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SuzanneG
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| Posted: Nov 26 2007 at 10:54pm | IP Logged
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We have a few of each of these that were handed-down to us. Both are played with quite a bit, and we'd like to get more for Christmas.
My question is: At what age do they like the smaller Legos better than the Duplos?
Keep in mind mine are all girls.....ages 6.5, 5, 4, 1.5 and babe-on-the-way.
Would you get more Duplos? Or more small Legos?
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Suzanne in ID
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St. Ann
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| Posted: Nov 27 2007 at 2:02am | IP Logged
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We have all girls too and even the 8 year old still likes to play with Duplos. If you decide to go for the Legos for the 6yr old - start small! With Legos one needs much more time and concentration to produce a house ...
We did buy Lego for our now 8 and 6 yr old last year at Christmas. They don't play with it as much as the Duplo I think because they just don't see results as easily?????
Lazy? maybe.
For my 8 year old, Lego means WORK!
Children are so different and for some Lego means HEAVEN!
That is why I say "start small", so that you and your dc have a chance to get to know Lego and not get overwhelmed by hundreds of little pieces.
Also take into account the size of the little Lego pieces and the danger of babies swallowing pieces. Sometimes it is just better not to start with Legos until one of the dc is responsible enough to always have them put out of baby's reach.
I too, do not know what to get the girls for Christmas.
SIGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Stephanie
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Nov 27 2007 at 7:15am | IP Logged
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Suzanne-
My 11yo still loves to play with the legos, although it is preferred by my boys. She enjoys building peaceful little structures like pretty little houses with picket fences, and grocery stores and horse barns - while the boys enjoy making bomb throwing devices, and pirate dungeons.
I really don't think you can go wrong with legos - girl or boy - you will just see a difference in their imaginations! I have a few sets of Duplos, and they rarely come out. I don't know why this is - but it has been consistent so far and I'm thinking of getting rid of them. But the smaller brick legos see a lot of play. My 2 almost 3 yo plays with the little legos. I don't stress about the whole age limit thing. My little guy doesn't put things in his mouth anymore, so I let him play with legos, marbles, etc. You'd have to take that child by child. Also, some little fingers can manipulate the lego bricks, while other children naturally develop a little later - again it just depends on your littles and your own mommy judgement.
My advice is to make sure you purchase several of the lego bases - like these. Try to have one for each of the older girls for sure so they can each build their own fairy houses. I wish they included several of the bases in the kits, but they don't and they are VERY popular around here as they can be a base for a larger structure. Make sure you find a lego kit with the picket fences, lego flowers and windows and doors since that is what your girls will be looking for in their building. I like the big bucket kits - they don't limit the imagination at all! And if this little one turns out to be a boy, just add a few lego wheels to your set and you'll be ready! 
HTH???
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Jen Mackintosh
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Lorri
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My 9yo still prefers the Duplo size, as does my 6 yo. They can build bigger and faster. I prefer them because the pieces are harder to lose and the 2 yo can play, too.
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Lorri
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Mary G
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| Posted: Nov 27 2007 at 7:55am | IP Logged
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We started with the smaller legos so mine have never played with the duplos .... I'd say if they like the duplos, stick with that. There are also some cool wooden blocks on the market now that might be a fun transition -- Kapla blocks, Keva planks, and this one at Nova Natural called interlocking blocks.
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Maryan
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I'm no help -- I'm a Nervous Nellie about having small legos with all our littles joining in the fun, so I've just stuck to the larger legos and wooden blocks for building.
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Maryan
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Nov 27 2007 at 8:35am | IP Logged
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It's been my experience that once you start on Legos, the Duplos never see the light of day again!
But that just may be in my house!
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Theresa
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ALmom
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| Posted: Nov 27 2007 at 9:28am | IP Logged
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Ok, at my house, both are played with constantly and all together but the legos are a bit more popular. Basically the duplos are easier to snap together but they also fall apart easier (which is why my older boys still use them - they wrap rubber bands inside and make these exploding grenades). The "shrapnel" really flies. The legos are a bit harder to snap together but tend to stay together better. My youngest is now 5, but he played legos from early on. As far as adding to sets, pretty early on, the duplos become used only for weapons - not likely to be your girls direction. Obviously I have a crew of mostly boys.
I have found that the younger children in a crowd simply want to do whatever the olders are doing and as long as they are not inclined to put things in the mouth and play along with an older for the most part, you don't have too many concerns about the small pieces.
