Your kids and YOUR Lego

[WarHawk]

He is a smart megablocks for sure. And he does repeat anything I say, and finds just the right time to do so, which makes me laugh most of the time.

[OmShanti]

WarHawk, he sounds like a great kid. My son has similar tendencies sometimes. He's 5 and adores Lego (but couldn't have them until last year because of his mouthing habit). We play Lego together, but he has his own collection. I have mine, which he can play with as long as; his hands are clean, he treats them respectively, and I'm there to supervise. It's become one of our favorite pastimes together.

[Lego_Hero]

My son is almost three and mostly just pull drawers out of my Lego cabinet and digs through them. I've built him a few robots out of Hero Factory/Bionicle parts and he's big into playing with those. My daughter, on the other hand, has her own growing collection of Lego/Mega Blocks. We build the sets together and tear them down later.

They also share a large DUPLO bin.

[Kristel]

I had a "proud mummy" moment yesterday when I saw that my daughter had placed the spare pieces I had left on the LEGO table into a small container before she started playing, so that they wouldn't get mixed up with the rest of the LEGO. They learn eventually!

[WarHawk]

WarHawk, he sounds like a great kid. My son has similar tendencies sometimes. He's 5 and adores Lego (but couldn't have them until last year because of his mouthing habit). We play Lego together, but he has his own collection. I have mine, which he can play with as long as; his hands are clean, he treats them respectively, and I'm there to supervise. It's become one of our favorite pastimes together.

Playing together is one of ours as well. We play a table top war game sometimes, I let him set up the table, he will have anything from one of our castles to a city fire station, all at once. The table is so random, but he comes up with lil storys of how everything got there. I love the creativity with both his builds and his story telling.

[Mzhang287]

I have a 4 year old son who has a tendency of throwing things around or slamming them on the floor when he gets too excited, but I still let him play with my Legos anyway. Luckily, most Lego sets don't really get damaged or destroyed when this happens and they just come apart. I always find myself piecing back my sets together though lol. I just make sure to watch him play with my sets because if ever he tosses a set around, pieces might go flying over and lost under carpets or couches. If you wanna read more about Lego with your kids check out this article by The Toy Report   to educate them a little more about Lego, it's a quick and easy read for you and your kid!

 

Edited July 27, 2020 by Mzhang287
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[KotZ]

While this thread was necro'd, I do have my own answer to this, even though I don't have any kids (and me and my girlfriend actually watched The Lego Movie last night).

My girlfriend has always told me if we move in together, we need at least a loft for my LEGO collection that I have where we are. I've got 13 cardboard boxes full back at my parents' place, which I'll grab. Someday. Because I want all my Exo-Force and Bionicle and Castle and everything else under one roof again, dangit.

Anyway she knows my love, and after watching The Lego Movie (where she was pointedly looking at me during the live action scenes), she really knows I want to have a city and medieval village, etc.

So we live in a HCOL area here in the States and have jokingly talked about buying a house in the middle of nowhere to flip and make a profit on, but also just buying a house in our area is expensive. But we were saying we need a place (or if not a bedroom that could be for only LEGO a garage or similar) for the storage and display. Maybe some sets could be on "public" display in the house.

Of course, kids are the big thing of this thread. I've always told myself, and I build my MOCs to not have any glue, both for myslef and the few ones for work I've done, that LEGO is a kid's toy that you can build awesome great things with, but if it's not playable, get another hobby. The only exceptions I have are some Ideas sets and the Architecture line. So the castle I'm building is playable. Would I want my future kids destroying it? No. Absolutely not. Can they add to it? Yes.

I think that's where I currently fall. There's no harm in playing together and making crazy contraptions ala TLM. There's no harm in building things just for display. But if you have kids, I'd say (and I hope I will) teach them how to creatively add on and give constructive criticism to builds to make the whole better.

[ShaydDeGrai]

When I last posted on this thread, I had no kids of my own; now, my daughter is nearly five (my how times flies...).  I started her early with Duplo (which she still loves and now uses to create some very elaborate builds).  Over time, we evolved the concept of her Lego (technically, her Duplo), "Daddy Lego", and "Daddy and M Lego."  "Daddy Lego" live in my office and includes my MOCs, display models and all my sorted parts.  Our joint Lego are regular kits that we do together (she's fond of Lego Movie 2, Trolls World Tour, Dots and City themes, though, unlike her dad, most of her models don't stay together very long as she scraps them for parts and goes for free form builds on a regular basis) of small kits that she can handle on her own (anything rated to about 7+ and below she can assemble with no problem, though she needs to work up more finger strength and manual dexterity for most Technic kits.  

We set the ground rules that  early on that have really helped keep things safe and orderly:

Rule number one is that Lego never goes in the mouth, nose, ear or any other orifice.  We started this with Duplo bricks when she was one.  If tried to put a piece in her mouth, we'd stop her, end play immediately, and remind her of the rule and explain it was all about safety.  Four years later, not only do I feel comfortable letting her play with Dots kits and tiny parts, she occasionally lectures _me_ when she catches me holding an axle or technic pin in my lips. 

The second ground rule is that "Daddy Lego" is only to be played with when daddy is around and says it's okay. This was a harder rule to get her to embrace because "Daddy Lego" can be very tempting (and nannies and babysitters can be lax on enforcement)  but things got easier when we instituted an additional rule:  Daddy can only play Duplo when she with me and says it's okay.  By giving her a sense of ownership in her "exclusive" bricks, she's developed more of a respect for my collection.

