So Many Ways to Play with LEGO DUPLO Community Members Review

Last month, we invited 15 Mum’s Lounge community members to review LEGO DUPLO with their children. We are sharing their reviews in a 4 part series.

LEGO DUPLO presents children with limitless play options, and allows them to play & explore, build stories, create & share and make adventures.

Our third group of parents share their thoughts and experiences with LEGO DUPLO:

Reviewer: Carmen, Albany Creek, QLD

When the LEGO DUPLO first arrived Mr 5 was super excited – he had to wait till his younger brother (3) woke up before we could open the box, so while he was waiting he thoroughly examined all sides of the box and all pictures.

Mr 3 LOVED playing with the crocodile, treasure chest, gold coin and the people. He started his own imaginative game with these figures whilst Mr 5 quickly opened up the instructions and set to work creating the model. He was surprised at how easy it was to follow with the pictures. No sooner had he created one model he was breaking it down and starting again copying all the different designs on the box, this kept him busy for about 40 minutes. During the time Mr 3 was content playing his own make believe game with the figures. They didn’t immediately realise that the toy was based around Peter Pan so it was interesting to see where their play led without being directed into this story.

Eventually they joined together where some assistance was required to help with the sharing. One person had a figure and a crocodile whilst the other had a figure and the treasure chest. Then we did a swap at half time. Due to it being a new toy, there were some sharing issues so ongoing support was required.

Towards the end of their play Mr 7 emerged and was down on the floor joining in with his younger brothers. Although the age range for LEGO DUPLO stops at 5 the enjoyment certainly does not. The bricks snap together easily and satisfyingly stay together. It was a proud Mummy moment to see all three boys playing together cooperatively.

The toy was a big hit and I was surprised at how many bricks were in the box for them to build with. Eventually the model was broken down again and this time they used their own imaginations to build a model that was in keeping with their make believe story that they were both involved with. There are so many ways that they are learning through play – counting, colour recognition, science (balance), following directions, creativity. It was nice to see that despite there being some ‘specific’ pieces i.e. crocodile, bridge, treasure chest, there were enough generic pieces that they could still be creative with the set.

LEGO DUPLO cannot be faulted with the quality of their product, their instructions even the box that it arrived in. This is a quality product that my children will not wear out, but eventually grow out of and possibly pass down to their own children in the future. We would certainly buy LEGO DUPLO again as it is always a guaranteed hit with my children.

Reviewer: Rebekah, Banksia Beach, QLD

Wow! The LEGO DUPLO arrived and I’ve had a very quiet house since!
Mr 4, Calan, carried the box around the house until everyone was ready to open it. I wouldn’t say they shared it at the start.

More like a grab for parts!

As the morning progressed they were sharing and helping each other build “Mega Creatures”.
Miss 6, Allee, followed all the instructions and proudly built every creature on the box.
Mr 2, Kayne, happily watched his siblings playing.

Day 2 and Kayne, 2 is eagerly mixing up the bricks and feverishly trying to make the animals on the box. After a little while, he comes to me with his giraffe. Proud moment, he had made it in the right order.
To say he was chuffed with himself is an understatement!

Afternoon comes and the weather cools down. All three children are out on the lawn playing bricks. Great to see they ARE sharing…Well, that didn’t last so long when 3 kids all want the same animal!
They turned it into a game of building funny animals. Thankfully they do settle down and learn that sharing is a very important part of playing.

Day 3 and they are still amused by the bricks. Pleased to say that they are packed up and put away after every play.

I actually went shopping today and have popped on layby the farm animals LEGO DUPLO set. It’s great for all ages, and I know it’s not always easy to share, but they were pretty good with helping each other.
Day 4 and Kayne, 2, woke in the morning and came straight out to use the bricks. They are perfect for his little hands and he has fun building towers. Miss 6 and Master 4 awoke and to my surprise, they sat down with Kayne and helped him build the animals.

