Parents, we all know Legos are fantastic for creativity and enjoyment, but did you realize they’re also great for helping your children learn life skills? Yes, it is correct! Legos are the one toy that can do what few others can: blend fun and learning in just the right amount to keep kids engaged as they grow. From helping a baby learn colors and counting to enabling toddlers to improve their fine motor skills, Legos are the one toy that can do what few others can: blend fun and learning in just the right amount to keep kids engaged as they grow.
That’s just one example of how they can assist your children. My list of the Top 10 Ways Legos are Educational for Your Child will show you all of the ways this toy can assist your child. I’ll go over what they can do for different age groups and how you can use them to get the most out of this one-of-a-kind toy.
Why Do Children Learn with Legos?
Any doctor or teacher will tell you that play is the most effective way for children to learn. Play is the ideal approach to introduce kids to individual and societal concepts because they have short attention spans and patience. That is why Legos are such a useful educational tool.
Legos pique their interest while also teaching them without them realizing it. They employ all of their senses when they pick things up and figure out how to use them. They also introduce STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) to children in a way that they can understand and enjoy.
What’s the end result? They remember what they learn and want to learn more, preparing them for a lifetime of learning while allowing creativity to flourish.
Legos are suitable for children of all ages and abilities.
Legos are appropriate for children of all ages and stages of development. They contain large blocks that are appropriate for babies aged 9 months and above, allowing them to learn colors, shapes, and counting in a safe environment. Then there are more classic sets for toddlers, as well as advanced sets for older children, teens, and even adults, with many small pieces.
LEGO’s Learning Potential
Furthermore, these sets are ideal for children with special needs, autism, and other cognitive difficulties. The use of Legos as a symbol for autism is not coincidental; they are a wonderful tool that is frequently utilized in autism therapy. They can be used to enhance core muscles and dexterity, introduce sensory youngsters to different textures and colors, and help children develop emotional and social skills such as sharing and taking turns.
The Best Ways for Kids to Learn with Legos
Here’s how and why Legos are a great educational toy for your children:
1. Getting to Know the Basics: Colors and Shapes
Kids gain new skills while honing old ones when they play. This is true at any age, from three months old to adolescence. Legos are a fantastic way to get kids acquainted with basic colors and shapes. The sets come in nearly every hue of the rainbow, allowing you to teach children elementary colors (red, blue, yellow, and green) when they’re small and more sophisticated colors as they become older.
Furthermore, the vibrant colors appeal to young children, grabbing their attention and engaging their senses. This is especially crucial for children under the age of one since it improves eye movement and hand-eye coordination.
They can also be used to teach children about shapes. Legos are available in a variety of sizes, from little to giant, and in a variety of shapes, including square, rectangular, round, and octagon, unlike in previous years. You can use them to demonstrate and assist children in recognizing each shape. You may assist toddlers understand more complex shapes by putting separate pieces together to demonstrate how a square or rectangle is produced.
2. Promote Creativity
Legos are an excellent approach to foster creativity by demonstrating how a youngster learns, reasons, and imagines. For starters, despite the fact that each Lego set includes building instructions, they can be used in a variety of ways. Giving kids a box of Legos and no instructions stimulates them and allows them to figure out how to utilize them on their own. They’ll figure out how to fit them and bring the images in their heads to life through trial and error.
Even if the instructions are followed, a child’s imagination can be stimulated. They may follow directions, but they may change some details to allow for their own interpretation and ideas. They can demonstrate multiple methods to use a part and may discover multiple solutions to a problem.
Most crucially, they become less conscious of their activities when they enter a dream world, removing inhibitions and self-consciousness. They aren’t overthinking things or attempting to satisfy others; they are simply having fun and learning. As a result, they’re particularly useful for assisting children with disabilities in discovering latent strengths and interacting with others.
3. Develop and improve fine motor skills
The sizes and forms of Lego bricks, as well as how they’re put together, are ideal for honing fine motor skills and increasing strength. They must learn how to grasp the parts and twist, turn, and manipulate them in order for them to fit together. They exercise the muscles in their fingers, hands, and arms by turning and twisting, making them stronger and more flexible.
This is significant because it promotes fluid dexterity and coordination, which are necessary for writing, dressing independently, coloring, and crafts. When they push down to interlock pieces, for example, kids are honing their ability to apply pressure, which they will need to write with strong, legible pen strokes.
They will be able to grip a pencil properly, fasten buttons, and use scissors with less resistance.
4. Promotes social skills and sharing
LEGO can help you develop social skills.
