Lego 5+ for a 4-year-old

[ohmysense]

My DC is about to attend a best friend's 4th birthday and we thought we found a perfect gift (and in budget!). However, it's marked as 5+ while the child is just turning 4. We do not expect them to assemble it independently, the intention is for them to enjoy the end result and play with it, as it involves their favourite characters.
Just wanted to gather opinions - if your 4-year-old were to receive a 5+ lego set from a friend - would you think that this is inappropriate / inconsiderate?

can we see the set to help make appropriate comments please :)

Is there younger children in the home? Because if so I would check with mum. Lego 5+ cam have tiny pieces.

It's fine.

They don't have to follow the instructions and build the model the day they get it.... They can use the bricks to build things and keep the instructions for later on, or the parents can use it as an opportunity to do an activity together.

Besides, people seem to have forgotten that Lego is supposed to be an open ended creative toy, not a exercise in following instructions...

Having just reassured a relative that the 6+ lego set she picked will be fine for 5 year old DD – not a problem here.

Good point, no no younger children, an older sibling of a different gender (I doubt they will be interested in this toy much)

Haha it's a small (but cute) Frozen-themed lego set

Thank you. It's not even the level of difficulty per se that I'm doubting. It's the safety aspect - with younger kids it's always been my priority to only gift age-appropriate toys due to small parts etc. But honestly I am not sure what safety aspect would be ok for 5 years old but not 4.

if you think the child is responsible enough not to lose half the pieces, eat any of them then yeh
However they are just turning 4, could be counted as an 'older 3yo'
if you look on the lego site there you can filter by age and there are sets that are suitable from 4+
there is a frozen duplo set that definitely would be acceptable

Yeah it's completely fine from a safety point of view, the ages are really about how difficult it is to follow the instructions.

I wouldn’t worry about the safety aspect - you can get Lego aimed at age 4 and it can have similar small pieces, just the builds tend to be simpler.

I think with smaller sets a 4 year old can often follow an “age 5” instruction booklet anyway. Certainly my Dc and nephews and nieces could, and they were just normal kids who quite liked Lego, not massively in to it or anything.

It’s more about having the concentration to complete several pages of instructions rather than being able to copy the picture, so a small set is perfect at that age. (Presume you are not buying some massive set for a friends bday!)

I wouldn't stress over giving 5+ Lego to a 4yo.
There won't be too much difference in the part sizes, just the 4+ sets tend to have big chunky bases.

Making it easier to build, so they might need a little help with a 5+ set but nothing to stress over.

It'll be fine. DD1 is 5 and has started doing the 8+ ones on her own with some help from DH when she gets stuck. The last couple of birthdays we've had a lot of Lego sets for 5-8+, they're a very common gift for that age group. And DD2 has only ever eaten one Lego piece

It's fine. I have bought my 4yo things that say 7+ as I know he will be fine with them with help. Generally above 3, the ages seem to be more about difficulty than safety.

Of course it’s fine, I never even clock the age recommendation on Lego boxes. Lego always very much appreciated at my kids’ parties!