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In this post we show you a variety of different ways to play and learn with LEGO DUPLO.
LEGO DUPLO has been a part of my life since my earliest memories. My brothers and I played DUPLO a lot while we were growing up, before they moved onto LEGO and I got lost in a world of books.
My kids (aged 2 and 5) play LEGO DUPLO often now as well. I couldn't wait to bring out the set that I used to play with as a child. My kids started playing with that set (just as I had) and have since added to our collection.
I love using the mix of old and new LEGO DUPLO. We've bought a few little additions and received a few sets as gifts. The sets make great gifts as you always know you're going to get lots of use from them. The LEGO DUPLO we have (including the 30ish-year-old LEGO DUPLO) will all be moved around the family and then onto the next generations. I hope that one day I get to see my grandchildren enjoying the same LEGO DUPLO sets we once used.
Playing and Learning with DUPLO
There are so many different ways to play and learn with LEGO DUPLO. Here are a range of different play ideas for you to try with your little ones.
Build Stories
Imitating life is part of your child’s play experience and helps them to learn about everyday life.
My children love engaging in pretend play, as do most children. It is a chance for them to play out real life situations, face fears, learn to share, cooperate, compromise, develop speech and so much more.
The range of LEGO DUPLO sets and the open-ended nature of construction means there are many possibilities for pretend play.
Children can be farmers, families, chefs, builders, parents, animals, firemen, pilots, construction workers, pet trainers and the list goes on. Use the themed sets available to match your child's interests and then leave the rest up to their imagination.
Social interactions teach your child basic human skills and contribute to the creation of their identity.My children love engaging in pretend play, as do most children. It is a chance for them to play out real life situations, face fears, learn to share, cooperate, compromise, develop speech and so much more.
The range of LEGO DUPLO sets and the open-ended nature of construction means there are many possibilities for pretend play.
Children can be farmers, families, chefs, builders, parents, animals, firemen, pilots, construction workers, pet trainers and the list goes on. Use the themed sets available to match your child's interests and then leave the rest up to their imagination.
Create & Share
Working cooperatively with other people is a skill that requires development, and for children, is best learnt through playing together. Playing with and sharing the same materials with others provides many opportunities for peer learning. Peers can sometimes be the best teachers, as they are able to connect with one another in a different way than a conventional teacher/student relationship.
When presented with materials that pose a challenge, children can learn from one another by seeing how others engage with the materials and by asking for or offering help.
Usually my children just free build which means they can often work around challenges without needing extra assistance. We loved getting this new set as working with a manual was a new experience for my children and provided them with many peer sharing and learning opportunities.
Having a material like LEGO DUPLO that both my children (aged 2 and 5) enjoy using and can both use safely and independently is a real plus.
Play & Discover
Discovery through play is fun for your child when there is a balance between their ability and complexity
LEGO DUPLO is such a fun, simple and versatile material, that it is perfect to use for engaging children to enhance their skills and knowledge in a variety of areas.
Here are just a few ways that you can learn with LEGO DUPLO.
LEGO DUPLO can help children learn about letters, numbers, words, colours, shapes and so much more.
The most obvious way of learning with LEGO DUPLO is of course by building with it. Using cognitive and fine motor skills to coordinate pieces together and create a standing structure. Learning about gravity, architecture, design and more whilst constructing designs either by following directions in a manual or by using their imagination and creativity.
Using a manual encourages children to practice reading numbers and following steps in a logical order to replicate a design.
This more structured building required my children to think more about colours, sizes, types and amounts. They found sorting and classifying helpful in building their design more easily.
Other than building with LEGO DUPLO. Here are some sightly different ways to use LEGO DUPLO to help develop and consolidate a range of skills.
Learn more about counting and numbers by downloading your own copy of these printable LEGO DUPLO number cards that we made. There are lots of fun ways to play and learn with them.
Make counting and learning about numbers fun with this simple LEGO DUPLO number game. A great one for toddlers.
Mix it up a bit by pairing LEGO DUPLO and an egg carton in this fun egg carton maths game.
Make Adventures
Being creative is an integral part of your child’s play that needs stimulating toys and tools
For us, being creative generally means thinking outside the box; making their own adventures. Seeing new and different uses for things. Trying new ways of doing things and looking for different ways to create or solve problems. For me, I would rather my children grew up as creative thinkers than academics.
In order to develop creativity, I think that children benefit from having access to a wide range of experiences and materials and the ability to manipulate these in varying ways. I tend to stay away from any toys that have very limited uses and instead look for toys and materials that we could use in a variety of different ways.
