Lightening Online

Cute isn’t it?

I can count on 1 hand the number of Valentine’s I’ve been sent in my life.

So it was a welcome surprise to receive this in the mail!

Singstar Princess had fun putting it together for me.

I <3 her too!

Pity my font doesn’t make a very nice heart.

Lucky Lego does!

Last time I reviewed a lego product, I asked Trailer Boy what his dream Lego would be.

His response?

A caravan!!!

This might not be quite the same as our caravan but it’s pretty close:

And the lovely people at Zing actually remembered that was what his hearts desire was.  How nice is that??? 

I was going to keep it for his birthday but he was so sick recently that I brought it out as a “cheer me up”.  And it certainly cheered him up!!!

Even though it’s a smaller set, Lego had still packaged it up into numbered packages to make building it easier:

I’m not the world’s best Lego builder so this was particularly appreciated given he was not well and needed lots of help (and Farmboy is busy at the moment).

Every time I help build a new set of Lego, my heart always leaps to my throat wondering if a piece is going to be missing.  It’s NEVER happened though.  Lego must have some decent quality control.  Which is nice in this day and age of “cutting costs to increase profits”.  It might not be the cheapest toy to buy but at least you feel like you’re getting something for your money.

I still cannot believe how much detail they get into their kits.  This one has little cups, a pushbike (much to Trailer Boys delight!!!), a television.  Once made up, it opens up and you can actually play with the people that come with it - put them in the back, put them in bed etc.  So much FUN!!!!

He’s done nothing but play with it ever since we put it together!

A message from Trailer Boy:

It’s Good.

I like the inside of it and that they can surf.

There’s a thing up there (the top) where they can sleep.

The best bit is the drivers seat.

Thank you to Lego and Zing for sending it to me.

Thanks from me too!!!  I think you saved my sanity, trying to cope with a sick little boy!!!  :)  No doubt this will remain a treasured item in our home for years to come!

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.