Legos can help kids engage with one another and teach and promote excellent sportsmanship through sharing in group play. Two children may demand the same piece, or a group of children may want to play with a restricted number of pieces at the same time. They learn the value of sharing and that being kind is often rewarded by taking turns or trading pieces with others.
This also demonstrates the fundamentals of friendship. They begin to construct not just structures, but friendships with other children by sharing and cooperating, and they learn that there is power in numbers.
5. Introduces ABCs, 123s, and STEM concepts to children.
Legos are an excellent way to teach children of all ages their ABCs, 123s, and STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering). They also make STEM and Math enjoyable, which is crucial. Many children, particularly females, find these subjects scary and dull. Lego solves this problem and makes children more open to these topics. A child who constructs a functional dinosaur or automobile is bound to be interested and eager to learn more.
Some of the sets feature moving or mechanical pieces, which expose the children to science and technology. Who knows, it might inspire them to pursue a career as an electrician when they’re older. They learn how to make a spinning wheel or blinking lights on an automobile by understanding how components work together and separately. They build large, sophisticated structures while teaching them basic engineering ideas that can help them develop an interest in architecture.
Legos also make math, a concept they must understand in order to live, more relatable. Counting bricks while playing makes numbers seem friendlier to young children. There are also Lego bricks with numbers on the side so that they can distinguish them by sight. As children get older, they can use Legos to add, subtract, and figure out what parts they need, how many, and why.
There are several Lego building block sets with the letters on them if you’re looking for ABCs. As they play with the letters, toddlers can learn and recognize them all, and you can also introduce the sounds they produce. This helps children prepare for pre-school and kindergarten, allowing them to get a head start on their education.
6. Develop your reasoning and problem-solving skills.
Learn how to use LEGO to solve problems.
When children play with Legos, they learn about cause and effect, sequencing, and problem solving. They learn cause and effect by reading and following instructions: if they do things in a given order, they will get a certain result.
In addition, if they vary from the guidelines, the consequences will be different. Having to come up with a new way to put the pieces together sharpens problem-solving skills and teaches them that there are multiple solutions to a problem. They figure out what works, what doesn’t, and why on their own. For example, a child may aspire to build a house with a flat roof but lack the necessary materials, resulting in a pointed roof.
They also learn to compare and identify what pieces are needed and where they should go by looking at the directions. This is excellent for honing cognitive abilities.
7. Patience, Persistence, and Perseverance
When children play with Legos, they learn the importance of the three Ps: patience, perseverance, and persistence. Individual play can help children develop patience, as many children grow disappointed when pieces don’t fit or go the way they expect. They must also learn to sort and locate pieces, which will put their patience and focus to the test.
They gradually learn to be more patient as they go through all of the conceivable possibilities, and they realize that getting angry and giving up won’t get them the results they want. In an age of quick gratification, the construction process teaches children that good outcomes take time. In other words, sticking with something and being persistent will yield results.
For children with autism or developmental delays, this is an effective strategy. It strengthens their patience and teaches them constructive methods to deal with their disappointments.
8. Structure and Following Directions Have Been Learned
Understand how to follow directions.
While creativity is important, children must also learn the importance of listening and obeying directions. There are instances when doing things a certain manner is necessary, which they may grasp through playing with Legos. Having them follow the directions for a set from beginning to end can demonstrate this while also providing structure.
Following directions, in addition to teaching patience, prepares kids for school. For the first time, young children often struggle in a classroom situation. They will be able to pay attention to the teacher and follow her instructions if they are trained to listen while building with Legos.
These sets help children accept advice and instruction by making them more receptive.
9. Encourages self-assurance and individuality
Children gain confidence as they play and find their talents. They feel good about themselves and pleased of what they can do when they design a train or a house with their minds. They’ll also take greater risks because they don’t have the same fear of rejection or failure as the Batman Movie LEGOs.
Kids will discover what they are good at and push their own limitations as they experiment with Legos to explore what else they can do. They will not be concerned about attempting and failing, as they are with schooling, making them more likely to achieve. There are no grades or judgments to worry about, allowing their abilities to grow.
10. Instills the belief that differences are acceptable.
When using Legos, a child may construct something that differs from the instructions or the work of other children, which is a positive thing. Differences are fine, and you may point them out with Legos. They present a terrific opportunity to explain that being different is a good thing, from educating them that a child with a disability is different but the same to showing them that individuality is something to be proud of.
My list of the Top 10 Ways Legos are Educational for Your Child demonstrates why these sets have been so popular for so long. They can open up a whole new world for your children by being both entertaining and informative. They entertain them for hours while also teaching them how to exploit their many untapped talents to their greatest potential. This is a toy that can grow with them and be loved for years to come, whether they are young or elderly.