Although they did have moments of snatching and running away with pieces, so the other couldn’t have them. They also did have some amazing moments of solid peace and a lot of fun, sharing and helping each other. The laughing from the mega creatures was wonderful. Kayne, 2, thought it was hilarious!! They chased each other around the house with these creatures.
They took them on adventures through the garden and Miss 6, made a lovely room for them in her Dollhouse.

To say this was a fun challenge is an understatement. LEGO DUPLO is one of those things I have considered buying, but then thought it would be too hard and they would loose them or scatter them around the house. But I am pretty happy with how this project went. The thing that surprised me most was that they all wanted to keep them packed up after each play. And they didn’t find it boring.
The characters were great, the cards were awesome. 2 yr old found it great to copy the cards to build his creature. 4 yr old, enjoyed building his own creation. And Miss 6 had to make it all perfectly!
Thank you for having us part of your testing. We have all thoroughly enjoyed it!

Reviewer: Tracey, Wynnum, QLD

We received the LEGO DUPLO police set and my three boys all reviewed this product to some degree:
Lachlan (aged 5)
Cooper (aged 3)
Liam (aged 1)
My boys were so excited to see new LEGO DUPLO had arrived at the doorstep. We set aside some time to play together for a short while and ripped open the box. Lachlan and Cooper immediately took interest in what was inside, excitedly asking for me to open the packets and help them to find the pieces. Lachlan, as the oldest and most experienced ‘builder’ of the trio, took over quickly – as most older brothers would – and also opened the instruction booklet to see how he was supposed to build what he could see in the pictures. Cooper on the other hand, just took up playing with whatever bricks were left over. Being a small set, there was not a lot left over for the littlest of them so Liam was left to pick around at what was left and join in where there was space.

This police set really captured their imagination and you could see Lachlan and Cooper especially engaging in imaginative play while putting together the set.

There were sirens blaring and bad guys trying to make a quick getaway!

The older boys helped the baby to put people together with vehicles which is lovely as up until very recently, their relationship has not been very smooth with a great deal of animosity between Cooper and Liam especially.

We actively look for activities that they can do together to foster some kind of friendship between them and to help them see that the other has something to offer in relation to being a playmate. LEGO DUPLO is one of those activities that they have been able to do side by side without too much tension.

It was so lovely to just sit and watch them play, together and solo, and watch them interact. I was actually really pleasantly surprised at how well Lachlan and Cooper cooperated and helped each other out with finding the correct pieces and also giving up a piece they were playing with to help the other finish their creation.

The great benefit of LEGO DUPLO is that it’s imaginative play at its best – unlike licensed toys, I find the kids don’t fight over having specific characters or pieces as much as they would with some of our other toys. Because kids are generally liberal with their use of colour, it is no big deal if one person has all the red bricks and you’re building a post box – they’ll just improvise and make that post box the most colourful one you’ve ever seen!

The large bricks suit little fingers and so working together to create something magical is easy for even the littlest of the boys to join in with…so long as he doesn’t knock over any towers that is. Sometimes it’s hard being the youngest. And the oldest. And we’ve all heard stories about that poor middle child!
Thank you again for the opportunity to review this product. We’ve all had a great time playing with the pack and we will be definitely adding some of the LEGO DUPLO Batman and Superman sets to our birthday wish-list. Watching them interact and play together (mostly peacefully) means that we can look forward to more building sessions with these awesome new sets.

You can find more LEGO DUPLO inspired play ideas and reviews at Mums Lounge here:

8 Fun Ways to Play with LEGO DUPLO

So Many Ways to Play with LEGO DUPLO Community Members Review #1 

So Many Ways to Play with LEGO DUPLO Community Members Review #2 

The Giveaway

LEGO DUPLO are giving Mums Lounge readers the chance to win this fantastic LEGO DUPLO prize packs (valued at $160).

The prize pack includes:

1 x LEGO DUPLO Creative Animals
1 X LEGO DUPLO Pater Pan’s Visit
1 x My First Police Set
1 x My First Shop

Just imagine how much fun will be had beneath the Christmas tree this year with this awesome collection of LEGO DUPLO!

a Rafflecopter giveaway