Lego City
It has been lego city around here for the past few weeks. The kids were sent a Lego City Crane from Lego’s City Construction Range to try out and it has stimulated their imaginative play no end.
It’s amazing how one new piece of lego can bring the rest of the Lego isn’t it. All of a sudden it all comes out and is like new again!
Princess Singstar and Trailer Boy are my big lego fanatics so they enjoyed unpacking and creating this crane.
One thing that really impressed me as we unpacked the box was the way things were packaged up in numbered packets. This enabled the kids to follow the instructions step by step without getting frustrated trying to find the right pieces from a large mass of pieces.
It was a good exercise in breaking a large project down into manageable sized pieces.
What really interested me was that the project took a couple of hours to build and yet managed to hold the attention of both Princess Singstar (who is 
AND Trailer Boy (who is 5). Princess Singstar managed most of the building process while Trailer Boy did need a bit more help (as you would expect).
Lego has obviously evolved quite substantially since I was a child. I couldn’t believe these tracks that were a part of the kit:
They make the crane fully movable and operational:
I’m a bit bummed at the moment because I took a video of Trailer Boy demonstrating the crane to show you and I’m having trouble uploading to my computer. It was rather cute and he was demonstrating how it goes forward, turns around and lifts objects.
Once completed, he began the project of building a whole house, piece by piece, using the crane to lift each one into place. It was rather adorable and interesting to watch.
I asked him what he’d like to see come out in a Lego kit and he wants a caravan!!! Surprise! Surprise! Kids love whatever is familiar. He’d also like a truck that can carry the house he’s building (our own home came on the back of a truck).
Princess Singstar has been quite a large fan of Lego for some years now. I do find it a little disappointing and frustrating that the beautiful “girly” Lego is not very easy to come by. She has a few bits and pieces. Mind you, it’s probably as much my own bias that I want that kind of Lego for her as she was eying off the farming and gardening pictures in the Lego book. I’ve only seen the farming stuff in the Duplo (which we have quite a lot of), not the Lego.
I thought that would interest Trailer Boy as well but he was more attracted by the City Construction range with it’s trucks and cranes and buildings. Oh, and people with little hand-held radio’s (CB/UHF? Not sure what they use on building sites).
In the past, I’ve always been a fan of more generic lego sets that allow kids imaginations to expand and create. I can see the benefit in these types of more structured kits though. They’re great for teaching them to follow instructions (mostly via picture so reading not required) and allow a LOT of creative play surrounding the item they’ve constructed.
I can see that this is going to be a well loved toy for a long time to come (in fact, my poor lounge room has been taken over by Lego for the past few weeks 
).
Lego is certainly one of those toys that has passed the test of time isn’t it?
What are your thoughts on Lego?
Do you have a preference for the kits or for general sets of pieces? Do your kids have a particular favourite? I’d love to hear what has worked and not worked with Lego for other families. Our collection is still reasonably small and I’d like to add to it over the next few years so hearing about the great stuff you’ve found would be a great help.
How about storage? I’d love to hear any tips on the best way to store Lego.
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Lots of Lego at the Stuffy house (wish I’d gone to Legoland in Denmark, but you cannot do it in a day trip from Copenhagen easily) - anyway a new theme this year is “Lego Farm”
http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Leaf.aspx?cn=553&d=9
I’m sure your youngest would enjoy the 4WD with horse float.
The “girls” theme is here:
http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Leaf.aspx?cn=400&d=70
(you may have to switch it to AUD to get local prices)
The Lego Shop is pretty good - same price (if not better) than what you’d pay in the shop and much easier to find stuff. They ship from Sydney most of the time and the shipping cost isn’t bad. I’ve gotten a lot of stuff from there over the past few years (mostly Star Wars). Technically it is for Jr Stuffy … but …
My grandmother used to buy my brother Lego sets all the time when we were kids. I remember putting the tyres on wheels and the joy of opening doors and shutters.
I also want to bring back those other buildy things - not meccano (well, them too), but I remember some plastic bubbly bits with electrical wiring and stuff.
I loved Lego when I was a kid. I had stacks of it. My mother still has a large box of my old lego which my kids played with when we visited.
