AIBU to not like Lego?

[MotherWol]

Yes, I know it's an excellent construction toy, creative, doesn't break easily, but it's so annoying! DD is 5 and just starting to show an interest in it, but all I can see are tiny parts that get lost and endless tidying up - we live in a small home and don't have a playroom, so all of her toys live in her bedroom, which will soon be shared with her baby sister. We really don't have room for e.g. Kallax units and endless boxes.

The inventory manager role is one of my least favourite parts of parenting, and IME one that almost always falls to mothers. At least with Duplo the bits are too big to step on/hoover up and the builds don't have to stay on display. Plus so much of the range aimed at girls is twee nonsense (e.g. the Friends range). I'm probably being VU, but surely I'm not alone in this?

It’s specifically not designed for creative play - the classic 2x4 bricks are pretty rare and every set has some one of a kind essential pieces to make sure you buy it.

That's total rubbish, my son gets hours and hours of creative play with his collection.

I hate the gendering. Lego friends is twee and moronic, and a huge proportion of the sets marketed to boys are based on violence.

I don't agree with this either. My son who's into a lot of traditionally male stuff loves lego Friends.

Ds is obsessed with Lego and it can be annoying. All the little bits everywhere.

However l, we've put two long shelves in his room (length of the wall) for his creations and he has IKEA trofast units to keep it in - colour coordinated! 😅

.I worry about all that plastic presumably languishing for ever

No need to worry, DD plays with my DB's lego and he's mid forties now, he also built a lot of his old sets on eBay presumably to collectors

Left my phone for a couple of hours and this is what happens - seems like a fairly unanimous response that IABU!

For what it’s worth I have no intention of banning lego, even if I don’t like it much, and I will be looking out for some of the classic/junior sets and a drawstring bag (thanks for the tip @Legoisthebest and @hangrylady)

you’re being a bit sexist really in assuming you would have to get Friends sets for your child because she’s a girl

One point to address - I’ve never assumed DD would only want Friends because she’s a girl, and of course she can play with any toys. But when she goes into a shop and sees a display, even at 5 years old she can tell which ones are aimed at girls. Lego spends a lot on marketing and it’s very successful in pitching it’s products to children, and challenging that gendered marketing is not easy.

I love lego friends, DS has a few of the sets. What does it matter if it's marketed at girls? Have you seen the TV show? Why does it matter if girls get to see a show about independent, smart young women? There's one episode where Mia rides her galloping horse through a forest on fire. It's many kinds of awesome. It's also nice to have a kids show where the main characters are girls and the boys are more side characters. How many kids shows can say that?
One of the character's mum is a police officer. Again how many 'mum' characters in TV shows have a job like that?

Oh and my DS is 7. He has never said anything about which sets are for girls and which are for boys. He loves it all (as do I!).

Lego is brilliant.

That's total rubbish, my son gets hours and hours of creative play with his collection

^
I agree, my son does too.

He builds all kinds of things, but he’s more into a “free” build with existing pieces and then play with the pieces and figures. We have tons of lego though! My Dd was obsessed with it too when younger.

The “girls” lego is totally fine imo - yes, a shame if any girls are restricted to it or given it when they prefer other stuff, but both of mine, Dd and Ds, have played with the “girls” stuff all mixed in with everything else.

Some of the best ranges are firmly unisex anyway. I adore lego creator, it's awesome.

I hate Lego for the kids (for all the reasons you’ve listed!) but love building the kits myself. I know this being totally unreasonable though

I’d highly recommend a Lego sorter. It’s like a tiered sieve so you can sort pieces by size by pouring them in and giving it a shake. Lego is one of those toys that gets used repeatedly so stuff from 6 years ago is still being used. You can buy it by the kilo on eBay and just see what they come up with rather than sets. It means you care less as it rattles it’s way up the hoover.

Lego's great!
James May lives in an actual house he built himself out of Lego, and he's a multi-millionaire.
That tells you something.