It is a judgement call based on personality, dexterity and age. How easily frustrated do your dc get or are they more of the patient, love a challenge type. When our youngest first insisted on using legos like his brothers, there were some meltdowns when something came apart (they had air battles all the time) but this occured whether it was legos or duplos and generally required someone to help him recreate his destroyed airplane. Obviously, with the younger set, you do have to weigh the risk of putting something in the mouth or choking so how big a risk is that in your house? I do second being sure you have a base for each child so they can build structures on it. (you can get bases for legos or duplos)
We are not shy on creativity in our house so whatever is around, ends up getting used somehow. Duplos have even been used as support structures for the train set - so they could make really steep climbs and downhills.
Janet
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aiereis
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The oldest two are old enough to play with Legos, but probably would still like the Duplos. The advantage of Legos is that there are a lot more styles to choose from since they are for a broader age range. The downside is that if the children aren't careful, they can get EVERYWHERE and become a choking hazard for babies.
Christina
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sjbacb
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I have a 3 yo ds who, luckily, never put much in his mouth. He is OBSESSED with Legos. We never had Duplo blocks but had the larger mega blocks. I definitely agree that, especially with girls, you need to have the building boards.
Shannon
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: Nov 27 2007 at 2:26pm | IP Logged
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lapazfarm wrote:
It's been my experience that once you start on Legos, the Duplos never see the light of day again!
But that just may be in my house! |
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That's my house too. The older ones played with the duplos when I'd pull them out for the younger ones. We've had only legos for at least 2 years now, though, so my younger ones have been playing with them since they were 3 and 4. The older ones always help put things together if the littles get stuck.
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Philothea
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ALmom wrote:
| Ok, at my house, both are played with constantly and all together but the legos are a bit more popular. Basically the duplos are easier to snap together but they also fall apart easier (which is why my older boys still use them - they wrap rubber bands inside and make these exploding grenades). The "shrapnel" really flies. |
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Would you and your boys be willing to post a tutorial on exactly how to do that? That sounds right up our alley, LOL!
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ALmom
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| Posted: Nov 28 2007 at 12:45am | IP Logged
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Philothea: Surely you are not serious - the "shrapnel" was enough to make a wreck of my schoolroom - even knock books off shelves.  Something about 4 boys in a row and one being fascinated by chemistry and chemical reactions and physics and another being a war and weapons buff (historical) just makes for a dangerous combination that most of society no longer understands.
I don't even know how little girls would play with legos or duplos. My oldest girl wasn't much into either and the other girl - well she is a history buff and gets right in there with her brothers.
Janet
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Cheryl
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I got rid of the Duplos because nobody was really playing with them. My oldest got really into the smaller Legos (maybe around 4?) and the next two dc were not interested. My second son started to like the smaller ones around age 6.
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Cheryl
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: Nov 28 2007 at 10:11am | IP Logged
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ALmom wrote:
| Philothea: Surely you are not serious - |
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Great! Thanks everyone for your help and experiences. Very helpful. I didn't even KNOW about those base-things! That WOULD make a difference, I think. Now, I'm off to obsess about Duplos and Legos a bit more... 
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Suzanne in ID
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Philothea
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| Posted: Nov 29 2007 at 9:00pm | IP Logged
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I am totally serious. My husband and son would LOVE that! Now that I know what a mess it makes, I'll ask them to do it outside, but I really would like to know how to make Duplo explosions! Please share?
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ALmom
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| Posted: Nov 29 2007 at 10:42pm | IP Logged
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OK, I have no clue how they did it (mom is always clueless in these things) but I just called my 10 yo over to give me the instructions and here goes. If something doesn't work, then post back and I'll get clarification from my explosive whizzes.
They made 8 - 10 of these rubber band powered ones and tossed them in every 2 seconds. No wonder the schoolroom was a mess, it was under a systematic assault.
You need strong rubber bands that stretch 3 to 5 " from the original position. You get 10 2X2 duplo blocks stack one after another vertically and then stick 2 2X2 on the top of this where the 2 2X2 are right next to each other with an overhang on each side. Then on top of this you put another 2X2 with only 1 row of each on either end leaving a gap in the middle that would fit a 2X2 but is left empty. On top of this put 2 more 2 X 2. These will touch like the first pair of 2X2 and make a roof over the gap. Then put a final 2X2 on top to hold it all together. In order to get the rubber bands on without having a too early explosion, take a 2X2 and with your thumb use it to support the gap area. Now string all your rubber bands from the top (in the middle between the 2 rows) to the bottom. Be sure to remove the support block. Now you have a grenade, ready to launch. Support it in the back at the top while holding the stem. Throw it. Another way to throw it, is to hold the stem close to the top and throw it like a spear. The second way, you can throw it harder but the first way is more accurate for aim. For short range, you just hold the stem. This is real accurate but you cannot throw it hard at all or it will explode in your hand. When it hits the ground (or some object) anywhere, it explodes. If it hits on the stem, the stem breaks and makes a small explosion where it breaks and then the head shoots off and hits another target. If it hits on the side of the head, Then outermost block, slides in and hits the other outermost block which shoots off and then nothing is supporting the rest of the head so the top of the head shoots down really fast and hits where the head connects to the base. Because of the force and the rubber bands it forces those bottom head pieces outward, and the 5 pieces involved shoot out in 5 different directions and the stem blows up. If it hits on the nose, the top middle block breaks the two next blocks go apart and fly off and those cause the next two to fly off at a different angle and the next two do the same thing and basically you have a chain reaction all the way up the stem. The worst place for it to hit, according to the 10 yo, is for the stem to hit straight down because then the force only causes the head pieces to explode and the stem stays together.
