Legos are probably my favorite toy of all time, and I have had a lot of fun introducing and sharing my enjoyment of these little plastic bricks with my kids. When I was a kid in the 1980s, Lego sets were still relatively basic. There were only six brick colors – red, blue, yellow, white, gray, and black – and in terms of themes, you had Technic, City, Space and Castle. That was it.
Today, there are many, many Lego themes – both licensed and original – and sets have become more and more intricate and model-like. For the most part, this is great; the only problem is that it’s now way too easy to treat Legos solely as rebuildable model sets, and to forget that they are also building blocks that can be made into almost anything you can imagine.
Now there’s nothing wrong with enjoying Legos as model sets, but if you also want to encourage your kids to build their own stuff, here are a few tips I’ve come up with:
1) Find some plain bricks
The plain little square and rectangular bricks are the key staple of any pile of Legos. Freely building without instruction is a great way to experiment, and a great way to learn how to build creations that are structurally sound. With some luck and effort, you might be able to find some used Lego Bricks at a yard sale or from a friend or relative who no longer has a use for them. But if not, The Lego Group does still offer plain packages of bricks – you may just have to look a bit harder for them.
2) Explore the Creator line
The Lego Creator 3-in-1 sets come with instructions for three different models using the same pieces. (Many of The Lego Movie buildings sets came in similar 2-in-1 varieties.) They are available at almost any price range and encourage you to keep building and to learn different building techniques, versus simply putting your newly build model on a shelf.
3) Track down some base plates
Having a set location for your lego builds to live is a great way to display your work. When the Town and Space sets were in their prime, you could buy various road and moon base plates, and then build out little towns or moon bases respectively. While these are no longer offered, they are still available second hand. Luckily, Lego does still offer plain base plates in different colors that are compatible with the older plates.
4) Get a brick separator
This tool is great! To avoid splitting fingernails, making tooth marks on pieces or, even worse, breaking pieces that refuse to easily come apart – three things that actually happened to me and my Legos – this is a must. The original design of the brick separator was a special order item, but the new and improved version is regularly included in larger sets. It is also available separately on the Lego website.
5) See what you can build with the pieces you have
You don’t have to buy anything new to improve your Lego skills. Take apart one of your kits, preferably a small one, then see what else you can build with it. Try to use as many of the pieces as possible! Or mix all your pieces together and start from there. Build from your imagination, or use photos of things you like as reference. You may be pleasantly surprised with what you will come up with.
There’s more to Legos than just Ninjago, Lego Harry Potter, Lego Marvel and Lego [insert licensed property here]. You (and/or your kids) are very likely already making up your own stuff. With the tips above, you’ll have some tools to take your building to another level.
Cheers,
Ben
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