okay, right? If I remember correctly, my brother was either trying to eat all of his toys, including the big ones, or none of them when he was a bit younger than Isabel. Of course, not all kids are the same.
23 Jul at 3:38 pm
Isabel is still very ‘mouthy’ with pretty much everything – hence my worry! I think we’ll give it another 6 months and see where she’s at then.
24 Jul at 7:29 pm
I see why you would be nervous of her swallowing them. My cousin had them at your daughters age and someone had to be there when she played with them, however she ended up swallowing not a lego but a small hair clip. Luckily it did come out, if you know what I mean. Then again she was one of those kids who didn’t liked to put things in her mouth.