Lego blocks are not enemies, but friends of parents. You can do a lot of useful things with Lego and even create a learning environment at home that runs on autopilot. Lego bricks can replace expensive textbooks and teach mathematics, reading and music.
It has been noticed that children who are seriously interested in Lego construction easily overcome difficulties such as “delayed speech development.” Fine motor skills training helps you quickly master mathematics and writing, understand solfeggio and play your first pieces on musical instruments. They pass psychological testing more successfully in kindergarten or school. Little Lego fans are calm and balanced, tests show a high level of happiness.
A child’s passion for Lego is worthy of encouragement and support. But adults also notice that, having started their home construction club with reluctance, they get involved and begin to have fun. Sorting parts, assembling, searching for ideas together - this frees you for a while from endless adult worries and gives you energy in your main work.
It is difficult for a modern person to understand what meditation is. “Sitting like an idol” - what does this give? But a hobby that requires concentration and attention relieves the burden of uncontrolled work of the mind. For a time, you become completely immersed in the present moment. This activity heals better than any medicine and gives a powerful influx of energy.
And you should start with the simplest thing: find time in your diary to sort the bricks...
Lego storage and construction table
The biggest obstacle to successful creativity is toy boxes in which everything is piled up, including Lego. It is impossible to build in such conditions. The children do not understand what to do with this mass.
Organizing bricks by size into storage containers is the first step parents usually start with. At the same time as sorting this way, it is convenient to build something according to the instructions. The son gives orders for the part - the mother looks for it and issues it. Makes for some fun sorting! It immediately becomes clear which parts are most in demand and which ones should be kept separately.
Not a bad start. But later it turns out that the containers are not quite suitable, the place for them is not very well chosen, and such a system does not look very neat. Do not stop. Read on to create the best Lego storage system available.
- Sort by color. At first glance, this is illogical. But this is exactly how designers recommend sorting parts. The big drawback of Lego is the noise that the colorful bricks create. No, we are not talking about audio noise, but about visual noise. Even when placed in containers according to size, the cubes do not look very attractive. And children love it when it’s beautiful. They love it when their crafts look neat and stylish.
Megan Rothrock (Lego Group designer and author of Lego Adventure) noticed that while the pieces are in one colorful pile, children do not know what to do with them. When they are arranged by color, interest and ideas arise. Sorting by color inspires creativity, so it's important. It is convenient to use wide and flat transparent containers. All the details are on the surface and easy to find.
To keep things simple, it’s enough to sort by the most common colors: black, white, dark gray, light gray, yellow, blue, red, beige. Leave the others in a common container.
- Should I sort by part type? Design experience shows that sorting by size and type makes sense. That's just... from Lego constructors about 4000 types of parts. Each piece is available in several colors. If each type of part is sorted by color and type, it’s scary to imagine how many thousands of containers would be needed.
It is convenient to store small frequently encountered bricks separately. Tom Alfin, who we mentioned above, has made a guide to the most common small parts and even lists the most common colors (at the bottom of the page). Use it as your storage assistant.
- Storage system for a child. He must be able to maintain order on his own. An overly complex storage system and a lot of effort to maintain order kill motivation. Who would want to build if it’s so difficult to clean up afterwards?
Independent creativity will be a joy if the building material is available at arm's length. This can be organized using a special gaming table.
3 in 1 solution: gaming table, temporary stand for finished models, organizer for storing parts. Here everything you need is at hand. At his table the child builds and thinks.
To organize one, you need a suitable table (for example, from IKEA) and Lego building boards. Construction boards are attached to the table with superglue or double tape. Velcro textile fastener is also suitable. Ikea tables are so varied that there is a solution for any design and size of a child’s room. Storage organizers can be built into them.
There may be more parts than the desk organizers can accommodate. Then you need to keep the most popular ones on hand.
Take photos of finished models
Many children refuse to dismantle finished buildings and are painfully worried about accidental destruction. But change cannot be avoided. Structures are fragile because creativity is a process. Not to get attached, to be calm about change - this is one of the wise lessons of Lego. To preserve the building, it is not necessary to turn the apartment into a dusty museum. Designers recommend that parents keep a photo album for their buildings. So you can return to them at any time. Models that move can be filmed.
Photo source: www.imgur.com
Instructions for Lego: why store it and where to find it?
Once the parts are sorted, creativity kicks into high gear. Usually a child cannot be stopped - he really wants to assemble something grandiose. He tries to come up with something himself, but it doesn’t turn out as beautifully as he would like. Until the design techniques have been perfected, instructions are needed.
- Save old instructions for Lego sets in file folders. The new is the well-forgotten old. If you've saved the building instructions, you'll always find great building ideas.
- Download instructions from the manufacturer's website. You can select by model number or by your favorite series.
- Find ideas and DIY tutorials on Pinterest.com.
In children's Lego construction clubs they not only build, but also make up fairy tales. Try the same. Choose compositions that inspire role-playing and storytelling. And then move on to the next step.
