Lego Series – 10 Ways That Lego “Builds” Learning Through Play

I remember how much I enjoyed Lego when I was a kid.  Every time I wander the aisles of Toys “R” Us,  I think about how far it’s come since then.  Now there are brick sizes for all ages, mini-figures to replicate every walk of life, product lines geared for any interest and not to mention the super cool wish-I-had-a-girl-just-so-I-could-buy “Lego friends“.

FUN FACT: Did you know the bumps on the Lego bricks are officially called, “studs”?

I love to watch Chase learn through play and Lego is one of those toys that provides that opportunity in so many ways.  It’s a lot easier to tolerate stepping on those tiny piercing bricks and handle the tears when favorite pieces get sucked up in the vacuum, when you see how well these bricks can facilitate learning.   Here are some of the ways:

1. Spatial Ability –  Helps recognition and understanding of what pieces fit together based on space, size and shape
2. Problem Solving – Using trial and error to reach a goal  i.e. how can we build a tower that doesn’t fall over?
3. Math –  Describing shapes, counting studs, sorting by colors as well as light and dark shades.  There is a myriad of math building Lego activity ideas on Pinterest.  Check out my Lego board where I’ve saved some of my favorites.
4. Creativity – Last week we built a pet shop, a police station, a bad-guy’s house and a superhero hideout.  I got to see how the traffic light brick was actually a control panel for turning on the air conditioner in the bad guys house.  I’m not sure we should be giving the bad guys air conditioning, but okay.
5. Imaginative Play – It’s always an exciting day when we have drag races in the hallway with the Lego cars.  How about that time the Lego fire truck came to the rescue when I burnt the toast?
6. Fine Motor Skills – Manipulating small pieces, pushing bricks together and pulling blocks apart
7. Following Instructions – Lego has a Junior builders line which we love for the simplified instruction book.  It shows step by step instructions with pictures so pre-readers can begin building sets.
8. Focus – A friend of mine was amazed how her little guy spent 6 hours straight playing with his new set!  It’s great to have a reliable activity on hand that kids love and can keep them occupied when you have things to do.
9. Sorting & Organization – The Christmas that just passed was very fruitful in building our Lego collection so we recently implemented a storage system, which I will write about on a future blog post.  As we experimented with options for storage we did a lot of sorting and organizing. (for me, this was more fun than the building)  It was so cute to watch Chase get excited and involved in this.
10. Pride & Accomplishment – There is nothing quite like that goofy look and sound your kids make when overcome with pride for having finished a Lego build.  Lego teaches that patience, perseverance and hard work can result in both great builds and proud parents.
    

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    Stay tuned for more posts in my Lego Series including some tried and true Pinterest inspired Lego activities, converting a train table to a Lego table & storage ideas!