Subject:
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LEGO, kids, and how it has come to this
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Mon, 10 May 2004 06:32:28 GMT
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Although the neighborhood knows there are a lot of LEGO bricks at our home and
that big things go in and out from time time, we don’t get a lot of walk-up
traffic from curious kids.
Today, however, a 9 year old and 10 year old came by with an unassembled 3585
Snowboard Super Pipe. Seems it was too tough for them to assemble and their dad
suggested they try the house a few blocks over with all the LEGO. After they
finished oohing and ahhing at the models and trophies (and general mess --we
have parked tables from last weekend’s Fullerton show taking up space
everywhere), they asked us to assemble the model for them.
No way! We offered to help, but they weren’t going to learn anything if we
assembled it for them. And they weren’t going to have any fun if we did it.
We (David and I) quickly realized that we needed to do exactly what Susan and I
did with David and Thomas when they were small: Get a little organized (spread
the parts out, group them for easy finding) and then go through the instructions
step by step. Apparently, this was a totally novel idea for these kids. It
seemed like their approach to assembly was to grab parts and stick them together
hoping to make it look like the box picture. If the model had more than 20
pieces, they were doomed. Clearly -- sadly -- no one had ever sat down with them
to assemble a set step by step.
We got going, having the boys take turns being the part finder or assembler each
time we moved to a new page. They had no idea that parts had names. We didn’t
want to inundate them, but when they left they knew the difference between a
plate and a brick and why something was a 2 x 4 and not a 1 x 2. It was a novel
concept that you could identify parts by counting studs or locate the proper
place to attach to parts by counting studs.
When they left, with the model fully assembled, I’m sure it was with some new
ideas. It also made it clear to me that how terribly important it is for parents
to spend a little time with kids to get them started with things. I more clearly
understand why LEGO has such an uphill battle in the US and resorts to dumbing
things way, way down.
-Ted
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: LEGO, kids, and how it has come to this
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| (...) !!! Perhaps this also represents just the range of kids - my son (5, at the time) put 90% of the Mars Exploration Rover together with just the Lego instructions (the last 10% was becasue, after something like 5 hours and it being past his (...) (20 years ago, 10-May-04, to lugnet.general, FTX)
| | | Re: LEGO, kids, and how it has come to this
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| A partial explanation. When we visited LEGOLAND in Billund for the first time (1992), the LEGO Technic University was a popular attraction. Kids came in with their parents, selected a Technic model, and as a family assembled it and ran it on a test (...) (20 years ago, 10-May-04, to lugnet.general, FTX)
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