How to assemble Lego without instructions
The Lego company recommends trying regular pictures instead of instructions. What is your child's favorite topic? Houses, robots, animals and cartoon characters - everything can be assembled from Lego. Assembly without instructions is the next step. For this you need to master the basic techniques. If a child has collected a lot according to instructions, he is ready for independent creativity. Lego bricks are a treasure trove of interesting tricks and tricks.
The house can be opened like a book to see what's inside
Photo source: Pinterest.com
Alternate 2x4 with 1x2 plates to build a spiral staircase
Beautiful symmetry: Lego sphere. How to make it
Toys, toys everywhere. This means that there is definitely a child in the house. At first these are small and quiet rattles. In addition to dolls and cars, older children have a very popular and interesting toy called “Lego” - a construction set consisting not only of cubes. This is a huge, diverse world of people, animals, cars, planes, houses and much more. For any child, you can choose the set that interests him. Boys will probably want to show off their creativity by building ships, planes, and even radio-controlled cars. For girls, there is the opportunity to work magic on a doll house and build a home mini-zoo.
Having given such a gift to your child, first you involuntarily ask yourself the question: “How to assemble Legos”?
Assembling Legos is not difficult at all
Already for small children of one year of age, construction sets have been developed that help develop their mental abilities at the early stage of development. The Baby lego series is very popular. Their bright colors and small details, easily held in a small hand, have a fascinating effect on children. Assembling them at this age, of course, needs to be done with the help of parents, who will help the child figure out how to connect the parts to build a house or some kind of figurine.
The peculiarity of such construction sets is that, along with the child growing up, they effectively expand their horizons, develop motor skills, spatial thinking, as well as a skillful approach to solving selected problems. Each construction set, no matter how difficult it is, comes with instructions: “How to assemble Legos.”
Assembly steps
▪ Together with your child, carefully study the diagram of the future toy you have chosen.
▪ Having selected the largest visible part, find its neighbor, which you subsequently need to attach to it.
Step by step, with perseverance, perseverance and patience, you can achieve your intended result. And there will be no need to think about how to assemble Legos in the future; your baby will surprise you with the help of his imagination by creating an amazing touching figure.
Lego construction is a fun activity
For children from three to six years old, Lego games will be interesting. They will be able to assemble the construction set on their own. So, the car they created can drive around a large Lego city, a homemade fire truck will go to put out a fire, and a plane will soon take off. As a result, you can design whatever your heart desires.
Lego constructor uses, in addition to thematic sets, also entire sets of basic parts. Detailed assembly diagrams are also provided for them. With the help of more complex designs based on various mechanisms, it is possible, for example, to create a robotic toy that responds to light, various sounds, touches, and all this will work based on sensors. You can also create a radio-controlled tractor and try to “train” your invention to perform simple actions, for example, putting balls in a basket, going down stairs, and the like. Lego construction is an interesting and exciting process; it differs in difficulty levels and will help children learn to achieve their goals. And it is not at all necessary to follow the exact instructions, because by inventing something of their own, the child develops thinking and imagination.
How to assemble Lego? Help your children, experiment with them, interest them, only then this game will become complete and attractive for them.
Lego "Chimo" - an exciting game
Among the many entertaining themes of Lego constructors - investigations and travel, fantastic worlds of universes - there is a very interesting and exciting game Lego Chima, which opens up the mysterious world of the four elements. How to assemble Lego "Chimo"?
The story of this game is dedicated to six tribes. Among them are animals (lions, wolves, gorillas, crocodiles) and crows). At first they lived peacefully among themselves, but then enmity arose between the tribes. The Lego designer offers to take the side of any of them and try to restore the balance of Chi energy.
Each character in the tribe has weapons, techniques, and everyone has their own special appearance and name. And all this consists of entertaining details that need to be collected in order to truly get involved in an exciting adventure. Even a small, smart child can figure out this game. And with the participation of parents and friends, the process will be even more fun.
Why do you need a Lego constructor?
Such fascinating construction toys help children develop psychological and intellectual abilities, develop perseverance and patience. How to assemble Lego? Don't let this question scare you. Start small - buy your child such a construction set, and you will see what a necessary and entertaining gift it is.
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If you have children and not a single LEGO® building block at home, then you are a very strange family. Because LEGO® is not only a multifaceted educational game, but also the most popular construction set on this planet. And as a result, almost all children have it to one degree or another.
And while you remember how just last morning you pulled out a cute LEGO® fairy figurine from a plate and almost stepped on a scattering of plastic cubes, we will tell you how this construction set directly affects the development of girls and boys from 3 to 103 years old, and what it doesn’t just sets of parts, but something more!
FactN1: Fine motor skills develop
The simplest and most obvious. Scientists, psychologists and other smart people officially declare: while children attach pieces to each other, their muscles develop, finger dexterity too, and behind all this, the speech apparatus is actively tightened, by the way. Just like that. The kid collects LEGO® - learns to speak.