YABU I came late to Lego. I used to buy it for my sons but they were never very keen.
In the last few years, I have become interested in the 'Seasonal' items, in particular the 'Winter Village' range.
I use them for Christmas displays and started with 10249 Winter Toy Shop. They are much cheaper when they first come out and then quickly disappear. The Winter Holiday Train was a hit with the rest of the family and it comes out at Christmas most years.
I bought a secondhand Lego friends' ski chalet a couple of years ago and had fun eliminating the 'pink' and 'purple' for Christmassy 'red and green'.

I also like the recent 'flower' lego: 10280 Bouquet, 40460 Roses, 40461 Tulips.
Lego seem to be promoting 'adult' lego a lot at the moment and also recently announced getting rid of the boys v girls colour differences. I think this is likely a mistake as the pink and purple no doubt appeals to many females (and even some males) who otherwise wouldn't be encouraged to engage in constructive play.

You’re being unfair about Lego Friends - there are lots of sets which aren’t twee. Heaven forbid female friendship or interests are celebrated.

It absolutely encourages creative play. Both my children build the sets properly - 2 months later and they are being dismantled and turned in to all sorts (me at the generally mixing of pieces but it’s not my Lego!)

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles

Lego's great! James May lives in an actual house he built himself out of Lego, and he's a multi-millionaire. That tells you something.

I don’t think he actually lives in it. Sorry

I've never grasped the love of Lego. We had loads as a kid and I found it boring, hard to put together and a dull thing to play with. This was in the 1970s, so you just basically built brick houses. Or occasionally a rubbish box on wheels that you could pretend was a car.

I have 5 DC, none of whom have shown much interest in it. We had a big box of Lego that they weren't bothered about. They also had various relatives who bought them sets at Christmas of a Lego model to construct. I don't think any of them were ever completed.

Lego has passed me by. Also, I'm shocked by how expensive it is!

@littebearpad
Of course he does, I saw it on the telly!

My current dream set...

www.lego.com/en-gb/product/lego-titanic-10294

Alas, I need to win the lottery first...

@Trygowithflow

I'm with you on the lego. I worry about all that plastic presumably languishing for ever

I’ve got my dads Lego. I’ve still got all my own Lego. None of it’s gone to landfill. If you don’t want it it sells like hot cakes on marketplace and eBay, and local schools often need more. Lego is the ultimate reusable toy - and they are working hard on making bricks non plastic.

It's absolutely the best toy ever. No need to keep the sets together necessarily. My kids like to deconstruct the sets and make their own designs. The storage is a nightmare but at least it breaks into small pieces. Other toys are far worse to store in my opinion

Another vote for the Lego Friends - there’s even an electric car and wind turbine set now that we’ve got our eye on! Lots of cool sets - my daughter got an amazing llama-in-the-rainforest- rescue set for Christmas 😬

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

My current dream set...

www.lego.com/en-gb/product/lego-titanic-10294

Alas, I need to win the lottery first...

Wow. My 8 year old would love this - his fav topic at school so far!

My Mum bought us Lego when we were young (1970s) We had loads of the stuff. My brother loved it, my Mum loved it and I hated it.
I hated the feel of it, the tiny pieces, the way it fitted together, the sharp edges (?! I know but it felt that way to me), it was difficult to pull apart... it looked rubbish when assembled. I could go on.
Mum was obsessed and was oblivious to the fact I disliked it so much. We got new pieces for birthdays and Christmas.
The only thing I liked a bit were the little people and we only had a few of them.
I wanted Sindy dolls.

You’d weep in our house where the children have access to craft, junk modelling, paint, lego…pretty much anything all of the time and have done since an early age. They all learnt to tidy up after themselves. Yes, sometimes I come down to a splodge of paint somewhere it shouldn’t be but I wouldn’t change the free, creative childhoods my children are having.

Plus we have all sorts of Lego sets including Friends and both sexes play with it all. Currently my DD wants to be a brain surgeon and my DS wants to be a stay at home Dad so they seem to have got mixed up with your apparent Lego stereotypes

We have storage boxes under the bed for my 6yo to build Lego. There's loads of the stuff. It belonged to his older siblings. It's being passed down from child to child. Timeless classic.