JFF What's up with Legos Doing All the Thinking for You Now?

Both types have merits. We have lots of both types of Lego. Some of those models are pretty complicated, and once they are built the kids don't want to take them apart. It is good if they are able to follow the blueprints to put the models together, but the free form Lego's do foster imagination. We have a couple of educational toy stores that only carry the assorted brick sets that do not come with any kind of instructions-just for free play.

All three of my kiddos love Legos as does my husband. His dad saved a bunch from when my husband was a kiddo & gave them to us a couple years ago. They could play with them all day; sets, free thinking ones - it doesn't matter to them.
Personally I'm not good with them. I look at legos & see 1) a giant mess & 2) a pile of bricks. My lego creativity is broken I think :-) Oh well, the others like them & they are a great creative outlet so i guess we can keep them.
But I swear if i step on one...!

Yeah, it is pretty ridiculous. If you go to the actual Lego website, you can still buy a box of bricks and also the other individual shapes (squares, etc) in bulk. We have received several 'sets' to build various ships, planes, etc. My son builds them once, then pretty much the pieces go into the general pool to build from. It is really cool that you can now buy wheels and axles so there are a LOT of things they can build now that they previously could not.

BTW - the 'girl' lego is seriously 'dumbed down' lego - which is sort of hard to imagine until you see it.

My son adores Legos, and yes, this does bother me. So, here's how we have hacked the problem:

First, I bought his first Lego "sets" at consignment shops. Lots of mixed pieces, no directions, not expensive, just ziplocks or shoe boxes of random bricks from Goodwill, second-hand stores and garage sales. He had these long before he got an actual 'set'.

Then, when he did get sets, we used those to build that one item, but integrated the pieces into our other collections. I offered other purposes for the Legos; one of our favorite things we did was to get a board and build 'enclosures' for his little Hex bug nano, complete with pieces that spun and doors or gates which could be opened and closed to direct where the bug could go. Yep, I'm kinda geeky like that.

Now, we are using the instruction books as reference guides. Our current project (he likes to work with either my husband or I on larger projects) is a "Dark Fortress", with trapdoors and hidden closets. If we don't remember how to construct an element, we refer to the guides or to the Lego Idea book. YouTube also has a wealth of basic how-to information... we like seeing the real and Lego trebuchets and catapults. Future projects!

Honestly, at first I was disappointed that everything came so proscribed: this is how you build it, exactly. What I have noticed, though, is that my son has really gained confidence in following the no-words directions. This has also helped him to better understand step-by-step drawing guides, which is something he's really into right now. He uses them as I often use a recipe-- a loose framework to integrate our own ideas into. For younger kids, this is a sort of entry point for later work such as following recipes, step-by-step instructions for constructing a model or maybe woodworking when the kid is older, or even following patterns and sewing one's own creation. When kids gain this sense of mastery of knowing the basic elements for building a desired item, then they can begin doing it on their own, making tweaks, changing the original idea to suit them. So, I'm valuing both my son's imagination as well as his potential to keep finding those little blocks interesting because he feels he can make anything he wants.

Interesting post topic-- thanks for making me really think about this!

You know, I thought the same thing. But it turns out that my son initially makes the thing on the box according to plan but that's pretty much the only time he does. The rest of the time he makes race cars and airplanes (as best as a six year old can). I still keep all of the instructions in a binder just in case but the bricks are one big unorganized mess, perfect for pawing through.

Oh, and the Lego store has miscellaneous extra parts that you buy by the container (you fill it). It's a nice way to add some basic bricks for building random stuff.

I have a duffle bag full of legos from the 70's that my "cool" uncle passed to me in my childhood. All the generic blocks to let your creativity run wild. I used to love to build all these elaborate houses. But I also had a friend whose family had a lot of the "sets", and they would get a new one every Christmas, then would spend the week between Christmas and New Years creating a lego city on their dining room table. I loooved to come over during that time (btw, a family of 3 girls, no boys) and help them put together all their sets. I enjoyed it just as much as my free-for-all duffle bag-o-bricks. In fact, it was fun to be able to make a train station that actually looked like a train station for once.

So, I think a mix of both is great! I recently received my duffle bag back from my own nephews and I really hope my girls can get into them! So far no :( but maybe they aren't quite old enough. I hold out hope. It's cool that the overall design hasn't changed for so many years we can still use the bricks from 40 years ago.

I know it's cheesy, but now look longingly at all those girly "LegoFriends" sets. Since what I used to love to build was houses, I would have torn that up. Most likely to combine a lot of sets to use all those cute pink and purple windows and roofs with my standard yellow bricks... put a tiny little sink and fridge in my lego kitchens... :) LOL I agree, progress can be a good thing.

We'll buy some of those sets, mostly the ones that are like, a scene from Star Wars or a scene from Lord of the Rings or something, and then the whole family finds it fun to build. But mostly we have the build your own stuff sets.

What really pissed me off was a commercial I saw yesterday for legos that was so blatant in "this is for girls and this is for boys." It had girls playing with princess and cooking sets, boys playing with pirates and animals. The only kids I know who watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates are girls, so it make me doubly mad to see that they think those are the "boy" sets.

Then again, I'm a little more sensitive about it because I have a little girl who likes superheroes and stuff and is constantly told at school that her shirts are "boy" shirts or whatever. She even told the girl at McDonalds the other day that there were no girl toys or boy toys, there were just toys, and she shouldn't have to say she wants a boy toy. I was pretty proud of her.

They still have the make your own lego's.

Have you tried to build some of those set's? They may be pre-setup, but they are not easy. My kids like the set's and then to create around them.

Part of our system of making kids little rule-following drones, rather than creative thinkers.

