Lego has been a kid favorite for nearly 100 years. It's one of the most versatile toys around. I bet you can't find one person who hasn't played with, much less heard of, Lego. I've made a list of fun and educational things your kids can do with Legos by age group. Remember! Legos can be a choking hazard and children should be supervised at all times!
Infant and Young Toddler
1. Object Permanence: Show a block to your little one and then cover it with a small blanket or piece of fabric. Then, pull the blanket away revealing the block. Do this over and over. You can play "peek a boo" with the block.
2. Texture: Let your young child touch and mouth a Duplo. Use words like "smooth," and "bumpy" to describe the block.
3. Vocabulary: Teach the meaning of together/apart and off/on by putting together and stacking Legos.
4. Fine Motor Skills: Stacking Legos is a great way to improve hand-eye coordination and get those small muscles groups moving.
5. Counting: Legos are great for beginning counting. You can count the blocks themselves or the pegs. You can also number the blocks using sharpies and teach your child sequence.
6. Dumping: Every little kid likes to fill up boxes or bags and then dump everything out. Once started, they tend to do this over and over again. When you use Legos for dumping you are rewarded with a fun crashing sound!
Older Toddler and Young Child
7. Sorting: Legos are fun to sort and you can do it so many ways! Sort Legos or Duplos by color, size, shape, or number of pegs.
8. Patterns: Create a pattern of colors or block sizes and let your child decide what comes next.
9. Impulse Control: Every little one loves to knock over blocks. It's fun to be destructive! You can teach impulse control by playing this game. Build your Lego tower and start singing the song "London Bridge." Don't let your child knock over the blocks until you get to the part that says "Falling down." Then you can sing other lines like "Build it up with Silver and Gold" and build it again only to knock it down by singing the first line again.
10. Imagination/Creativity: With Lego, the sky is the limit! You can build anything with Lego that you put your mind to. Legos foster both imagination and creativity. Help your child build a robot or maybe an airplane. And if your creation goes in a different direction, let it be. Sometimes the best creations are those that happen accidentally.
11. Problem Solving: Want to build a tall tower or building but it keeps falling down? Problem solve by experimenting with different ways to make a strong foundation for your creation.
12. Reading and Word Recognition: Write sight words on the sides of Legos and watch your child learn to read!
Just for Fun
13. Bath Fun! Legos are super fun in the bath. Make a boat and watch it float. Use Duplos for dumping water.
14. Lego Jello: I've seen it all over Pinterest but haven't tried it myself yet. Apparently you can make Lego, jello molds!
15. Frozen Legos: Turn Legos into ice trays by pouring colored water into them and freezing them. This would be a super fun summer activity!
BONUS!
16. Family Togetherness. Everyone can get in on the fun with Lego. Even grandma and grandpa. Share stories of things you used to build as a kid. Get together and create a giant creation!
17. Make it a party! You can never have too many Legos. Summer is a great time to find Legos at yard sales and don't forget to check amazon for great sale prices. Get as many Legos together as you can find and invite friends over to build a Lego city!
What are your favorite things to do with Lego?
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.jpg "15 Ways to Learn and Play with Lego by Whenthekidsarebored.com")
