Questions about Lego City - which do you recommend, etc.?

[sue_g]

What ages are the Lego City for? I know it says 5 and up, but can a five year old put it together? Is it all small lego pieces? Which ones would you recommend to start with? We already have the basic blue lego brick box.

Thank you.

[connor_mommy]

It just really depends on what you child is into. Connor got really into them on his 5th bday. He can put it together if he really concentrates. But I do have to help him squeeze the pieces together so they don't fall apart. He started off with the fire rescue theme, then went onto the police. He got a lot of the construction/transportation ones for his birthday and younger brother's bday. Right now he's into the Star Wars, Power Miners and Space Police. If you can, try to stick with one theme. Connor likes to keep his built, whereas my younger one just likes to tear them apart.

[o_mom]

We started with the small sets. There are several in the Creator line and the Racers line. The Creator ones are 3-in-1, the Racers make a car and if you get two sets that are compatible, they can be joined to make a third car. They are usually about $6 at Target, Walmart, etc. They are good for starting out because they only have about 10-12 steps, fewer pieces, etc. Once those are mastered, they can move on to the bigger ones.

[sue_g]

We started with the small sets. There are several in the Creator line and the Racers line. The Creator ones are 3-in-1, the Racers make a car and if you get two sets that are compatible, they can be joined to make a third car. They are usually about $6 at Target, Walmart, etc. They are good for starting out because they only have about 10-12 steps, fewer pieces, etc. Once those are mastered, they can move on to the bigger ones.


Thank you. The creator and racer legos are for a higher age group, so I thought I had to start with the city sets. Is that not true?

[SnuggleBuggles]

Ds has been doing Legos since he was 3-4yo and I stopped paying attention to the age recommendations long ago. Sometimes he needs more help than others but for any of the bigger sets we always help anyway.

People have disagreed with me about this strategy in the past here but it works for us- with the really big sets we start by having ds sort the Legos by color. Then we all work together and build. If he has a harder time building then he is our piece hunter. We all build together and have fun. :)

You really can get any set that catches your eye. Don't limit yourself by the number if you plan to be involved. If you want him to do it himself then the best thing to do is look for sets with fewer pieces.

Beth

[o_mom]

Thank you. The creator and racer legos are for a higher age group, so I thought I had to start with the city sets. Is that not true?

I think there are some city sets that are smaller, so you could do those. The small creator and racers we have are labeled 6-10 or 12 where the City ones might be labelled 5-10, but there isn't much different about them. Mostly, look for ones with around 45-70 pcs. They will usually have about 10-12 steps in the directions.

Here's some examples:

Creator Mini Jet (http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=6741), #6741 has 63 pcs, ages 6-12

Racers Thunder Racer (http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=8119), #8119 has 48 pcs, age 6-10

City Police Car (http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=7236), #7236 has 59 pcs, age 5+

You could also get a 'themed' building set like the My Lego Town (http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=6194), #6194 which is labelled 4+ and has a few building instructions and more 'ideas' that don't have step-by-step instructions.

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

My son got the City Camper set for his 5th birthday in September and loved it. He pretty much built it all by himself.

I am thinking of getting him the City block, with the bus, pizza shop, bus stop... can't remember exactly... for Christmas.

[hellokitty]

I would stick with smaller sets that are transportation (cars, trucks, planes, etc.). My 5 yr old is really good at following the directions and can build them on his own and then he likes to play with whatever he built. I honestly don't think my kids would play with lego buildings, they are into lego star wars stuff and transportation stuff.

[sue_g]

I would stick with smaller sets that are transportation (cars, trucks, planes, etc.). My 5 yr old is really good at following the directions and can build them on his own and then he likes to play with whatever he built. I honestly don't think my kids would play with lego buildings, they are into lego star wars stuff and transportation stuff.

Are they lego city sets that you are referring to or something else?

[hellokitty]

Are they lego city sets that you are referring to or something else?

I think that they are part of the city series. I'm just saying that I think that boys that age probably like lego vehicles/boats/spaceships, etc. more than buying them a set that you can build, buildings with, kwim?

[sewarsh]

Saw 40% off certain Lego sets at TRU fri/sat on a post on slickdeals. not sure if this helps but here you go:

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1643814

[sue_g]

Thank you all for your help. I guess it is a whole interesting world of legos out there:)