I went to Arundel Mills Mall for more backpacking accessories yesterday. While I was there, I walked around a little. I need to practice walking before going on my big backpacking excursion. When I went past the LEGO store, I stopped in. I had a conversation while I was in Nebraska about whether or not there was such a thing as a non-set LEGO set. That is, all the LEGO stuff seems to be sets where you follow meticulous directions and assemble some amazing thing that some LEGO scientists and engineers designed. I mean, following directions is a good skill to have, but can’t you just buy a box of LEGO blocks and make your own stuff?
Yes. Yes, you can. I searched through the whole store, and was almost going to leave when I spotted this one lowly box of plain old blocks. I’m glad they still offer this, even though it’s only available in a LEGO store. It’s a box full of imagination.
Amen!!! Due to time restraints I will not get on my soap box and rant and rave about dumb kid’s toys with only one function. Legos are one of the very, very best toys for exactly the reason you said – imagination. They can become anything! When they started selling the sets it made a multi-functional toy into something that ‘had to be right’. Grrr. It’s as annoying as when they gave Beanie Babies names. I went through a spell there where no child could name their own toy – they’d show me the tag and ask its name. Grrrr.
Huh. Looks like I was on a soap box. Sorry.
No need to apologize – I’m with ya’all on this, too. How to stifle imagination, creativity, and critical thinking skills all in one easy step, eh?
Now the important questions:
1. Did you actually purchase said single box of joy?
2. Will you be calling for assistance during assembly? (I noticed the “Ages 4+” mark on the side…)
You might want to take these along on your back packing trip and learn all the fun survival things you can build (e.g., bear-proof tent…enclosure for food to protect from bears…raised platform to stand on and get away from a bear…)
Hehe… I did not buy the box. I have lots of junk in my house that I need to get rid of before I can buy new junk.
I seem to remember having just plain blocks for my kids when they were little….but it might have been a knock-off brand.
And we were just talking the other day about what we did as kids, what with not having a computer, TV or other electronic games, etc. We just played outside in the land of make believe all the time!
Thanks for doing the tough research. That looks like a great birthday present for my 5 year old next month! Yay!!