I think the big assorted boxes are better but a few kits is a good starter. One of the things with a motor and gears is always good as its always fun to build things that can move around.
Be warned - it is easy to spend heaps on Lego. It is not exactly cheap.
We just store ours in one of those plastic boxes about the size of a milk crate, with a lid. Kits tended to be carefully stored separately for a while after purchase but eventually just got chucked in with the general pile of lego.
I don’t like that most Lego comes in kits these days!! When I was a child, we just had a huge bucket and we had to create for ourselves!
The kits have their place though, and it’s great for getting the kids to follow instructions, but the trick is keeping all the pieces together from the one kit when you have several kits!
Oh I LOVE lego… though in this house we are still at the duplo stage. Sometimes when the big girls go to my parents and the small boy is not around we drag out the lego my brother and I played with when we were kids (the proper little stuff) and they LOVE it just as much as their huge box of duplo… so I imagine one day, when we no longer have lego brick eating children in our house we’ll trade up to the next level…
I think lego is one of the few plastic toys that are actually worth your money and your children’s time!
My kids and grandchildren had lego, with new additions to the kits every christmas and birthday for their youngest years. In our house all lego was kept in a couple of big nappy buckets, then when kits were bought each kit lived in a small icecream container.
We love it! I tell you what, the Indianna Jones Lego is awesome! I got some for Christmas (who could resisit a wee lego-man Indianna Jones!) Then H bought himself some as well. It took us ages to build it all and the detail is awesome.
H has a box full of bits and some of D’s old old old stuff. The creations they come up with are amazing.
Storage - I have a plastic tub with wheels that lives under the bed, and the bits came in a plastic tub. It’s the playing with it on the carpet and not quite cleaning it up properly that’s the issue here!
The kids lego is in a big tub all mixed together, but it just the generic blocks. ACW’s lego, however, is all the “LegoTechnic” stuff with kits that just aren’t available anymore. Cogs and wheels and motors (Yes motors!) and tracks, just like trailer boys. He is pretty fussy about his lego (boys never grow up). He has it all sorted by size in little sistema clip top boxes and has written on the top what is in it eg 8×2x2 or 2×2x2 (length x width x height - the standard bricks are the 8×2x2). The cogs are in a little box, the wheels in another etc. All these lettle boxes are in a big plastic tub stored where the kids can’t get it and it only comes out for them to play with under his supervision (rolls eyes). But I guess it is HIS lego…..
We too have lego dating back at least 3 decades to when my hubby spent his hard saved pocket money at the local outlet in Clare…. and since then we have added more as son 1 loved lego and was more creative than son 2 is although he too has some of his own…..
We now have that and much more safely tucked away under a bed in a wheeled storage keeper or 2! I find its the flat roads and boards that are hardest to store and also the platforms for the castles etc..
At times, the kids sorted it out into colour coded pots but this only lasts so long and is great when rebuilding a specific piece but not so good for the creative make your own exhibition.
I used to put down a plain colour flat sheet for them to build on and at the end of the play session i would simply get them to take off the half built creations and pull the sheet up into a pile ready for play the next day…… it saved on pieces going everywhere and also patience.
We did keep the boxes for a while but certainly have all the instruction sheets stored safely away in a folder with clear pages…..
To help the kids I used to allocate them our formal lounge for the school holidyas and it would be filled with lego displays and the latest craze has been using the camera/video to make little videos using lego men as stunts etc.. its fab when its really hot or wet … even the 13 yo gets into that.. they wanted to post some on Youtube but maybe later….(there are fantastic Lego videoclipson the web)
If your kids rebuild and find they have lost pieces, you can buy spare parts if you care to…
A friend of ours used to remake the models he wanted to sell and bag up and sell at the school boot sale.. if I didnt get in beforehand and buy them for little gifts… a great idea though.
I dont think I will ever sell our Lego collection - I can see it as one of those items that is passed down generations as this one has already. If i wanted to I would need to seek permission from at least 4 shareholders!
