"generic" houses

[moijk]

I got plans for a table for my kids legos with 3x6 road or green 25x25cm squares. Maybe with extension if the interest expands. But it would be a rather empty city. He is getting a police station - he is one of those kids that wants to be a police when he grow up. Today he made a "police" sign from hama beads. Well, not the worst trade to prosper to. Anyhow, it shouldn't be all police.

There are a lot of former and new sets of certain houses. However, I would guess he would like to play with them and not just have them as props. any ideas for what would be inexpensive sets that would be able to capture the imagination of this soon to be five year old? He understand police, but should either be a home or a kind of store a five year old would have any idea about. I'll probably be the one to build them, so that they doesn't fall within his age range isn't a problem. It is just that he has to relate to them somehow. He have years and years to develop the city, so it is just a couple to start.

[jimmynick]

The Creator line has a rather good selection of city-themed houses and shops, most of which are fairly anonymous and the kits are designed to be built into 3 or so models. Something like the Small Cottage might be appropriate for a 5-year-old: it's not very big, it has hinges so your son can open it up to play and the minifigure comes with a skateboard!

[Rick]

Basic brick buckets combined with Doors and Windows and Roof Tiles would also allow you to build simple houses.

[lightningtiger]

This one would be perfect for family build time.....

A bit of everything in it.

In the city area......

And not a cop in sight !

[CityBuilder]

Creator houses aren't always that expensive, they're simple yet decent looking, and you can play with them because they have interiors (fairly empty though, might have to imagine them as more detailed or add more to them yourself).

[moijk]

I've looked at the bikeshop/cafe, just didn't look that easy to play with. but the 60026 set below was just perfect. where do I find that at sane prices? (ebay said 71 usd shipping. has to be somewhere closer i can get it)

The small cottage would easily be one of the houses. I saw a huge set I'm buying today that had roof and windows. Hopefully that allows me to build a generic house without one wall with no purpose beside being a space to play in. I wonder what my spouse will say when i set up this table. The time I asked she thought it was a stupid idea, but that's because she have no clue about fun. ;)

[sithewok]

The town square set can be purchased from Lego Shop at Home with free shipping.

[moijk]

Found the town square in a local toys'r'us shop here. At 999 nok (158 usd) it is a tad on the expensive side, so I'll be searching for cheaper alternatives or a sale. But at least if I fail it is available there. A store that had a huge box of generic bricks with roofs and windows etc was also sold out. But at least I got the table to have the roads on for the kid. So it's a start.