FactN2: Develops engineering skills
Maybe the child won’t become an engineer, but structural-logical thinking has never bothered anyone. This also applies to girls; under no circumstances should such utilities be divided into “m” and “f”! The process of assembling a three-dimensional structure according to a diagram develops design skills at an excellent pace. And if you take high-tech sets, for example, LEGO® Technic, you will have to really stretch your brains and at the same time train them.
FactN3: Improve the basics of mathematics and physics
Yes, even them. And again, you shouldn’t think that this is useful and interesting only for boys - it is useful, interesting and very important for everyone. Parts need to be counted, and when building structures, their stability, weight, balance and size must be taken into account - here it is, physics in its elementary form. This is how spatial thinking develops and mathematics is used unconsciously. How? So the little girl divided the construction of blocks into two equal pieces, and already learned division without even realizing it!
FactN4: There is room for creativity and imagination
We are all about the exact sciences, but LEGO® amazingly combines design with high creative potential. You can assemble according to the diagram, or you can without it. You can turn a helicopter into a cool windmill if you apply a little creativity. From the big evil elven dragon there are many small clawed monsters. And so on. A huge range of different parts will allow you to assemble anything from anything. It's up to the imagination.
FactN5: Promotes perseverance
This is an extremely important point in the modern pace of life. There is little that can pull the digital generation out of gadgets, much less make them sit quietly at some one business, not five at once. And this “little thing” is LEGO® constructors. To assemble a model you need three comrades - attentiveness, perseverance and patience. They will be very useful for the child, always.
FactN6: Bringing the Family Together
And this is also very useful for the harmonious development of the child. Assembling LEGO® is a great option for family leisure, it’s interesting for dads, exciting for moms, even grandparents can participate if their eyesight allows. Adults enjoy constructing, because this activity has no age limit, and helping a child means having a good time together.
And here’s a little life hack for you if your child initially ignored the LEGO® construction set: place the parts in a visible place and start assembling them yourself. In nine cases out of ten, after half an hour you will already be snatching the instructions from your baby’s hands. At ten, it may take an hour to do this. Maximum.
FactN7: Allows you to create new worlds
With a great range of LEGO® toys, your child can play with their wildest dreams. Moana will easily come to visit Elsa’s ice castle, Ariel will fly on a plane, and nothing will happen to anyone for it. In general, this is an ideal opportunity for a “crossover” (meeting of characters from different universes), which promotes frequent and long games that develop skills from points No. 1 to No. 6. Complete benefit.
Now you are convinced that it is difficult to find another toy that will bring as much benefit to a child at once as LEGO®. It’s not for nothing that this construction set is considered one of the most fascinating inventions of the 20th century. This is true! Playing with LEGO® is just as important for a child's development as reading books or playing educational games. And we draw the attention of parents of girls to the new sets - a wonderful line with elves, dragons and magic, in the best traditions of the fantasy genre and with fabulous scope for creativity.
Grow with LEGO®!
By definition, Legos ® are multi-colored plastic bricks, small figures that are mutually attached to each other. Lego figures can be connected in different ways and can be assembled into different objects such as vehicles, buildings and even real robots. Then what you have assembled can be taken apart and the parts used to assemble something else. Lego began to be produced in 1949. Since then, the global Lego subculture has developed, films have been made, games have been created, competitions have been held, and several theme parks exist. By 2013, approximately 560 Lego pieces had been produced, and in February 2015, Lego took Ferrari's place as the World's Strongest Brand.
Lego for me and my son is much more than just colorful plastic bricks. You could say that we are obsessed with playing games, collecting and making up stories. In addition to simply being a fun activity for both the child and the parent, I have come up with at least 5 ways in which Lego can be used to help your child learn and develop in the form of a fun game. While I'm describing this in the context of Lego, it can certainly be applied to other industries as well.
1. When to follow rules and instructions.
We live in a world with a huge number of external stimulants, which is why attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a very common occurrence in the modern world. Our brain, like a muscle, requires training to learn how to concentrate. Lego is one of the great ways to do this kind of training. Lego often comes with fairly long and detailed instructions telling you where and how to place certain sometimes tiny pieces. In order to place a part in the right place, sometimes you need to carefully focus. Thus, building a Lego structure trains his or her ability to concentrate on a specific task.
My son, like most 5-year-olds, moves quickly from one activity to another with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. But when he's busy with Lego, something magical happens: he calms down, concentrates, sometimes carefully following instructions for hours and placing the right piece in its place.
2. When you can give freedom to creativity.
Another important feature of Lego is that you can go to the store and buy an unlimited number of pieces, located in huge baskets. We take our huge container and fill it with squares, triangles and various other details. When we return home, we simply build whatever comes to our mind. There are no rules here. We can collect whatever comes to mind. I find these activities incredibly important because they allow the child to express themselves and feel like their ideas are important and interesting. While following instructions and rules trains concentration, this type of play tends to be wild, loud and fun.
3. Overcoming crisis situations.