In an age where kids are fixated on their digital devices, why is Lego such an enduring success? Why is Lego the Christmas gift that is always welcomed by any child?
Lego has been around for generations. It was originally released in the USA in 1962 and sales have never looked backward. Year after year, Lego releases around 800 to 900 new designs and they are often sold out within days of release as collectors and avid fans snap them up (and together)!
Is it any wonder why it has such a strong appeal for children, teens, and even adults? Lego is an incredibly versatile Christmas gift that can be used to build and design a wide range of creations. It is also a great way to help children and teens develop important skills such as problem-solving, creativity, and fine motor skills.
Why Lego makes the perfect Christmas gift…
Lego is a great way to get children and teens to use their imaginations. With a few pieces of Lego, they can create anything they can dream up. This encourages them to think outside the box and come up with creative solutions to problems. It also helps them to develop their problem-solving skills as they figure out how to put pieces together to create the design they want.
Lego gives free rein to a child’s imagination
I vividly recall gifting my (then) 8-year-old son the set he desperately wanted as his Christmas gift. It comprised a complete service centre and multi-level car park. He invested hours toiling away until he had it standing in all its glory. Then he immediately pulled out his boxes of Lego pieces and started doing ‘upgrades’! The original ‘out of the box’ design never reappeared!
I suspect that’s a story every parent can relate to 🙂
Lego helps build fine motor skills
Building with Lego also helps to develop fine motor skills. As children and teens work to put pieces together, they are using small muscles in their hands and fingers. This helps to strengthen these muscles and improve their dexterity. It also helps to improve their hand-eye coordination as they work to put pieces together in the right way.
Lego helps teach engineering fundamentals
A Christmas gift of Lego is also a great way to help children and teens learn about engineering and design. By building with Lego, they can learn about how structures are put together and how to create something that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.
Every Lego ‘engineer’ has had his or her edifice come tumbling down because the design contravened the basic laws of physics! These are Lego ‘catastrophes’ that can help them to develop a better understanding of engineering and design principles.
Over the years, I’ve seen how kids can spend hours with friends building joint and individual creations. One builds the farmhouse, another builds the barn and a third is busy making the animals.
No squabbles, only helpful suggestions, and ideas accepted or discarded. And all through the process, the children are enhancing their social skills!
Let’s not forget how much fun Lego brings at Christmas…
Many Christmas gifts are little more than ‘5-minute wonders’. They are quickly discarded as they lose that initial appeal. Lego, on the other hand, can entertain in a constructive, instructive yet fun way for months and years.
A Christmas gift of Lego really is the gift that keeps going and going as ‘upgraded’ designs morph iteration by iteration.
Lego is quite simply a great way for children and teens to have fun. It can be used to create anything from a simple house to the most complex space station complete with docking bays and spaceships!
Of course, Lego can also be used to create characters and then the stories around those characters. This encourages children and teens to use their imaginations and have fun while they are learning.
Wrapping it up (for Christmas or any time of year)!
The bottom line is that Lego is an incredibly versatile gift that has a strong appeal for children of all ages. It’s a great way for parents and grandparents to sit and play and share irreplaceable family time with the young and young at heart.
Lego encourages children to use their imaginations and develop important skills such as problem-solving, creativity, and fine motor skills. It is also a great way for them to learn about engineering and design.
And of course, a Christmas gift of Lego is a great way for children and teens to have fun while they are learning.
Lego storage ideas you’ll want to see:
Anyone who has stepped barefoot onto a Lego piece has possibly redefined the definition of agony! As wonderful as that Christmas gift of Lego might be, those little pieces need a home of their own when the Lego ‘engineers’ have finished for the day.
Upcycled Hall Table Transformed to Cool Lego Table with Storage
This is a great example of taking someone else’s rubbish and turning it into a treasured yet practical item 🙂
Or this super-practical Coffee Table With Lego Storage. It provides a working surface and excellent volume to store all those pieces. (From experience, invest in some small plastic baskets or containers so that colours and shapes can be separated.)
If you have the time, why not make a fully immersive Lego Dresser that can store a whole lot more than just the Lego blocks?
And just to fire up your imagination, here are 8 fully Lego themed bedrooms!
So what are you giving for Christmas? Lego sounds perfect!
