Duplo vs Lego

[KrystalS]

At what age did your kids make the switch from Duplo to regular Legos? DS LOVES his duplos, he builds with them daily and amazes me with the things he creates. He needs more blocks but I question how much longer he will be into the duplos. I will be honest and say I really hate the tiny Legos, but I hate to invest more money into Duplos if he will move on soon. I have no plans to get him the big sets, I will probably start with a simple bucket. He got the Duplo train set last year for Christmas, he never plays with the actual train tracks but he loves the crane, I would like to get him something to complement this.

[AlbrightRC]

My son is 5 and loves the little legos but he still keeps digging out the duplos as well.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Neither of my kids ever got into Duplo. At 5 if probably buy a big mixed bucket of Legos and maybe one set that has directions. I think the Duplos might still have another year or 2 in them for your ds but I'd probably move onto Legos and see how it goes.

[KrisM]

My oldest never really got into the small Legos. He would build the set and that was it. Until age 8 or so, he'd build random things with Duplos. He still will at times (he's 9.5). DS2 likes the little ones now and still plays with Duplos a bit. He's 5.

[KrystalS]

My DD loves to build the set out of the box, but that's it, she builds it once and never touches it again. They both build with the Duplos a lot, which is why we need a lot more bricks. They are constantly fighting over them.

[KrystalS]

I think we will stick with duplos for now, I just wish they had more sets to choose from. We already have several Jake toys so I don't want to get those sets.

[georgiegirl]

DD loved duplos, and I started getting her Legos at 5.5. DS never liked duplos. He started getting Legos at age 3 (because big sister had them), and 9 months later he was able to start putting sets together himself. Now at 4.25, he can put together pretty much any set, including the ones with 500-1000 pieces, and the creator series, which is rated 7+. He's a lego genius though. He has rebuilt all of his sets many times...sometimes a few times in a day. I think he's just as good, if not better, than DD (7.5) and putting sets together.

[sarahsthreads]

Both my big kids (5 & 9) still play with duplos. DD1 has a number of lego friends sets, but she mainly builds them once and then plays with them built. DD2 likes to play with DD1's already built small lego sets, but doesn't really build with them. However, both girls will creatively build with duplos. I have no plans to phase them out any time soon, and will happily take advantage of DS coming along to add to them!

I'd say three is a bit young to move on to small legos, but I think it might also really depend on how/why your kids build. My girls seem far more interested in large scale than in detail. We have a traveling exhibit at the local children's museum that has huge lego-type blocks (2x3s that are maybe a foot wide?) and they spent a good solid hour building a gigantic house (with windows!) out of them the last time we visited. I could see how a kid who was more into putting fine details into their creations might prefer to build with small legos, though.

Sarah :)

[KrystalS]

I'd say three is a bit young to move on to small legos, but I think it might also really depend on how/why your kids build. My girls seem far more interested in large scale than in detail. We have a traveling exhibit at the local children's museum that has huge lego-type blocks (2x3s that are maybe a foot wide?) and they spent a good solid hour building a gigantic house (with windows!) out of them the last time we visited. I could see how a kid who was more into putting fine details into their creations might prefer to build with small legos, though.

Sarah :)

Scale is definitely more important to my DS, didn't even think about it like that! We also have tons of Playmobil and they build stuff with Duplos then use other toys to add on. Now I'm on the hunt for some great Duplo sets. Tempted by ebay because I really don't like any of the sets out right now.

[GvilleGirl]

Walmart is doing their Duplo box again for Black Friday if you just want blocks. My Walmart had them on sale past BF last year. My kids are more interested in just building then the actual sets though.