The Evolution of a (Lego) Builder

This Christmas we made the move to 'big kid' Lego (although my guys call it baby Lego because it's smaller). Yes, they are still young enough for Duplo, but mommy has an entire closet (and I mean entire) full of Lego she has not taken out in years. The Duplo is still there, although it's being ignored.

Oh, for the 2 or 3 people out there who don't know the difference, here. Standard Lego is about 8 times smaller than Duplo.

Both boys play with the Lego/Duplo but Corwyn LOVES it. Here are some shots of the evolution of his play with the blocks.  His Duplo use started out building 'Trains' and then square towers with all the blocks filled in, onto creations with a ton of imagination. He started to figure out bridges, stairs and supports. Then I messed him up with the smaller bricks. He likes to build with the instructions and for the couple of new sets they got, he did that first, but he's back to first love of turning everything into a 'train'. He even put the horses on wheels so they could join in. The Lego motorcycles are a huge hit too.

 So far they have a teeny tiny bit of the Lego available. My place is not big enough for all of it to be out and they are not ready. But I'll  keep adding more bricks and blocks over time.

I can't wait to see what he creates with the Lego!

Duplo!

I wasn't even out of my (sofa) bed this morning when the boys had dumped the Zipbin of Duplo on the floor to start building. Duplo is a daily part of our life. As a Lego-addicted mommy, I couldn't be happier. I have an entire closet full of Lego just waiting for them to be old enough for the tiny pieces. And when I say closet full, I really mean it. Their big (Lego themed) Zipbin is less than 1/10 of the size of the storage for the Lego to come. Plus, I already have a box of the new Duplo Learn to Build with Duplo cards at the office as part of their birthday gift (if it waits that long).

Next month, Lego is teaming up with Today's Parent to do a 30 Day Duplo Challenge. They were looking for mom blogs to participate. I signed up and am really hoping to get picked. Clearly we're already fans and even if not picked, I will be looking at the daily challenges to bring more depth to our Lego playtime.

To start the morning, Corwyn began with a checkerboard style tower while Nathan went for the height right away. When the caregiver came, the first thing Corwyn did was have her come check his tower. He was still working on it an hour after he started, and barely stopped long enough to say good-bye to me. How is that for an addiction?