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Christmas

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Original poster

Harry Potter Lego

41 replies

Imustbemad00 · 17/10/2018 20:20

My son is almost six. He doesn’t have any Lego has never really shown an interest in it but I think has used it elsewhere. I’m not sure how he is with it because we’ve never had it. Maybe if we had some it would be something he played with, but he’s not very patient and can’t imagine he would be good at building things with it.
Anyway, he loves Harry Potter and would like one of the sets.
First question is do you think it would be a waste of money? I’d probably have to build it and then could he play with it? Without it falling apart?
Second question. Is which one would I get and am I likely to get it on offer anywhere. The great hall set looks good but I can’t justofy paying £85 for it when I’m not 100% sure how he’ll get on with it.
Thanks for any advice

OP posts:

llangennith · 20/10/2018 23:04

Buy the smaller sets. Your DS may well be able to follow the instructions.
Mine loved the figures and I bought him two sets of mainly miscellaneous figures and some small sets to start with. We now have a lot of Lego and I dread to think of how much money it's cost🙈

AlwaysPottering · 20/10/2018 23:14

Lego has been worth every penny in our house. 5 dc the eldest is 17 and still plays with it, we’ve accumulated an inordinate amount of the stuff. In this day and age anything that doesn’t involve a screen should be encouraged as much as possible! I wouldn’t waste money on the imitation Lego myself

Maryann1975 · 20/10/2018 23:15

My 5 year old son wasn’t really bothered by Lego, although he did have a Couple of sets of it. He is now 10 and has loads of the stuff. Give him a year or two and you will be desperate to buy him something else for a change!

If you are buying Lego, I’d buy a couple of smaller sets first, the big sets take ages to build and the younger ones might loose interest quicker than it can be built, a smaller set-at least there is a chance that they will finish it before they are fed up.

Ds loved Lego city when he first started and it’s quite easy to add to each theme, as they have big expensive sets and smaller little sets that are quite cheap.

CantSleepClownsWillEatMe · 21/10/2018 05:37

Lego is a great gift imo, my dc both love it. That said there is no way I'd start off on the HP or any of the expensive themed sets for a 6 year old who isn't particularly familiar with it.

The themed sets are quite pricey but aside from that I'd be concerned that a child given one of the more advanced sets as his first one will feel disappointed if he can't do it and may decide he's just not into any lego/construction toys which would be a shame.

You can buy HP bits and bobs in primark as pp said but if you want to try lego sets I'd strongly recommend the Lego City range for his age. It's more suitable as an introduction and if he likes it there's loads in the range so you won't be stuck for Christmas or birthday ideas for a few years .

Alanamackree · 21/10/2018 14:46

What about getting him something like this and either Harry Potter figures, or Harry Potter minifigs to play in it.
And then get him a box of lego bricks so he can free play with them rather than being restricted by the instructions.

MimsyBorogroves · 21/10/2018 18:31

Why not buy a playmobil castle for him to use with the Potter minifigs? Not the same scale, but might work?

Original poster

Imustbemad00 · 22/10/2018 21:56

Yeah he has the playmobil castle and does use that.
We found my oldest child’s Lego city 3in1 set in back of cupboard. He’s really enjoyed playing with it but absolutely has no idea what the instructions mean. It’s age 7-12. I offered to build the simplest one for him following instructions and I really struggled. Had a bad neck ache from it and I bviously went wrong somewhere which meant I couldn’t finish it and the only option is to literally pull it apart and start from scratch. It took me ages, I wanted to cry and my son was upset. He was happier just doing free play with it. I’m thinking the Harry Potter is a no go now as I won’t be able to build it.

OP posts:

Courtney555 · 23/10/2018 10:26

Is anyone aware of any deal coming up that will make the £350 hogwarts Castle cheaper?

UnderHerEye · 23/10/2018 10:34

Hi OP I always have to rationalise the price of Lego sets as value of pay-per-play , because it is expensive, BUT my 2 play with Lego for hours and hours! So in terms of pay-per play we get great value from it.

Don’t think about the initial design being the be all and end all, the Hogwarts hall could be transformed into all sorts! So even if it was only Hogwarts hall for 1 day if the pieces were played with the rest of the year then it’s still good value, I hope that makes sense!

MaruMaru · 23/10/2018 10:41

I think there is a spectrum for Lego builders and my 2 boys were at either end. DS1 loved building kits, playing with them and free building. My best Christmas memory ever is giving him the Death Star kit...He graduated to making his own guns that could actually fire....

DS2 was just never that interested.
I would never buy a huge expensive kit for a child that's not bothered. There must be other HP toys for your DS surely? The castle would come to bits when played with and he wouldn't be interested or able to rebuild it. Once, I did glue a Batman set together as I built it... but it was a hassle and I knew I was missing the point!!!

At the most, I'd buy some HP minifigs.

BertramKibbler · 23/10/2018 10:43

We build the initial sets together, DS plays with them for a few months all built up and then they start to break down at which point he uses all the pieces for his various creations. Hours and hours and hours of fun. Worth every penny

RicStar · 23/10/2018 10:50

I would think most 6 year olds could build lego by themselves (or with a very little help). It's a great gift but not every child likes it - ds 4 does he loves following the 'map' to build sets. Dd does not like sets but will sometimes build with random mixed up bricks. We have tried some of the compatible stuff but it is just not as good. Lots of deals on amazon / smyths / argos in run up to Christmas.

Original poster

Imustbemad00 · 23/10/2018 20:08

As I’ve said, he defo can’t build it. Even I’m struggling with an age 7-12 Lego city set.
When people talk about free play, how does that work? Do they have an image in their minds of what they want to build and try to creat? Or just stick random things together and see what happens. I find it hard to imagine constructing something recognisable with so many tiny bits. I built my son the square base of a house and he just built it up with random bits, but looked nothing like a house. Maybe he needs more practise...

OP posts:

bogiesaremyonlyfriend · 23/10/2018 20:16

I think with free play it very much depends on the child. Dd1 has an idea in her head and searches out the bricks she wants to make it (She has made a Hogwarts great hall, Dumbledores office, Hagrids hut, professor trelawneys classroom, dungeon and store room!!) Dd2 just starts putting bricks together and then sees what it turns into, she loves it and gets very stuck in to creating. She has just made 'bunny land' and although to me it looks like a random assortment of bricks she can tell me hours of story about what each part is

BlueOooChristmas · 23/10/2018 20:33

He's 5, I think you are expecting too much! :)

We bought out first set to help my daughter who was having trouble with her fine motor skills. We figured that practice of snapping small pieces together wasn't really that different to learning buttons/zips etc. The first set she couldn't build at all. It was a Disney set age 6-12. She had just turned 5. So I built it with her sat with me.

She's going to be 6 in two weeks and since that first set we have acquired over 22k pieces of Lego! We're hooked. She still has trouble building the sets because she has trouble focusing for long periods. But she joins in with me and has gone from a child that said "ow, it hurts my fingers, I can't do it" to building all the figures herself and actually being really good at building her own creations.

We buy sets we like and when they break we dismantle them all and put them in with all the rest of the Lego for MOCs (my own creations).

Just last weekend she asked Daddy to help her build a Lego school. It's still sat on her play table and is surprisingly imaginative! Yes it's multicoloured but she's still only 5. It's been so good for her confidence.

BlueOooChristmas · 23/10/2018 20:35

So forgot to add, rather than Harry Potter I think you'd be far better (I think) picking up something like this set:

shop.lego.com/en-GB/Ocean-s-Bottom-10404

We got this out when our nephew came round and 3 kids (2, 4 & 5) had hours of fun!

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