Open ended materials such as art and craft supplies are always good, as are other toys such as LEGO DUPLO, wooden blocks, playdough, loose parts, balls, imaginative play sets, dress-ups and so on. These are the sorts of toys that I like to own.
It is often from combining some of these open-ended materials that the versatility of their scope for play, creativity and learning is really displayed.
For now we love the look of the whole piece so are displaying it as is with some patterned paper tape sticking it to the wall. Eventually we will take it down and probably cut out an animal shape (perhaps a spotty one?!), mount it on some solid coloured paper and then frame it.
When we combined playdough with LEGO DUPLO, we discovered the different types of patterns and imprints we could create with it and other everyday items. Exploring these materials in a new way led us to all sorts of realisations, new questions and other creative ideas.
As you saw above with the pretend play, we combined various kitchen play items with LEGO DUPLO and my son enjoyed "cooking" with them.
There are so many ways to play creatively with LEGO DUPLO. Just try pairing a few different items with your DUPLO and let the kids' creativity do the rest. There is such a great range available for kids these days, from Superheros, Construction and Police sets, to Creative Picnics, Ice Cream making and Animal creation. There is sure to be a LEGO DUPLO set just perfect for your kids to base their adventures around.
Thanks to LEGO DUPLO we have this fabulous set to giveaway. To enter, answer the following question in the comments below, *Please note. This competition has ended. Congratulations to our winner Amelia Shepherd.
"HOW DO YOUR KIDS LOVE TO PLAY WITH LEGO DUPLO?"
This competition is for Australian residents only. It begins, 9.01am AEDST Thursday 9 October 2014 and will continue until 5:00 pm AEDST on Friday 17 October 2014. See here for full terms and conditions. If the profile you comment under isn't linked to way to contact you, or if you're commenting anonymously, please leave a name and email address with your comment.
In order to develop creativity, I think that children benefit from having access to a wide range of experiences and materials and the ability to manipulate these in varying ways. I tend to stay away from any toys that have very limited uses and instead look for toys and materials that we could use in a variety of different ways.
Open ended materials such as art and craft supplies are always good, as are other toys such as LEGO DUPLO, wooden blocks, playdough, loose parts, balls, imaginative play sets, dress-ups and so on. These are the sorts of toys that I like to own.
It is often from combining some of these open-ended materials that the versatility of their scope for play, creativity and learning is really displayed.
You could try combining paint and LEGO DUPLO. Use the finished products as wrapping paper, display as is or cut out letters or pictures to create your own individually designed art work.
For now we love the look of the whole piece so are displaying it as is with some patterned paper tape sticking it to the wall. Eventually we will take it down and probably cut out an animal shape (perhaps a spotty one?!), mount it on some solid coloured paper and then frame it.
When we combined playdough with LEGO DUPLO, we discovered the different types of patterns and imprints we could create with it and other everyday items. Exploring these materials in a new way led us to all sorts of realisations, new questions and other creative ideas.
As you saw above with the pretend play, we combined various kitchen play items with LEGO DUPLO and my son enjoyed "cooking" with them.
There are so many ways to play creatively with LEGO DUPLO. Just try pairing a few different items with your DUPLO and let the kids' creativity do the rest. There is such a great range available for kids these days, from Superheros, Construction and Police sets, to Creative Picnics, Ice Cream making and Animal creation. There is sure to be a LEGO DUPLO set just perfect for your kids to base their adventures around.
GIVEAWAY. WIN A DUPLO SET FOR YOUR KIDS * Ended
Thanks to LEGO DUPLO we have this fabulous set to giveaway. To enter, answer the following question in the comments below, *Please note. This competition has ended. Congratulations to our winner Amelia Shepherd.
"HOW DO YOUR KIDS LOVE TO PLAY WITH LEGO DUPLO?"
This competition is for Australian residents only. It begins, 9.01am AEDST Thursday 9 October 2014 and will continue until 5:00 pm AEDST on Friday 17 October 2014. See here for full terms and conditions. If the profile you comment under isn't linked to way to contact you, or if you're commenting anonymously, please leave a name and email address with your comment.
You can see the full range available on the LEGO DUPLO website.
Happy playing,
Debs :)
{Disclosure: this is a paid post for LEGO DUPLO sponsored by Nuffnang. We received a farm set to use for the post. The rest of the LEGO DUPLO pictured already belonged to us. As always, opinions expressed in this post are my own and my children's.}
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