Blocks were always my fav toys as a child…vs dolls….. they give so much scope and stretch ones braincells…. kids get such a sense of achievement and often suprise themselves and us what they make….. even big kids and dads can get down on the carpet and have a wonderful relaxing time with the kids.. I recently heard of a 30+ guy who bought some more for himself and he and his pregnant wife spent the Christmas holidays making Lego sets together… never too old or too young.
Better go b4 I fill up the blog.
I used to love space lego when I was young - I had a huge collection of it (I worked out once that new all the sets I had were worth $300+ - and this was 1980s prices
). I’d carry large tubs of it around to a friends house in the holidays, and we’d spend all day making various things. My two prides of joy was a large-ish space ship, and one of the “moon base” sets. Neither of them were the largest kits available (no way my parents could afford them), but I loved them all the same.
Later on I got into Technic, but I never really had the same passion for it as my space lego.
I ended up selling all my lego (space and regular) to my cousins. No idea what they did with it after they got older.
I found that storing Lego in the vacuum cleaner and then in the Big Rubbish Bin was an excellent way to keep the house looking uncluttered.
A great spot to take your kiddies is the Lego Man in Tanunda. It only cost us a few dollars entry and his is sure a lego eccentric . one of a kind but very knowledgeable and apparently know world wide!
The Lego Man - Angaston
http://www.southaustralia.com/9000671.aspx
My mum solved the cleaning up issue by using two double bedsheets sewn together to make a giant mat with a drawstring type arrangement around the edge. All bits had to be kept on the mat which wasn’t hard as it was almost room sized. When the kids were finished playing the edges of the mat were lifted so that all bits fell to the middle then the drawstring was pulled tight. The whole bundle was then stored in an old baby bath. I wanted her to make me one too but she said I could make my own. I never did.
My friend had a tone of lego when I was a kid. I was always facinated by the astronauts with the tiny helmets. Frogdancers comment was funny. Lego sure is expensive to buy now though, thats for sure. Kids love it.
Stuffy - Thanks for the links. You’re always full of useful information.
Jeanie - it is great for gifts isn’t it as even if you double up on something, it doesn’t really matter.
Ian - yes, it’s not cheap. But it really does last, unlike many toys these days.
Katy - yes, the kits have their good and bad points don’t they.
Kate - we have a MASSIVE box of duplo. So much I’m not sure what we’ll do with it now that we’re starting on the Lego. Think I might take it to the shack as the kids are likely to play with it more there (and it’s a nice safe toy they can still play with if younger cousins are around - unlike the smaller lego).
River - I think I’m going to have to invest in some containers. Good idea about the ice cream containers though. I do need something for the kits.
Jodi - I haven’t seen the Indiana Jones stuff. Sounds like fun. Yeah, under the bed could be a good option. Easy to pull out and put away that way (and might stop the accumulation of other rubbish under there!).
Gnometree - Those clip top boxes sound like a good idea. Will have to keep my eyes open for those. I have to admit, I haven’t seen Lego with motors. My brothers had quite a bit but I don’t think they ever had any motors with theirs.
Lynette - you did write an essay didn’t you!
Don’t worry, I’ve been known to write long comments on blogs myself. All comments long and short are most welcome. LOVE the idea of a folder for the instructions. I’m going to do that - just found a couple in the matchbox car drawer today. The sheet is a good idea as well. Thanks for your thoughts.
Jason - I think we might have some of the space lego as well although I’m not sure Farmboys mother has passed on all of his lego. I should ask him about that as I know she kept it all.
Frogdancer - *snort* Your comment had me rolling around on the floor laughing. I’d have thought you were too frugal to vacuum up the Lego!
Lynette - That place looks great. We will have to visit it sometime. Thanks.
River - I wanted to buy a similar thing to this but Farmboy wouldn’t let me - reckons we’d have nowhere to store it.
As for making one….LOL…I don’t think I’d ever get around to it either.
Shelly - She’s a crack up isn’t she?
My brother and I grew up playing with Lego. My parents always said it was the best thing they ever bought us. Indeed, we probably spent more time building with it than watching TV and playing with other toys combined.
I think the best type of Lego is the generic kind that allows you to build anything your imagination can dream of. Buying Lego for your kids is a great investment!