Lego. That's the word around here. We eat, sleep and breathe Lego. The Little Dude gets up in the morning, and the first thing he does is stumble, groggy and bleary eyed out to the Lego table and get to work. The sun may barely have risen, but there are vehicles to build, minifigs to reconfigure and stories to tell. All through the magic of Lego.
It has kind of spilled over into most of the rest of our lives. We have a rule that there is no Lego allowed at the table, (because if the touchable distraction of his latest creation is present, very little food gets eaten) but instead whatever he is currenly working on gets set on the side table, where he can see it from where he sits. And talk about it of course. Because it is his major topic of conversation. He has so many plans. "Mom..." he says, "I have a good idea. After lunch I think we should make a Lego soccer field. Like I saw in a book. And we can make the ball out of Lego even. I think that will work."
And Mom...., after we finish eating and are excused from the table, I think we should play Lego dino hunter. I think you would like that Mom. Only first we have to drive to the store to buy a Lego dinosaur. One that is a minifig, but not little, like Jabba the Hutt. He's a minifig, but he is not little. And he's kind of like a dinosaur, but we need a real dinosaur. Ok?"
And my favourite: "Mom... you know what I think we should do? I think we should make a house out of Lego. Only it will be a real house that is big enough to live in, and we can go and live in that house and we will make beds and tables and chairs out of Lego and then we can live there. Everything will be Lego. Except the food. Because you can't eat Lego. We can have real food. But on Lego plates."
That's pretty much how most conversations around here go.
And I have to say, I'm impressed with his Lego building skills. This is an X-wing fighter that he made himself, with not parental assistance whatsoever.
The wings are hinged with some ball joints that came in a Lego Creator robot set he got awhile ago.
He was very proud of this one, as you can see. He even made a spot for R2-D2 to sit in the back, just like the real X-Wing Fighter.
And he specifically requested that I take these pictures so that we can send them to Sean Kenney. Who is Sean Kenney you might ask? Well, as L.D. says to the ladies at our local library. "Do you have any books by Sean Kenney? Because he's my favourite author."
Sean Kenney is in fact a professional lego designer/builder and the Little Dude informs me that he wants to have a job just like Sean Kenney when he grows up. Now, I know every parent thinks thier kid is exceptional, but I think that L.D. has some pretty mad skills when it comes to putting Lego together, so who knows, maybe he has a shot at his dream job?
Anyhow, as far as childhood obsessions go, Lego is a pretty good one. It combines both the creative/storytelling/imagination aspect of play that is so important, and the spatial and proceedural constuction skills that are very useful. For example, I gave him this little helicopter kit the other day at the beginning of his quiet time, showed him on the paper where the visual instructions began, and then left him alone to put it together all by himself, with not a bit of guidance or correction from me.
I love how pleased he was with it and I love how he perservered and stuck with it all the way through. There were 18 steps to follow, and a lots of little pieces. Not a small feat for a four year old. Anyhow, Sean Kenney, this one is for you.
He wanted me to take a picture of the finished helicopter to send to Mr. Kenney, but also needed me to take a picture of the brochure from inside the kit that shows all the other kits he 'needed'. (most notably the dinosaur) This is his favourite part of any kit; being able to see all the other options available. Though I must say this is NOT my favourite part, because then I spend the rest of the day hearing about what we could build with all those other kits. Oh those clever people at the Lego company and thier tricky advertising tricks....
But when he's not busy planning what to buy, he is happily at play. The tinkling clink of the bricks as he runs his hands though the bins, looking for just the right piece is music to my ears. And as he clicks and builds he sings happily to himself, and I love overhearing the snatches of made up lyrics about Rancors and Teddy Bears and Tauntauns and the planet Hoth.
And we've all grown to love the minifigs. I am peppered with requests like: "you know what we need Mom? We need some of those short legs, so that our Lego men can be Lego children. Like Anakin Skywalker. Also, we need some hoods, like the Jedi's have." And on, and on. Though I don't mind it too much, as I can remember pouring over those little booklets myself, when I was young and inquisitive and fiercely aquisitional. Is that even a word? I don't know, but I remember wanting stuff. And we keep it under control. Any time he tells me about his latest great idea involving the purchasing of a new kit, I tell him that that sounds great, and we should put it on his birthday list. He knows that I'm not just going to drop everything and rush off to the store to buy him his latest whim. His favourites and priorites change so much that I don't know what will be on the top of that list by the time that his birthday does roll around in June. Though I'm pretty confident that it'll be something Star Wars related.
What an amazing child!!! Tell him I love his creations, and an extra well done on the X-wing fighter! Can't wait to see what he's making by the time he's 12! give him a big Auntie C hug for me!!!
Posted by: cyn | 04/08/2013 at 10:22 AM
:)
Frickin amazing, by the way.
Posted by: Marcia Van Drunen | 04/08/2013 at 02:12 PM
:)
Frickin amazing, by the way.
Posted by: Marcia Van Drunen | 04/08/2013 at 02:12 PM