Playing with Lego: 5 benefits for children’s development
Lego, bricks and constructions: most of us grew up with these toys and perhaps some of us, even if adults, keep a box somewhere and a beautiful memory in our hearts. It is not so?
Well, if among the many toys we may have had as children we still remember those green, yellow, red and blue bricks today, this should make us understand how and how much Lego and buildings in general “play” an important role in growth and in child development. Yes, because playing with Lego is good for you and it’s not me saying it.
Playing with Lego: 5 benefits for children’s development
According to some studies, children up to 8 years of age learn above all through play and constructions in particular help to stimulate creativity, imagination and problem solving.
With Lego every game is possible: no superstructures and full freedom when it comes to building, attention and analytical skills when it comes to assembling following the instructions. Handwork, imagination and fantasy do the rest!
But beyond the undeniable creative stimuli that Legos offer, there are also other reasons why constructions shouldn’t be missing from children’s toys.
Indeed the Legos:
1-stimulate mathematical thinking
Building towers, bridges, platforms and various characters helps the child to understand space, quantities, dimensions, proportions, symmetry. Playing with the bricks, children do balance exercises, experiment with shapes and learn to divide and split. This is why in many kindergartens Lego is present not only as a game but also as a fun learning method.
2-stimulate fine motor skills
Fine motor skills are the control over the small movements of the hands and fingers, a control that the child needs to carry out daily activities independently and with ease. Playing with Lego therefore helps the child to control these movements, to learn to measure the pressure of the hands, to be precise in positioning things.
3-teach to be patient and persevering
Playing with bricks is not a game that can be done in a hurry. This the children learn every time a tower falls or when the finished object is not as it should be. And then we start over, patiently, trying to understand the mistake and doing everything possible not to repeat it. Over time, children will learn that with patience and persistence, they can create more elaborate constructions and follow up on increasingly complex projects. This thought will help them be good students and better people.
4-improve self-esteem and increase confidence
For a child, putting small pieces of Lego together to create something concrete can be difficult. Achieving this task is a great source of satisfaction for him, so much so that he will spontaneously smile and proudly show off his completed work. This has an extremely positive effect on a child’s self-esteem and boosts self-confidence. It’s not a trivial matter.
5-they develop socialisation, sharing and communication
With Lego you can also play in groups both at home and in kindergartens and this teaches children to socialize with others. When working together to build something, the children in fact have to agree on the idea of the game to be built, they have to respect turns, they have to learn to communicate, express themselves and share roles and responsibilities. Only in this way will they understand that they will be able to arrive at a common result and will be able to have a pleasant social experience.
Are bricks and buildings just Lego?
Now that we have seen that playing with Lego has educational and training as well as recreational implications, let’s try to understand if bricks and buildings are only Lego®.
Those who already know them know that among toys of this kind, Lego® are the originals and therefore the best. They are recognized not only by the brand imprinted on each piece, but also by the quality of the materials, the colours, the weight, the type of joint, the resistance to wear and the quantity of the models.
The invention of the bricks is due to Ole Kirk Kristiansen a Danish carpenter who over time and due to the quality of his toys, has managed to grow his family business until it becomes one of the major toy manufacturers in the world.
But – and here comes the sore point – the original Lego®s cost.
There are those who once started buying them for their children would not change for any reason in the world and those who are satisfied with sub-brands, imitations and compatible bricks in order to save money. Why yes there is savings and sometimes even a lot.
The brands that produce bricks and constructions that you may happen to see for sale in supermarkets or online are ANDRONI Unico Plus (compatible), MEGABLOCKS, CLEMENTONI, QUERCETTI (all very respectable brands) but those that make clone toys of LEGO® and moreover also compatible are COBI, LEPIN, DECOOL, BLOKKY, COGO, CUBIX, QUIX, BOZI, BELA, POGO, XINH, QSOB and LELE.
These brands (mostly Chinese) that have become qualitatively good, sell pieces practically identical to LEGO at a much lower cost.
However, LEGOs go through a very high level quality control . The substantial difference is this and speaking of children’s toys it doesn’t seem like a small thing to me. And to you?
Playing with lego: when does it start?
You can start playing with bricks and buildings from an early age, just spend some time playing with them and find the most suitable game. For example, our friend Elena told me that one of the most appropriate toys she has ever bought and given to her children even before they turned 1 were the 10/20 cm blocks. In practice they are a sort of giant bricks particularly suitable for small children but with which they can continue to play even when they grow up.
They are exactly the ones you see in the photo below and
you can buy them here → giant bricks
Now both of his sons are super passionate about Lego and constructions and have passed the various stages, from Duplo to Technic, from Lego Friends to Lego City, from Creator to Lego Boost. This demonstrates that Legos have no age, they accompany children in their growth and are also a passion for adults . But we’ll talk about the various types of Lego next time.
In fact, after this first step in which I illustrated some of the benefits of playing with Lego and got to know the brands and ages to play better, in the next post we will see some examples of Lego and constructions that you can choose and give to children, by age.
Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.
Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.