At what age do you switch from Duplo to regular lego?

[MontrealMum]

The title speaks for itself. DS has Duplo and loves them, but he doesn't have enough to do much with them beyond small structures. Do I invest in more Duplo, or make the switch to regular lego? He's 5 and a bit.

As background, they had regular lego at his daycare and he was fine with the regular bricks making houses and structures, but it's sort of beyond him still to make specific things, as in, a truck, or something, from a dedicated kit. It took me nearly an hour to put together the recycling truck he was given as a gift and then he took it all apart!

Just trying to figure out where to best spend my money this holiday season :)

[vonfirmath]

DS got regular Legos for his 5th birthday but I have discouraged getting them out before I have a 15 month old. I am hoping by his 6th birthday it will be less a danger for her.

[essnce629]

DS1 got his first set of regular Legos on his 5th birthday and has been obsessed with them ever since (he's 9 now)!

But because of DS1, DS2 has been playing with regular Legos since before he was 2. He had Duplos (and still does), but he was always trying to steal DS1's Legos. I read that they were excellent for toddler fine motor skills (and used in therapy actually), so I gave him his own little box of all regular square and rectangular pieces so he could have his own. He plays with both regular Legos and Duplos all the time. He's 3 1/2 now.

My best friend's DS1 just turned 5 last week and has been playing with the regular Legos for at least 6 months now. He's obsessed with them.

I'd get your son the big bin of regular Lego bricks, but not a specific set like Star Wars, etc. The basic bricks are geared for kids 4+, while the sets have smaller and more complicated pieces.

This: www.amazon.com/LEGO-Ultimate-Building-Set-Pieces/dp/B000NO9GT4

[katydid1971]

The summer before DS started kindergarten, he was 5. I started with simpler sets but he quickly moved to the harder sets like Star Wars. Lego City is a way to start.

[KrisM]

DS1 got them at age 5.5. But, honestly, he plays with Duplo a lot now, at age 8.5, and doesn't do anything with regular Lego. So, really I htink you're fine waiting if you want.

[MontrealMum]

Thanks, guys! This was really helpful.

[ahisma]

DS got a lot for his 5th birthday. He like them, but was somewhat underwhelmed. Around 5.5 he started really enjoying them.

DS moved to legos at 4, mainly because we had a small house and needed to purge. They went across the street to his cousin, so still available. He does well with the small pieces but is more focused on DIY creations. I got a preschool Lego Education kit for him for Christmas that I think he will enjoy.

It helped a lot for me to bet a 3 drawer system for them, so they could find pieces. The top is tiny pieces / minifies, middle is odd shapes, bottom is bricks only. That seemed to really open the creativity floodgates for them.

We try to keep pieces together for a while, and do keep the manuals. Generally we can find pieces to rebuild, having them sorted helps.

[georgiegirl]

DS is 3 and loves small Legos. It's because his big sister started getting sets last winter (for her 6th birthday.). He obviously can't but anything together from directions, but he makes "cars" and "planes" with pieces himself. (He was never interested in duplos although big sis loved them when she was 2-3). Both of my kids will play with Legos for HOURS.