Duplo opinions? Looking for moms with older kids (5+)...

[new_mommy25]

We have two boxes of Duplos and the kids love them up. They are played with A LOT! We don't have any of the theme sets (thomas etc.), just plain ol blocks. The favorite piece is the one with wheels and that gets fought over.

My DS is almost 5 and I have bought him a few smaller lego sets, like the racers. He and his dad enjoyed building them but I get nervous with the smaller pieces around so I usually make him put them up high when he is not playing with them. Also, DD and DN are pretty rough with the legos when they do get a hold of them and it is very frusterating for DS when they destroy something he worked hard to build.

Where am I going with this? DS saw the Lego City train set a few months ago and fell head over heels in love. He talks about it constantly and wants it for his birthday. But I worry about buying a piece like that because it is so large so it will have to stay out for awhile and will likely get immediately destroyed and possibly consumed by the smaller kids.

I was browsing the Lego website and saw lots of cool Duplo stuff: Duplo train set, castle, fire engine, house etc. So I was thinking that instead of the Lego city train I could get him the Duplo train or some other large set. I noticed that the age rec. is 3-6. DS will be 5. Do you think the Duplo set will have too short a shelf life for DS. Do kids enjoy playing with the sets past 6? If anything my DD and DN would still be able to play with it down the line but I also don't want DS to be dissapointed. I

'd love to hear when your DC stopped playing with duplos and moved on. TIA!

[kijip]

T is very newly five and we seem to be done with Duplos. He does not have legos at home but he loves them at other's houses and does not even touch his Duplos or Mega Blocks at home or at grandpa's. I am thinking we are going to get him legos for Christmas (he will be 5 and 1/2 then). He still plays with his unit blocks but shows no interest in Duplos.

[AngelaS]

Invest in the Legos. He's growing up and out of Duplos. Not to mention that handling those smaller pieces will be GREAT fine motor skills practice for him!

I'd get a basic set or two like this instead of the specific 'build this car/boat/building' sets and see how he does. http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-4500843-Ultimate-Building-Set/dp/B000NO9GT4/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1215694046&sr=8-1

[egoldber]

Well, I'll be the naysayer on the Legos. They are very tiny and can be hard for ME to take apart, much less Sarah! Plus with the little one around I'd be scared of that one getting into them. Sarah and Amy both play with Duplos though. I put Sarah's Legos away when Amy got to be mobile though because I can't trust her with them.

Sarah actually took a Lego Camp last week, with a "certified" Lego Brixmaster :ROTFLMAO: and they used both Legos and Duplos. This was a camp for kids age 5-9. They made a castle large enough for the kids to walk into, and they used Duplos for that. It takes a really long time and a LOT of Legos to build things of substantial size.

[brittone2]

No personal experience as we don't have either (yet). DS was totally over having stuff in his mouth by 12-15 months, but my 19 month old DD still loves to pop stuff into her mouth, so I can understand your apprehension.

Is he willing to play in his own room with stuff? Our rule around here for toys you don't want sister getting into is that it has to be up in his room. He has a shelf full of some more delicate toys, trucks, etc. that she tends to break or damage. I think my DS would be willing to play with something like Lego in his room.

[asha]

DS1is 4 1/2 and DS2 is 18 months. We are sticking with the duplos for a while here. DS1 does not seem to mind at all. I am not ready to take the risk with the tiny legos yet.

Asha

[Joolsplus2]

My 10 and 8 yo's still like building big stuff with the Duplo I got for Leah... (dollhouse furniture and whatnot...).

I think we got a Duplo train when Kar was about 4 or 5 and it was a hit for awhile... maybe the last thing we bought before we got all Lego (and the big fancy sets have been tempting but a waste, my ds isn't really into building them, he likes to invent, but your guy's been really asking for it? he might be more into it, it might be worth it. Leah doesn't eat any little legos, knock wood).

[new_mommy25]

Beth, a Lego camp sounds so cool!! I love it. I wish that had something like that here.

Brittone, my kids actually share a room so that wouldn't work for us. But it was a great suggestion.

As for the eating Legos, my DD hasn't mouthed anything in a very long time. But my nephew who is 3, is extremely oral and everything must be tasted! I probably tell him 20 times a day to get stuff out of his mouth. I'm more concerned about DS putting lots of time into creating something and then it getting destroyed by little hands.

