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Original poster

LEGO experts please help..

30 replies

Millionprammiles · 23/11/2016 13:31

Is there an alternative to Lego Juniors for a 4 yr old, who has outgrown Duplo sets but already has some of the Classic bricks?

Dd has a couple of the Juniors sets but finds them fiddly and doesn't play with them much. She loves making things with the Classic bricks and I wondered if there was a 'Classic plus some extras' type set? I can't tell if the Lego Creative sets are chunky sized pieces or tiny ones...

OP posts:
KikiNeedsABroom · 23/11/2016 13:49

Don't think there's anything inbetween.

CozumelFox · 23/11/2016 13:51

Whatever stage she's at that she's outgrown Duplo but can't handle Juniors will surely be over soon, that's like a tiny hair's-breadth of overlap.

You can get boxes of basic bricks, and we added on a pack of wheels, windows and roof-tiles for extras.

FlopIsMyParentingGuru · 23/11/2016 13:53

Get some of the smaller Lego city sets. They're better than Lego juniors in my opinion and Lego City is the younger side of Lego as a rule.

SatsukiKusakabe · 23/11/2016 14:12

I still helped my ds build the Lego Juniors sets when he found them too fiddly, and he payed with the finished result. He has lots of City ones, and we build some of the trickier ones together even though he's quite capable now.

We also got a big box of Classic Here which is a good mix of lots of different types of bricks, and wheels etc, and that is very good.

SatsukiKusakabe · 23/11/2016 14:15

Mine (5 and nearly 3) both really enjoy playing with Duplo still as they can make bigger things and it is just a lot easier for them to manage. But we have reached a point where I don't want to buy any more. I've got dd a Lego Juniors for Christmas. The bricks are the same, but the designs are less complicated, I'm not really expecting her to out it together though.

Original poster
Millionprammiles · 23/11/2016 15:49

Thanks all - its the size of the Juniors sets that dd finds tricky but also that they're meant to make a particular thing. I don't mind making them with her but find she loses interest quickly.

Satsuki - I was looking online at that classic box but couldn't work out size of the pieces - are they closer to Junior size than Duplo?

OP posts:
PhilODox · 23/11/2016 15:53

My eldest is 10, and still likes playing with the duplo! They won't let me pass it on to anyone else.

NannyR · 23/11/2016 15:59

There isn't anything between

IAmAPaleontologist · 23/11/2016 16:02

Junior size is the same size as regular Lego, just the sets are a bit simpler to build. If she's not interested in making things to instruction just get a big box of bricks plus some wheels, roof tiles and Windows and some mini figures. You can get job lots of bricks and mini figures and stuff on eBay.

NannyR · 23/11/2016 16:03

There isn't anything between duplo and classic/junior/creative. The classic etc are all the same size bricks but Junior is just less complicated to build. The four year old I look after finds junior too easy and restrictive, but he has been building with ordinary lego from 2 yrs old.

DubiousCredentials · 23/11/2016 16:05

Do you mean she finds building the sets fiddly or the end result? We have a metric fuckton of Lego in this house, both dd and ds have loads of sets, but the models that are built from the sets are always fragile and don't withstand robust play. Elsa and her Godforsaken ice palace are purely for decoration as you only have to look at it and bits fall off.

I would get a big box of classic bricks and let her build what she wants. You can get extra interesting bits on eBay.

dingit · 23/11/2016 16:06

No help with the question, but have you been to the new lego shop in Leicester Square. Amazing

atticusclaw2 · 23/11/2016 16:09

As others have said there are two sizes, duplo and classic. The junior stuff just contains instructions for easier models.

I'd just get a big box of mixed classic lego for now and let her get creative until she's ready to tackle some lego city.

WellTidy · 23/11/2016 16:19

I think 4 is on the ambitious side for proper Lego sets for 4 year olds to be honest. Mine was still building the Duplo house and making a zoo at that age. A good juniors set is the pirate one. Lego classic can be used for years and years too. Some of the Lego Friends and Lego City might be ok at 4yo too.

Original poster
Millionprammiles · 23/11/2016 16:24

Now I'm really confused...
The Junior sets dd have are like this 'supermarket' one - www.toysrus.co.uk/toys/lego-juniors-supermarket-suitcase

The bricks she has are much bigger - I think they might be Duplo ones after all Blush
Maybe a mixed Classic box is best for now...

dingit - dd will be going to LS in a couple of weeks - she'll LOVE that!

