Duplo fire house or Lego fire house for 4 yr old?

[kirstensmom]

My ds has the Duplo town set and does play with it. He plays with it along with his 6 year old sister. I told my mom to get the Duplo fire house set for him for his birthday. She's alreadly bought it but was wondering why I didn't want the lego firehouse set. The duplo set is 2-5 and the lego set is 5-12.

Would you exchange the duplo set for the lego one? How long did your kids play with duplos? I'm not sure if my son would be able to handle the legos but don't want him to outgrow the duplos too soon.

What would you do? I need quick help his birthday party is tomorrow.

[kristac]

Do you have any other regular legos?

I'd stick with the Duplo one- I would guess Lego people can enjoy it later vs Duplo people can not visit the lego version. He already has a town that it is compatible with as well. Also the Duplo one looks like it comes with a helicopter which the lego version does not.

[Momof3Labs]

At 4yo, DS1 preferred legos and did fine with ones rated for 5yo kids (with help putting it together).

[SnuggleBuggles]

I would go with Legos. I only waited till 3+ for real Legos sue to choking hazards but I think they are a better bet for 4+yos b/c they will likely be played with a lot longer than Duplos. When my ds was 5yo he declared Duplos baby toys. It would stink for your ds to have that reaction.

Fwiw my ds got the Lego fire station for his 4th b-day and we helped him put it together. For sets that are a bit advanced we have him help by sorting all te pieces by color then helping us locate pieces.

Beth

[ett]

I would go with the Lego set as opposed to the duplo set because it will have longer lasting play. Like PP said, your DS may declare the duplo a "baby toy" soon and then he won't want to play with it. DS1 is 6 and now definitely prefers the legos to the duplos. He only plays with the duplos now because they are more readily around for DS2, while his Legos has to be stored away when he's not playing with them.

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

Well, my 4 year old got some duplos at about 4-1/2 and still loves them. In his case, he has a younger brother and legos can only be played at the kitchen table, wheras duplos are fun for all.

His 5th birthday is coming up and I expect he will get some legos either for his birthday or for Christmas as his brother is getting older.

If he didn't have the younger brother factor, we may have switched to legos by now.

[kristac]

Fwiw my ds got the Lego fire station for his 4th b-day and we helped him put it together. For sets that are a bit advanced we have him help by sorting all te pieces by color then helping us locate pieces.


See this doesn't sound as fun to me :( At least the Duplos he could likely do mainly by himself.

[Canna]

I have a 4.5 year-old who loves Duplo. She is able to build them herself and really enjoys them. I like that they are safe to have out with her little sister as well. When we have older children over to play and visit, they seem to enjoy the Duplos too - frankly I enjoy building with them myself! I don't see the need to push children into the tiny Legos at an early age. We have Duplo train, town pieces, and dinosaurs and animals and they get a lot of play. We build cities, zoos, etc. I would stick with the Duplo, which I do think he'll be able to enjoy for quite a while.

[SnuggleBuggles]

See this doesn't sound as fun to me :( At least the Duplos he could likely do mainly by himself.

He could do a lot of the steps but this was always his job. He really likes it, I promise. :)

Beth