Is a construction set necessary for a child's development? About children's construction sets, their diversity and benefits for a child's development. All Lego constructors can be divided into several groups
A children's construction set is not an ordinary toy, but one that requires effort, patience and perseverance; by collecting and putting together the elements, children especially noticeably develop logical thinking and other skills. Parents often come to the aid of children, and such an activity captivates both the child and the adults. Building a construction set becomes even more interesting if there is a plot and main characters. For example, if you move little people into a house built by a child, make a local area out of small parts. In children's fantasy, heroes come to life, an ordinary ship becomes unusual if pirates or sailors with a captain, merchants or warriors sail in it.
Parents, together with the gifted construction set, can tell their child a fairy tale or an unusual story to make it even more interesting to put it together, purchase special literature and cite as an example historical facts about a specific car, ship, plane or helicopter that the child is collecting. Children's toys, cars and other items that you have at home can complement the composition from the constructor. So, in a truck you can bring parts and blocks for building some new structure.
Folding the construction set is useful for both toddlers and school-age children. This game instills work skills, develops not only imagination, but also motor skills, spatial thinking, and planning skills. They help to concentrate, teach perseverance and achieving goals. The child begins to understand what three-dimensional space is, learns to use instructions, and distinguish geometric shapes and colors.
If you want to buy a construction set for your child, consider his age and the presence of safe elements. For example, for children aged one year, select construction sets with large, multi-colored parts made of good plastic (cubes, bricks), wooden or soft ones made of bright, colorful fabric. Older children need construction sets with a large number of parts, and the older the child, the smaller the elements can be. The completed structure can be placed in a prominent place so that the child can see his achievement and be proud of the work done. He must put the remaining parts back into the packaging.
Many parents are confused when choosing construction toys due to their wide variety.
Modern Lego constructors http://www.toy.ru/catalog/lego/
- This is the dream of every child that parents can make come true. They are of high quality and attractive in appearance, suitable for boys and girls of different age categories. There are also “Soviet” construction kits with metal parts, bolts and nuts. For little architects there are cubes, including ones with letters; wooden sets from which you can design and build entire cities. Ideally, your child will have several types of construction sets at home that differ in structure and size. They won’t get boring, because today you can play with one construction set, and tomorrow with another.
Children's construction sets are play sets that allow you to assemble all kinds of models from individual parts and make various buildings. They can be soft, hard, flexible, made of different materials, with or without fastenings, for the little ones and even for teenagers... Why are construction toys so important and useful for a child?
First of all, by manipulating with multi-colored “things,” the child receives his first mathematical concepts and develops sensory perception: he becomes familiar with geometric shapes and their properties, color, and size. Any children's construction set develops spatial thinking. Playing with construction toys is also useful for practicing fine motor skills.
A children's construction set will help teach your child to finish what he has started. But here, of course, the participation of adults is very important. And after the game, involve your baby in cleaning up toys. Let him collect all the parts of the designer and put them in a box. This way, neatness will gradually be instilled.
How to choose the right designer
Choosing the right construction set or construction set for a child is an important task. Focus on the manufacturer's recommendations and the baby's characteristics.
It is better for the smallest builders to buy soft construction toys made from special polymer materials. Construction sets with small parts should not be given to children under 3 years of age. But for older builders, such sets are very useful: the smaller the parts, the more effort your fingers will have to put in!
If you want to buy your child a themed construction set (farm, pirate ship, city, etc.), consider his interests. Maybe dad will be interested in building a knight's castle, but his daughter will not. The girl would be very happy to build a farm and play with figurines of domestic animals. In general, be careful.
Children's construction sets: assembling turrets and houses
A construction set for a child is not a toy that a child can master on his own. The adult’s task is to help the child at first, teach how to fasten parts or stack building blocks on top of each other, offer interesting options for buildings and show what can be done with them next.
1.5-3 years
A simple turret. Teach your child to build tall towers from blocks. It is not at all easy for him to place the cubes one on top of the other. But the finished turrets can then be destroyed. Or hit with a ball. Let the baby throw out accumulated negative emotions in this way. It's good for him!
Do not fall! You can build turrets in another way. Place the cubes one on top of the other in turn: the cube is you, the cube is the baby. And so on until the pyramid falls. This game will almost certainly delight your little one.
First house. Two cubes on the bottom, one on top - that’s the house! And then build a fence around the house. Small toys (for example, made from chocolate eggs) can live in such tiny houses. Or they will become garages for tiny cars.
Train. Line up the cubes one after the other. You'll get a train! Show your baby how to gently push the “train” from behind to make it move. You can put toy passengers on the carriage cubes.
Let's play a fairy tale. You can build not just a house, but a “Teremok”. Let the mouse, the frog, and the rest of the characters live in it. And then a bear will come and break everything. And then all the animals, together with the baby and mother, will build themselves a new “Teremok” and live there even better! Or you can build a “Gingerbread House”. Or “Zayushka’s hut.”
4-5 years
Crane. Make it from a children's bucket and rope. We tie the rope to the bucket, throw the rope over the back of the chair - and the tap is ready! We load the construction kit parts into the bucket, pull the rope - and the “load” rises. We unload the bucket (we transfer the building material onto the chair), and then lower it for a new load.
