Subject:
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Re: Is too much lego play time for kids a bad thing?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Tue, 24 Sep 2002 04:38:56 GMT
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Viewed:
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428 times
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In lugnet.general, Bob Gomez writes:
> Dear fellow AFOL's and parents,
>
> I have a 2 year old son (almost 3) and a 1 year old son. I have a concern
> about my almost 2 year old son. This is my concern. I have lots of Lego
> in the house. I have set up my son with a bunch of lego probably 1000
> pieces that I got at a garage sale for him to play with.
(Quick sidenote: PLEASE be careful with two toddlers playing with System
bricks! My kids are just 3 and almost 1, and I've had to keep my LEGO away
from both for safety's sake...not that they don't seem to inexplicably find
it! My daughter is just going to have to stay in Duplo/Explore until her
brother is old enough for System as well.)
> My concern is that he spends alot of time playing with them. I work all
> day, my wife is home with the kids and I have noticed that some days he
> spends several hours, like 5 or 6 hours a day playing with them.
Now despite Maggie and John's replies, I actually find this
overboard...especially if he's failing to interact with his mother,
siblings, friends/playgroup, etc.
Is he doing ANYTHING else during the LEGO play time? Breaks for
snacks/meals, have TV shows on, play with the baby?
> My concern is that it seems obsessive. Maybe I’m crazy. When I was a
> kid I also spent alot of time playing with Lego and I know it did me no
> harm. I’m a pretty new parent and I just wanted to see if anyone else
> has had these types of feelings.
ABC's 20/20 ran a story on obsessed early learners in the last few months
(I'm sorry, I can't remember when, and can't find a link anywhere...looking
for one is what kept me from answering you right away). If you missed it, it
featured several children who were exhibiting advanced skills at 2, 3, 4 and
5 years old. It was heartbreaking...the one little boy I recall most vividly
was so obsessed with reading at age 3 or 4 that he couldn't walk through a
parking lot without reading all of the license plates on the cars.
If your son is exhibiting obsessive behavior, you might want to consider
locking away the bricks on a trial basis. See if he pines for the toys,
moves on to some other obsessive activity, or falls into a more random
(regular?) play pattern with lots of different toys. If everything seems OK,
bring the bricks back out. If he exhibits obsessive patterns with another
activity, you might want to seek help.
> I guess the big difference is that when I was a kid my dad did not have
> 65000 Lego bricks in the house for me to play with. He also did not
> "want" to play with them as much as I do. To me it just seems like its all
> kind of too much.
That brings up an interesting sub-text: Would you say that YOU are spending
an inordinate ammount of time with your bricks? Toddlers are natural
mimics...is he perhaps emulating you in this behavior? Just another thought...
> I’m sure many of you will respond that "there is no such thing as too
> much", but I have a real concern about this.
That's what I was thinking as well...that's why I worked so hard trying to
find some info for you...sorry all I have to relate is personal
thoughts/experiences.
> Thanks for any advise/experience that you may have.
I certainly hope it helps.
Matt
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Message has 4 Replies:
 | | Re: Is too much lego play time for kids a bad thing?
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| I semi agree. Although I personally don't have any children, I can imagine that as a parent its totally correct to question what your child's obsessions are. Fistly thank god its something as mature, creative, and logic oreinted as building, and not (...) (22 years ago, 24-Sep-02, to lugnet.general)
| | | Re: Is too much lego play time for kids a bad thing?
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| "Matthew Gerber" <Matthew@BlockType.com> wrote in message news:H2xE8w.D4M@lugnet.com... [ ... snipped ... ] (...) find (...) [ ... snipped ... ] Are your concerns about swallowing bricks or some other reason? In our house we used to be very worried (...) (22 years ago, 24-Sep-02, to lugnet.general)
| | | Re: Is too much lego play time for kids a bad thing?
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| (...) find (...) My daughter, Grace, is almost two and she has a Rubbermaid shoebox full of System parts. She only plays with them supervised. Her box has 2x2 bricks, 2x4, 2x6, etc, the larger FreeStyle windows and doors, big wheels and (...) (22 years ago, 24-Sep-02, to lugnet.general)
| | | Re: Is too much lego play time for kids a bad thing?
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| In follow-up to my replies: Others have touched on it, but I see I forgot to include it in my replies (i really meant to say this)...toddlers ARE obsessive by nature. I'm sure all of the other parents will tell you about their kids only wanting to (...) (22 years ago, 24-Sep-02, to lugnet.general)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Is too much lego play time for kids a bad thing?
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| Dear fellow AFOL's and parents, I have a 2 year old son (almost 3) and a 1 year old son. I have a concern about my almost 2 year old son. This is my concern. I have lots of Lego in the house. I have set up my son with a bunch of lego probably 1000 (...) (22 years ago, 24-Sep-02, to lugnet.general)
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