Angela, thanks for the suggestion. I think I will do as you say and buy a box of bricks and see how he does. Then maybe for Christmas or another birthday he can move up to a bigger set.

Thanks everyone for your replies. :)

[SnuggleBuggles]

Duplos were declared boring before ds turned 4. I wouldn't go that route.

ETA a few Lego thoughts...I agree with buying a big box of bricks. They are lots of fun. We have a 7m old and ds1 knows that the rule is that there are certain rooms that Legos are off limits. They are stored in his room or kept on a surface like the dining room table. I am sure our system will change as ds2 gets even more mobile and older but I didn't want to take away ds1's favorite toy or totally banish him to his room if he wants to play with them (though, that could happen, we'll see). He loves to ask for the sets, loves to build them, play with them for a few days then break them. He tells us that tha appeal of the sets is that you get cool new pieces for your inventory so you can build even cooler things. He also loves just reading the instructions.

Right now his 1000s of Legos are sorted by color in bins in his room (with a few misc bins waiting to be resorted). Much better than the random heap of bricks we used to have.

We are currently enjoying building an 800+ piece house. It's taken quite a qhile. I used to get really bummed when the models would break after all the work building them/ Now I have a rule that if I spend X time on something I want them to stay together X time. he listens well to that. Of course, that has prompted him to start doing his own building. I am impressed by how he can build.

Beth

[lorinick]

I hate Legos. We have them and some have never been built. Ds has the city plane and some other things. Once built which takes forever they fall apart and can't be played with. And since I have an 11 mt old ds turning 8 Sun. has not be able to play with them. He hasn't asked either. My friends son loves them but there all over the house. They just throw them in a bin all together. They don't sell them anymore without them being a big plane.car, city, truck etc. What a PITA1

[vonfirmath]

They DO sell "just blocks" -- but not every store stocks them because most kids ask for sets. Not "just blocks"

Check these out:
http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=5522
http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=5574&cn=306
http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=6177&cn=306
http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=5584&cn=306
http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=5578&cn=306
http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=6161&cn=306
http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=5573&cn=306
http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=6167&cn=306
http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=6187&cn=306
http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=6166&cn=306
http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=5582&cn=306
http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=5477&cn=306

[Tondi G]

Ahhh we have a couple of LEGO lovers in this house too! My DS just turned 7 this week and we have been into regular LEGO's for a while now! I think when he was 5 duplos were done!

One other option we have found that doesn't have as many tiny bricks is the Mega Bloks. My DS has a couple of Pirate Ships and such that are made up of more "whole" pieces that don't have to be built (and thus don't come apart as easily per small hands getting a hold if them).

Check this out... maybe it would be a better option for a bit?

http://www.megabrands.com/en/products/description.php?product_id=327&brand_id=1&cat=1&age=

That said we were just over at a neighbors house and her 3 year old has this set of Duplo like Catapilar stuff and my now 7 year old sat right along side his 3 year old brother and had fun with it!

http://www.megabrands.com/en/products/search.php?sys_h=1&fc=1&keywords=Catapillar

Good Luck! It's tough when your older one is ready to move on and you have a little one around you have to be careful about! We keep the Pirate ships and the larger Star Wars Jabba's sail Barge up on a high shelf in the boys room and it comes down when my older DS and his friend are playing alone or when I can sit with our little guy so he doesn't "destroy" it!

~Tondi

[tarahsolazy]

Well, I think you couldn't go wrong with either, Angie.

But, Fory just has Duplos, since the Ber will eat everything. My nieces, now 11 and 9, still have a huge tub of Duplos at their house, and will sit and play with Forrest and my 3yo nephew for hours with them. They like them at our house, too. I think Noah could still have a few years of fun with Duplo, and then Ruby could use them, too.

[o_mom]

We kind of skipped Duplos. We had some, but they never had much appeal for DS1. He got a Lego set at the hospital when he was 4.5 and loves them. He and DH are going to the Lego store in a few weeks and he is super excited about it.

I got some plastic trays (like a fast food tray) for him to use when working on them. This keeps the pieces from getting knocked on the floor. He has to do them at a high table, not the little one and keep them off the floor and away from the edges of the table when not playing with them. If I find DS3 with Legos, they all go up for the rest of the day. I have only had to enforce this twice and I normally don't have such strict rules, but I don't want to take any chances with a toddler around.

ETA: We use the same rules for Lite Brite as well.