Comments on: Spot the Problem with this Toy Advertisement

By: BLAH

BLAH — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:40:25 +0000

Developing a healthy imagination is an awesome thing, but i feel like there's also something to be said about learning how to follow instructions.

Sorry for posting on this old thread.

By: My Boaz's Ruth

My Boaz's Ruth — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:16:10 +0000

I HAD Lego kits with instructions on how to make things growing up.

This did not prevent me from intermingling all the pieces and making other things as WELL As the stuff on the boxes. (and in fact, our first set of "mostly just pieces" was a farm set that had instructions for making animals, putting together the people, making the farm house, etc. But we still used that as a launching board.) So don't fear, Lego does not stifle creativity. It launches it.

Notice on the boxes? They don't just have pictures of the things that are made by the instructions, but also other things that can be made using just the pieces in that box! So you can try to recreate it. This is teaching yet a third important skill. (Oh and following instructions IS an important skil. And gives ideas for ways of using the pieces that I may not have come up with on my own)

By: M

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:30:54 +0000

Our two boys, 3 and 6.5, play with legos all the time. We too keep ours in large bins, all mix together, including those specialized “kit” blocks. We haven’t kept the original boxes, but we’ve kept the kit instructions in a separate location. The boys ususally play with them freestyle. But once in a while our older one likes to pull out a set of instructions and build the “kit” item. He certainly doesn’t always find exact matching block in terms of color, but he finds the right size. This has help him to learn to be more flexible, and that it is ok when the end item doesn’t look exactly as the pic. At the same time, it has taught him to follow instructions (this really is something that is a part of life), to be patient (he has to go through 100s and 100s of legos to find the right sz), and to complete a project. I say, keep the instructions, but not w/ the legos themselves (we have ours in a binder) b/c legos have value either way.

By: Publius

Publius — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 03:36:05 +0000

I am 33.

I still have a sigle-seater space fighter I built when I was 12. I modeled it after the Klingon ship from the Star Trek movies and the X-Wing fighter. It has stayed with my through high-school, college, law school, marriage and so far through 2 kids.

Legos kick ass.

By: AJ

AJ — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 22:45:45 +0000

I feel so misunderstood. I'm not underestimating anyone. I'm not saying Lego kits kill imagination. But to spark imagination you have to discard the instructions and build something new. And when you build something new, you're probably mingling in non-kit bricks, which means you either keep your kits separate, or you give up ever making your kit vehicle/building ever again, unless you spend hour(s) sorting through all of your bricks to find the ones that came with the kit.

The advertisement is pitching simplicity. Lego kits are complexity.

As for the miscellaneous brick packages Nathan mentioned, those resurfaced within the last few years. I just haven't seen them in any store I shop that carries Lego.

By: adrienne

adrienne — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 22:39:14 +0000

Julius:
You're right- just because they're sold in sets doesn't mean they discourage imagination. Even a fully completed model kit can inspire other related items that Lego didn't design (for instance, a completed car needs a garage and a gas station).

Back in the old days, when Legos were sold as batches rather than one item kits, we got used to making up our own designs for things. It underestimates the youth of today to think they will not dream beyond the picture on the box.

By: nathan

nathan — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 20:08:18 +0000

I NEVER would have gotten that as the problem, because we buy the pieces in packages that don't come pre-made. You don't have to buy the kits, but can get them in big plastic bins of lots of different pieces.

We just ignore the ones that have the set stuff, and my three year old loves building towers. So I don't think of Legos as models, but as lots of blocks.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 18:01:49 +0000

Ah, yes…Hours and hours spent on the floor of Rusty’s room making worlds of our own. Good times, good times. I agree that Lego has lost its focus as an imagination-building outlet. My 10 year old son loves to build with Legos…as long as he can follow to the letter the detailed and complicated directions supplied (He got 1/24 scale Lego Ferrari for his birthday last month…about halfway through he discovered that he omitted a crucial step in the process, put it on a shelf, and has not touched it since. The unusual shapes of the bricks in this kit all but guarantee this set will not turn into a castle, bulldozer, or space alien battle submarine. When I build with him, it’s freestyle all the way, trying to teach him the holistic approach to lego play – it doesn’t matter what you start to build, the important thing is what you end up with.

By: Chief Family Officer

Chief Family Officer — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 13:36:54 +0000

I totally get what you’re saying, but Ted is totally right! I got a couple of Duplo sets really cheap and Alex (who’s 2) has gotten my husband (who truly understands the value of Legos!) to make him trash trucks of various types, forklifts, a harvester, etc. Never having played with Legos much myself, I’m in complete awe of what my husband has been able to do! (And I love that you’ve bought a bunch for your daughter – wish my parents had done that for me!)

By: Ted

Ted — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 07:41:37 +0000

P.S., sure the pre-fab LEGO sets have a lot of specific pieces, but a six-year-old will find PLENTY more ways to use it than you or I. I hope once you’ve enjoyed the challenge (and satisfaction) of putting together a pre-fab set you take it apart, hide the instructions, throw away the box with pictures, and add the pieces to your 17-pound Bucket o’ Imagination :)