OP posts:
AppleAndBlackberry · 23/11/2016 16:27

Are you sure she's outgrown duplo? My 5 and 7yos still like our duplo sets although I wouldn't buy them any more at this age, but DD2 definitely played a lot with a superhero set at 4.

atticusclaw2 · 23/11/2016 16:29

The juniors sets often have lot of large pieces. So a wall for example will be one solid piece rather than made up of lots of bricks. The bricks are just normal lego size though.

Original poster
Millionprammiles · 23/11/2016 16:41

I think I've realised its classic duplo she's playing with.
I need to the Lego shop and educate myself about Lego. Also I need to go just because it looks awesome. A whole tube train! Made of Lego! And apparently some of the Lego people have moving faces. Freaky.

OP posts:
IAmAPaleontologist · 23/11/2016 16:43

No that Lego set is not duplo, ,it is the same size as normal Lego just simpler to build with more mould pieces.

It all depends on the child, some find Lego easy and others don't. My oldest liked to follow the instructions at 4 and was building Lego city police cars and things with a bit of help. The next child ignored instructions and went freestyle. Even now at almost 8 if she gets given a big set as a present she contracts it out to her brother to build and then plays with it. Smallest boy has been sticking Lego bricks together since he could sit up so has been building it for a fair while and is currently 4.

J3NN1 · 23/11/2016 17:12

Is it the end result of taking so long going through the instructions she finds hard?
My daughter when she was younger had the juniors and although she was fine with the bricks themselves she got frustrated having to build the whole thing. We got a box of classic Lego on offer from Asda, think it was around £15 and it had loads of little 'ideas' she could build, as well as googly eyes and things she could just play with and use her imagination. Honestly just playing with this for a couple of months and she was able to have the patience for the proper sets. This is similar to the one we bought:

www.tesco.com/direct/lego-classic-large-creative-brick-box-10698/256-4642.prd?skuId=256-4642&pageLevel=sku&sc_cmp=ppc_sh--sh--tesco-_-256-4642&gclid=CJn-vJuvv9ACFY0y0wod5IgN1w&gclsrc=aw.ds&source=others

SatsukiKusakabe · 23/11/2016 17:13

As everyone else has said and you've realised, there is no in between. I would recommend a big box of the classic, we got it for ds when he was four and he has built some great things with it, and we generally just mess about with it and he tells me things to build.

We did get him proper Lego City sets, but he is vehicle obsessed so plays with them mostly intact, or took them apart slightly and built them up how he wanted them, so it was more than worth it for us, and I was always happy to rebuild them to the instructions for him if things went terribly awry. He could build the Lego Juniors sets such as the Batcave quite easily from 4.

dontevenblink · 23/11/2016 21:07

Did anyone else have Fabuland in the 80s? I really don't understand why lego stopped making it. My dm kept hold of mine (and all my pirate lego Smile) and my dc love it, especially when they were 3 and 4.
My 4 dc range from 8 to 2 and they all still enjoy playing with Duplo. Ds1 who is 6 has a lot of lego city, he loves following the instructions and can easily do it on his own. Ds2 who is 4 has asked for the lego city fireboat as he wants to be like his big brother and a superheroes lego junior set. I fully expect to have to build then with/for him, but I enjoy it Grin

greathat · 23/11/2016 21:09

Buy playmags instead :)

BiddyPop · 24/11/2016 08:39

If you have a box of classic bricks, then maybe the small (as in £5 ish) sets of lego city (I don't know if juniors do those) would be good as not a lot of building but there are some nice small things as a result. There's a robber in a tyre running from police, a fireman, a scuba set with octopus etc - so a few different things can be added together that way rather than getting a big set.

Or get a small set and then get the next size up related to that to work on together - say the robber and cop one, with the smallest cop van (maybe £15/20?), so you have the smaller easier one for DD to do, not so hard one to do together, and related bits to play with.

BiddyPop · 24/11/2016 08:46

We have a wide selection of bits at this stage from various sets - DD often constructs things out of her head, but we have recently gone back and rebuilt the fire station, police truck and bin truck - while she's made her own police station using bins, cupboards, doors, windows, seats, regular bricks and spare coffee mugs/walkie talkies etc from other sets. So it gives her the freedom to be imaginative.

But ALWAYS keep the instruction books!!!