Legos or Megablocks for Toddler

[neeter]

My son has a megablocks wagon set, but hardly uses it. Lo and behold, we go to the Carter's and we can't tear him away from the legos table.

I'm thinking of getting him something for home, maybe with that legos base...any suggestions? I've looked online, but its hard to absorb all the choices!!

Thanks!!

[mudder17]

Well, I'm biased--I'm a Lego home here. ;) But seriously, Megablocks, for a short time, is easier for young kids (think less than 2) to put together, but Lego blocks stick together much better. So overall, they're much easier to build with. In the long run, the Lego blocks will last you longer. There is a $19.99 duplo Lego table that comes with a set of blocks and Kaya has been playing with that since she was a year old. It always gets some playtime whenever we have kids over from ages <1 to over 3.

Oh, and if it makes any difference, the Megablocks are made in China.

Eileen

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33732.gif for Leah
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33734.gif 27 months...
http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_-6_Kaya+is.png
Kaya will be a sister, ~11/14/06!

[holliam]

We prefer Lego-brand. It's one of the few plastic toys allowed in the house. ;)

DD is 21 mo and she can take the Duplos apart and put them together now.

Holli

[sarahsthreads]

When DD got a set of Duplos for Christmas (she was 14 months) I totally expected to have to put them away for several months. She surprised me by being totally enthralled with them, and was able to put them together within a month. My parents have a set of Megablocks at their house, and they are easier for her to build with but she gets frustrated when they fall apart when she tried to pick up her creation.

A couple of months ago I bought one of the Duplo base plates, which helped tremendously because you can build more than just a tall tower. And last weekend I lucked out and got a Duplo table at a garage sale for $3 - it would totally be worth the $20 a PP mentioned!

I vote Duplos!

Sarah :)

[ett]

We also prefer Legos here for all the reasons PPs stated.

[JaysTeri]

We are a Legos family as well, but more for sentimental reasons than anything. (It's a good thing I don't have a girl since Strawberry Shortcake toys are big now! I even had the sheets!)

I just have to say, though, that your son may have liked the Legos better just because they aren't his! I swear that my son will go to a friend's house and play with a toy like it's the best thing he's ever seen UNTIL I buy it for him. Then he has no interest! Ugh!!

[neeter]

Thanks for all your replies! And that's true -- my son may be interested in any toy that he doesn't own (yet!!).

I will look into the duplos. I do think he's grown beyond the megablocks (he's almost 2 1/2). Is the duplo base readily available for purchase, or do I need to find a lego store?

[MamaKath]

My kids like both. The have tons of Megabloks since they are cheap around the holidays and readily available. Legos are also popular here. It is funny though, they really started loving the Megabloks when we finally had enough to build something big. Duplos seemed more popular all along though.

Megabolks makes a set that is Duplo sized, comes in a bottle with a lid that is a base to build on. It is fabulous for traveling and for places I am going to need something that will entertain for a longer period (I was wishing I had brought it last week to our church's confirmation service ;-)). Some kind of base or table really makes a difference!

[mudder17]

We're Lego fans here, partly for sentimental reasons as well--I have a huge stash of my own downstairs, some of which Kaya has started to play with. ;)

ETA: We have most of the yellow castle and a dune buggy from when DH was young, but unfortunately, his parents sold all of his trains when he was in college. :( Darn!

Eileen

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33732.gif for Leah
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33734.gif 27 months...
http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_-6_Kaya+is.png
Kaya will be a sister, ~11/14/06!

[egoldber]

We have both and DD loves them both. Megabloks are definitely easier for little kids, but she still likes the Megabloks we have and uses them too. And definitely get a baseplate. You can find them at TRU and also Amazon.

[ellies mom]

Here is a 15"x 15" duplo mat from Amazon.

http://tinyurl.com/m7v2w

The smaller Nilo tables come with Duplo/Lego mats that cover the whole surface of the table. You can buy the mats separately but they are a little more expensive. One 12"x32" mat runs about $20. The are cool though because they are duplo on one side and the other side is lego.

http://www.sensoryedge.com/niloblockmats.html

[neeter]

Thanks all! I went to the Lego store and picked up a bucket of duplos, and the extra large grey baseplate. Apparently, you can use regular lego bases with duplos, which will be great when DS "graduates" to the regular legos.

Thanks again! I can't wait for DS to try it all out!!!

[hez]

> Apparently, you can use regular lego bases with duplos, which will be great when DS "graduates" to the regular legos.

Absolutely-- Payton's Quatros (yup, they start bigger than Duplos!) work with his Duplos. You can stack the bigger sizes (like Quatros) on top of the littler ones (like Duplos), just not the other way around. Growing up, we used my brother's old Duplos to put the roofs on our creations or just add to whatever we were doing with the regular size stuff.

[neeter]

Hmmm...the duplos blocks with the legos baseplate is not the greatest...its hard for DS (and me, sometimes) to make the duplos stick... I'm thinking of getting the duplos baseplate now!!

[ett]

The duplo plate works really well with the duplos so I would definitely pick up one of those.