Often, we'll either work together on the same kit, or engage in "parallel play" where she'll be doing her stuff and I'll be working on a MOC or a far more complex kit and we share table space and conversation as we build.   Occasionally, she'll be working on something and ask for a particular piece in a particular color.  We'll head into my office and check the stores of "Daddy Lego" and (usually) she'll leave happy.  One time she asked "How come you can always find exactly what I'm looking for so quickly?"  "Because I'm careful to always put my toys way where they belong," I answered, thinking I'd found a teachable moment.  She then walked over to my bin of unsorted parts, looked at me, looked at my parts bins then said, "looks like you still got a lot of work to do, you should get on that in case I need..." she plucked a random part from the bin,"this part later." then she dropped the part back into the bin and stirred things around a bit. "Betcha can't find it now" she said with a grin.  So much for teachable moments.

When it comes to Lego, I spoil her, I know it.  I grew up "Lego poor" and it's a parent's job to want a better life for their child than he or she had for themselves.  Fortunately (or un- sometimes it's a mixed blessing), she realizes that her Lego is something special.  I recall one playdate when a classmate came over and, from the other room I heard him exclaim "WOW! You really DO have more Lego than the school!"  To which replied, "Yeah, I have the best daddy ever - and you should see HIS toys he's got SO MUCH Lego, let me tell you..."  

Kids, sigh, let me tell you...

 

[The Reader]

5 hours ago, ShaydDeGrai said:

When I last posted on this thread, I had no kids of my own; now, my daughter is nearly five (my how times flies...).  I started her early with Duplo (which she still loves and now uses to create some very elaborate builds).  Over time, we evolved the concept of her Lego (technically, her Duplo), "Daddy Lego", and "Daddy and M Lego."  "Daddy Lego" live in my office and includes my MOCs, display models and all my sorted parts.  Our joint Lego are regular kits that we do together (she's fond of Lego Movie 2, Trolls World Tour, Dots and City themes, though, unlike her dad, most of her models don't stay together very long as she scraps them for parts and goes for free form builds on a regular basis) of small kits that she can handle on her own (anything rated to about 7+ and below she can assemble with no problem, though she needs to work up more finger strength and manual dexterity for most Technic kits.  

We set the ground rules that  early on that have really helped keep things safe and orderly:

Rule number one is that Lego never goes in the mouth, nose, ear or any other orifice.  We started this with Duplo bricks when she was one.  If tried to put a piece in her mouth, we'd stop her, end play immediately, and remind her of the rule and explain it was all about safety.  Four years later, not only do I feel comfortable letting her play with Dots kits and tiny parts, she occasionally lectures _me_ when she catches me holding an axle or technic pin in my lips. 

The second ground rule is that "Daddy Lego" is only to be played with when daddy is around and says it's okay. This was a harder rule to get her to embrace because "Daddy Lego" can be very tempting (and nannies and babysitters can be lax on enforcement)  but things got easier when we instituted an additional rule:  Daddy can only play Duplo when she with me and says it's okay.  By giving her a sense of ownership in her "exclusive" bricks, she's developed more of a respect for my collection.

Often, we'll either work together on the same kit, or engage in "parallel play" where she'll be doing her stuff and I'll be working on a MOC or a far more complex kit and we share table space and conversation as we build.   Occasionally, she'll be working on something and ask for a particular piece in a particular color.  We'll head into my office and check the stores of "Daddy Lego" and (usually) she'll leave happy.  One time she asked "How come you can always find exactly what I'm looking for so quickly?"  "Because I'm careful to always put my toys way where they belong," I answered, thinking I'd found a teachable moment.  She then walked over to my bin of unsorted parts, looked at me, looked at my parts bins then said, "looks like you still got a lot of work to do, you should get on that in case I need..." she plucked a random part from the bin,"this part later." then she dropped the part back into the bin and stirred things around a bit. "Betcha can't find it now" she said with a grin.  So much for teachable moments.

When it comes to Lego, I spoil her, I know it.  I grew up "Lego poor" and it's a parent's job to want a better life for their child than he or she had for themselves.  Fortunately (or un- sometimes it's a mixed blessing), she realizes that her Lego is something special.  I recall one playdate when a classmate came over and, from the other room I heard him exclaim "WOW! You really DO have more Lego than the school!"  To which replied, "Yeah, I have the best daddy ever - and you should see HIS toys he's got SO MUCH Lego, let me tell you..."  

Kids, sigh, let me tell you...

 

Love it! Great! Almost the same with me and my kid.

[hagridshut]

There are a small number of sets that I would keep out of reach from unsupervised small children.  These are mostly gifts from people who are important to me, and a few that I like as artwork.

Otherwise, the rest of it can be disassembled, synthesized, combined, and re-built to infinity.  I do think it is a good idea to set rules, mainly (1) Always build with hands that are clean from dirt or other contaminants (2) no biting or otherwise damaging pieces, and (3) don't trade of give away any of my collection without asking first.

The first LEGO piece any child should be introduced to, is orange brick separator.  I say this as someone who was guilty as a child of biting LEGO pieces out of frustration  while trying to separate them!  The brick separator was a huge advance in LEGO, as it is a massive reducer of stress on both the mind and fingers.

[TeriXeri]

This doesn't just apply to your own children, but also having something like childhood LEGO at another place, and having visiting younger kids play with that LEGO.

Certainly have seen damaged/eroded pieces as a result.

Ever since I rebuilt the pile of LEGO mostly back into sets, it's been off limit from play, as it's more of a historic collection of LEGO  and it's not only my childhood sets, but older as well, pieces being 20-50 years old by now.

But still, the rebuilding of sets, even if not 100% complete, missing, damaged pieces, did get me back into LEGO.

I didn't buy any LEGO from 2001-2016, so there's a big time gap between my current collection and the older, so right now it's seperate.

 

Edited July 29, 2020 by TeriXeri