You can make an even stronger one using the same basic idea on a base of a 2 X 4. So basically he is making a base to be used like a missle launcher. You have your grenade just as above except the rubber bands for this are going from top to bottom around the sides instead of front to back. This way the grenade will slide better through the launcher. But then you use 2 extra rubber bands - only attach the back of the rubber band to the back of the grenade and then attach the front of the rubber band to the base. Then you just pull the grenade back and release and it shoots through two of our rooms in a second. It shoots through the house and hits the wall at a high rate of speed ( Ok how did I, the mom, miss this) and shoots it faster, further and more powerful.
They also have another grenade design that uses up our entire supply of duplos (2 big bins). These grenades don't make a mess of anything else but the duplos and stuff on the ground - but not fancy mom stuff on the walls because these grenades aren't supposed to shoot up. Those just spread out and obliterate anything on the ground - shooting out horizontally but not up and down. These you start with 2X2 on the bottom and then make a table top over that , then have 4 corners connected by only one hole and one 2 X2 in the middle to be the next base for the next table top. You just keep on repeating for as many blocks as you have. Then on the top, you put a 2X 4 around the center overhanging like a helicopter wing. Then you put a 2 X 4 on the end of each of these wings. Then have 2 X4 on the inside edge of these next ones so that they meet with a 2x 2 gap in the center. You use 2 more 2 X 4 to hold this. These are side by side, each connecting 3 blades. Then you put another 2 by 4 across the top and use this for a base for repeating the whole helicopter blade thing. You repeat until you run out of blocks. You launch this one using 2 people. One person holds at the back and right before the middle and then the other person holds it right after the middle and at the front. And then you get out of the room and throw it. No matter how it lands, it will blow up all the same.
Ok, hopefully this is not too fuzzy. If it is, please PM me with your e-mail and I'll get him to take pics and you will be able to see it better. I had to basically have him build in front of me so I could picture it.
If you want to know how to use hydrogen to make explosives, I can PM 10 ds's paper on the electrolysis of hydrogen and the uses of this wonderful little element. I'd be afraid to post this one publicly on a forum. It was one of those after the fact - you did what - ok write me a paper on it.
Gee I really sound like an incompetent mom whose children are up to all kinds of dangerous things. Yikes, my 7 yo just came in to tell me that ds 10 just invented another grenade that is pretty explosive - they named it the American grenade. I think they are off on another mission inspired by this dictation of how to make duplo grenades.
Hope you have loads of fun!!! Let me know how it goes.
Oh, one other suggestion for the mom who was trying to decide between duplos and legos. They are supposed to be compatible so you can attach duplos to legos, so you may end up with a set of duplos for the youngest and legos for the others. Just don't let your girls read the instructions about how to turn duplos into grenades.
Janet
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: Nov 29 2007 at 11:03pm | IP Logged
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I asked about Kapla and Keva planks on new thread.
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Suzanne in ID
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threadhead
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Hi Everyone! My name is Karen and I'm new here. I am homeschooling 2 of my grandchildren. I started 2 years ago. Before then I ran a Montessori center. Now I teach an on-line Montessori traning class/group on Yahoo. I have students from 4RealLearning Forums and I finally decided that I needed a family to fit into. Everyone I know from here is loving and kind and fun...so I hope I can contribute and I hope you can help me as I continue to transition from outside Montessori to a Homeschool environment.
My thoughts on smaller legos and larger duplos are this:
My grandson is a duplo/lego fiend....he is turning 4 this week-end. He transitioned over to the smaller legos about 4 months ago. His sister is still too young to play with duplos, even though I've given her one to hold when he plays. I think that if you have a child that is at least 2 years old and closer to 3, one that doesn't put toys in their mouths still, then you can introduce the smaller legos. That, I believe is the issue...the mouth thing. It does take more dexterity to manipulate the smaller pieces...but for some children they seem to love it! Blessings and Hugs, Karen
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Meredith
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Karen, it's so good to "see" you here, you will fit right in, and your wisdom from the "outside" will greatly benefit many of us here!! Welcome to our world and congratulations on your journey with your grandchildren, you will not regret it in the least  Love,
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Meredith
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: Duplos and Legos