We hide the instructions, with the exception of "architectural sets", and let em figure it out from the box. Within week the legos are mixed in with the other sets and it's a free for all.

Our oldest has ADHD and other related challenges. He both free builds and builds very complex kits. It's exciting to see him follow directions on something difficult, that may take days, and from which he needs to take breaks.

So I think both free building and kits (especially the complex ones) are good.

My son LOVED the boxed sets when he was little, starting in K. Those directions were big and intense and took many hours to complete. Often my husband sat down and helped him finish.
I feel like he learned a lot, following directions, problem solving, spatial awareness, how to stick with and complete a task even when it seems challenging and overwhelming.
Basically skills a lot of kids are lacking today.
Of course once he had enjoyed his finished project for a while it came apart and was morphed into something new, over and over again.
I personally love all the little detailed and intricate pieces they have now, especially the moving parts! I think that adds a whole other level of creativity, and works those engineering skills to boot. My son's creations were way more vivid and interesting than the creations I came up with as a kid, which was usually a house or a blocky looking boat LOL!

A.,

Our elementary school has a LEGO Club. It's all free building. There are no sets for them to build - there are tens of thousands of pieces - and they build to their imagination!

Last year - my son and one of his friends - for the last session before school let out - used two of the green building boards and made a US flag out of the red, white and blue bricks and then spelled July 4 above it. It was cool!

go on ebay and buy the bricks....by the pound - and then let your kids build to their hearts content!!

My kids have lots of Legos. Most that came as sets to build a particular Thing. They enjoyed building that particular Thing of course but after that the parts end up all blended together and they make their own creations.

Did you forget that even the early Lego sets came with pictures of creations on the package, and a book of specific step-by-step instructions on how to build certain things inside? The world you think you miss never existed.

This is a non-issue imaginary problem. It doesn't need fixing and is a waste of a parent's time to worry about. Leave your kids alone to play with their toys as they see fit. The "interventions" others mentioned below can more damage to free play creativity than an instruction book would ever do.

Added: You asked "Anyone else think this sort of lacks imagination compared to having to figure out what to make and how to make it?" My answer was No, and I told you why I felt that way. I should have said, "People should leave their kids alone...." because I meant in general, not specifically you. I apologize for the bad phrasing.

A. we have lots of those "sets" to make whatever the suggested thing is. Then we also have a big bin (oldest kid is now 32 so the bin is big lol) that the sets go into after they get tired of making the same old same old thing. sometimes little bitty pieces get pitched as I am not going to figure out which of the many sets it might have went to. but my grandkids now play with them and they do just like you did as a kid. you make your airplane out of blocky blocks. not shaved into triangle etc. and they have a lot of fun. I love that they enjoy just making stuff up more than following hard directions to make stuff.

I grew up with Legos, many of which were sold as sets in the 70s and 80s. My kids have tons of Legos now.
When they fist get a set they quickly set out to build what the set calls for, enjoy it put together for a little bit, then it is pulled apart and dumped into the bin with all their other Legos. From that point on it is absolutely amazing the things they come up with! All those specially shaped pieces bring out more creativity then just the old basic bricks of yesteryear.
I collect all the instructions in page protectors in a 3 ring binder so if they feel like putting the set together as designed they can but most of the time they don't. As for things shaped specifically like musical instruments for instance, they use them for pretend play but don't let them limit what they do with the Legos.
I don't see the sets as limiting and my kids certainly aren't limited by the pre-designed sets.

It seemed odd to me when my kiddos got into legos. I like both type of sets though.
It seems where ever I look in my house there is a little lego man staring at me. Kind of creepy.
Anyway yes I remember the free for all sets and I also remember when they were CHEAP. good lord they are expensive.
Great question...Many blessings

It's nice to follow the instructions to learn a building technique and see what the pieces can do.
But nothing prevents you from taking it all apart and building to your own plan or make something free-form.
The instructions just give you an initial goal.
What would you do with a pile of bricks?
You can stack them in a wall around your garden but would you think of designing/building your own barbeque/fireplace/patio/firepit with them?

If the kits bother you, then you can always but a bunch of Lego pieces by the pound off eBay.
I did this one year (got a 15 lb bag of Legos) and was amazed at the random pieces.
While our son was playing/building with what ever he found I sat myself down during Christmas vacation and sorted the pieces.
We both had a blast!

All I gotta say is, Jill needs to stop getting her panties in a twist, geez. I feel ya, A..

It's pretty helpful in getting the kids interested. My hubby plays Lego's with the kids because he had the older type ones. So they get the idea and build all sorts of stuff now.

So play with the kids and show them how to use their imagination.

I'm shocked that you think this "lacks imagination compared to having to figure out what to make and how to make it." I think it actually ENHANCES creativity and helps lead children with not only creative thinking, but logical thinking. Combining the sets all together creates endless possibilities.

What do you have against progress?

They do sell boxes of just bricks. But, we had plenty of real sets with instructions books and everything in the 80s, so I don't really think it's that new.

I believe that it does take the "imagination" element out of it, but then again so do all the video/electronics our kids play with.

If we wanted to be a "vilian" we had to find a friend to play with who could be the superhero or the victim or whatever. Then, we had to find something to use as a cape, a mask and yes, even a gun because we didn't even have toy guns (in our particular household). All of this took up a lot of time, and effort and taught us to use our imaginations and invent things!

Kids are missing out on alot these days, all in the name of technology.

IK, R? what's the point of 'em if you can't scramble 'em into whatever you want them to be?
i did end up getting my kids some of the little just-build-one-thing kits for their christmas stockings because they were tickled by them, but fortunately they always ended up absorbed into the big kits.
kind of tosses the whole concept of legos out the door.
khairete
S.