GIft for a one year old boy, Lego Quatro or Duplo?

[SpaceGal]

I've come to ask the experience of other parents. My friend's son is turning one and I wanted to get him a set of Legos. I am on the fence about whether to get him Quatros or Duplos. Quatros go from 1-3 years and Duplos go 1.5+ years. I got the Duplos for now but am wondering are they too advanced for a 1 year old but know that he will eventually be able to play with them if not now. I like how Duplos fit with future small Lego pieces. Quatros, I know are bigger but my DH said that they would be considered a "baby toy" in a year or so and are only compatible with Duplos and not Legos as well. DH suggested sticking with Duplos since the building concepts are the same and the pieces are big enough still and will probably be played with for longer than the Quatros and are compatible with the Lego.

So should I get the Quatro or stay with Duplo? Will Duplo pieces be a choking hazard or are they fine for a 1 year old?

[megulis]

I would also consider Mega Blocks. My son still enjoys these, but he loved them around and after 1+ . I bought him some trains made with 3 pieces of mega blocks, and the cement truck. It is easier to stack. He was having the ball the other day putting the Mega Block on the Melissa & Dough train and spinning the Mega Blocks. I don't know if I can explain it, but he also loved me spinning the M&D train with a Mega Blocks on the first peg.

My mom bought my son a Lego Duplos table at a little less than 1.5 , and he was first frustrated at them because it was harder for him to get the pieces together. He loves them now, but mostly as with anything he throws them all over the floor.

Good luck shopping!

[Joolsplus2]

OOooH, I've been eyeing those Quatros...when my son was little we only had Primo, which sucked :P
I think if you already have Duplo, it's fine. But I disagree with your dh that quatro will look like 'baby toys' in a year... kids are pretty blase about size and shape of building blocks of any size or brand name...they love them all! (My almost 8 yo still builds things with Duplo...it's kind of satisfying how it's big and easy to work with...)

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[californiagirl]

Nothing that says under 3 is a choking hazard. DD liked Duplos from about 10 months (nothing else was hard enough to take apart to suit her). She's just now at almost 18 months getting good at putting them together, but she really didn't even care to try until recently anyway.

[geochick]

My ds has been using Quatros from his 1 year birthday until now (19 months). He'll be using them for a long time to come since he's just now started to really get it. I'm glad I went with the Quatros. We have one small set of Mega Blocks. They're fun, but my ds doesn't play with them as often as the Quatros. He likes the green lid that comes with the Quatros - he uses it to build everything on.

[SpaceGal]

Thank you all so much for your input. I saw the Quatros at the store today...they are HUGE. My hubby told me to stay with the Duplos. I guess either way it's not a bad gift but I'm just stressing over something that really isn't a big deal. But I'm sure you all know how that is. I just really didn't want to get something stupid or useless.

I saw the MegaBlocks too...not a big fan of them. I mean I'm sure they are great but I grew up with Legos and I guess I like them because of that. Plus Legos are so well made...and MegaBlocks are a bit chintsy looking. However, my hubby did want some MegaBlock Army tank thing he saw while we were at the toy store. Go figure...he's still a big kid inside I guess. :)

[mudder17]

For several reasons, I'm not a big fan of MegaBlocks, so I would definitely stay away from them. DD has Quattro and Duplo and I have regular Lego. She has the preschool lego table ($19.99) that came with duplo, plus a bucket of quattro and some other assorted Lego sets, including a shape sorter. She's pretty good at using the shape sorter now and has also gotten pretty good at stacking them on her lego table (they fit on the duplo surface). She can also place a quattro on the duplo table, but she's not very good at stacking quattro or duplo yet. On the other hand, she's great at taking anything apart, including regular lego (with my supervision of course). She loves having me stack either the duplo or quattro and then taking them apart. Before she turned one, she loved emptying all the various buckets. :)

I got the preschool lego table for my nephew for his first birthday and he and all the kiddos at his party LOVED it. Apparently it was a big hit.

HTH!

Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah

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