Do as I do. Build some simple structure on the table, and let your child repeat after you exactly, using parts of the same shapes and colors. Start with simple shapes - turrets, paths, a house of 3-4 parts. When the child understands the meaning of the game, the tasks can be made more difficult.
Do you have a plan? If a children's construction set comes with diagrams for assembling different models, teach your child to use them. Your child may not be able to read the diagrams right away. Help him, give him some advice. And later let him try to build something according to his own idea.
Correct the error. Build a model according to the scheme, deliberately making a mistake. Will the baby be able to find it and fix it? And then switch places: the child builds with an error, and you correct it.
Games with construction kits: higher, bigger, longer...
Games with constructors and building sets will help your child learn a lot of knowledge. You can come up with many similar tasks during the game.
1.5-3 years
Learning colors. By playing with colorful pieces, your baby will easily begin to distinguish primary colors. The mother’s task is to tell the young builder this or that color more often: “Let’s make the roof of the house red. Look, it's a blue cube! And now you took the yellow one.”
High and low. Build towers of different heights with your child. Place toys on the roof of each turret. At the same time, say: “Here is a high turret, and here is a low one. Let's build a tower higher than this! Which tower is taller? Which one is lower? Who lives in a high tower? Who’s in the low one?”
Which is longer? In a similar way, you can master the concepts of “short” and “long”. To do this, we will lay out paths of different lengths from cubes. “Let the car drive along a long path. And now – for a short story!”
4-5 years
What kind of figurine? When looking at cubes, cones and other figures, draw your child’s attention to their properties. What is the name of the figure, where are its vertices, where are its edges, what does it look like, etc.
Magic bag. Place several different shapes from a building set (cube, brick, cone, cylinder, etc.) into an opaque bag or bag. Let the baby take one figurine at a time and try to determine by touch what it is.
Games with construction kits: down with frames!
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Cubes, bricks, and other parts of construction sets can become “participants” not only in construction games.
Counting tables. Designer parts are convenient to use as counting material. For example, you can count the pieces, and also solve examples with them on addition and subtraction (“there were three, put two more, how many?”), ask the child to lay out the same number of pieces as are already on the table, etc.
Outlines. Cubes, cylinders, bricks - what not stencils! Invite your child to first circle them, then shade them. Or turn them into funny little people by adding eyes, noses, arms, and legs. This activity develops little fingers and prepares them for writing.
Sweets. Small details can play the role of doll food: candy, cookies, etc. The kid can put them on plates and serve a “tea party”. They are also fun to load into the back of a truck and move around the room.
When working with your baby, do not forget about the most important thing: - these are not only “developmental” and “training” toys, but simply exciting toys that can give the whole family many hours of wonderful games. Have fun playing!
Children's construction sets are one of the leaders in popularity among small and large children. Construction sets for children do not become obsolete, are constantly being improved and always meet the requirements of the time. There are many of them: simple and complex, designed for different ages, gender of the child, interests and preferences. The range is so wide that it is not easy for an uninitiated person to choose what suits his child.
The simplest children's construction set is soft or hard cubes, designed for babies under 1 year old. It’s clear that you can’t build any interesting buildings from cubes, but this is absolutely of no use to the little one. It is important for a small child to become familiar with objects, colors and shapes, touch them and taste them. Therefore, particularly stringent requirements have always been placed on the quality of simple construction sets.
When the baby grows up a little, the cubes will be replaced by the simplest block construction set, consisting of large parts that are fastened together. These sets are made of plastic. This simple construction set will develop your baby's motor skills and thinking. First, the mother will have to work with the child to show how to build a toy house. As the child grows, he will play independently.
The older the child, the more complex the construction set. Complex sets contain a lot of small parts and can provide long hours of exciting leisure time not only for a child, but also for older family members.
Wooden construction sets
The simplest wooden construction set for children under 3 years old is a set of cubes, cones and building blocks. This is a variant well known to all adults from their childhood. It develops imagination, motor skills and abstract thinking. The toy will also be interesting for children under 5 years old.
For older children, more complex and interesting educational construction sets made of wood are available for sale. Wooden construction sets are often perceived as a game for boys. Many kits invite you to work with your hands and build something useful and interesting. For example, burning parts, assembling models of a car or train. Many kids will love the wooden “children’s house” construction set for children under 3 years old. Such toys allow you to build houses, castles and entire villages.
Plastic construction sets
Unlike wooden ones, plastic construction sets contain colored parts of different shapes. Among them it is easy to find ones that contain large parts and are suitable for babies of 1 year.
Many models are designed for older children, and the themes are designed for both boys and girls. Such games for children can really captivate them for a long time.
Metal constructors
Metal construction sets can easily be classified as classics. Today, such toy models are produced by both unknown Chinese manufacturers and more expensive domestic, European or American ones (“Samodelkin”, “Meccano”).
There is no need to skimp when choosing a metal construction set. In cheap kits, the parts are made of such thin metal that a child will not be able to assemble it according to the diagram. Therefore, in order to avoid disappointment and unnecessary expenses, it is better not to save.
Types of constructors
Let's look at the most popular construction toys.
Cubes
Kids need simple toys. For children from 6 months to 3 years old, a construction set made from cubes is perfect. Cubes can be different - wooden, plastic, made of fabric. At an early age, they can be touched, chewed, stacked in a row, placed one on top of the other. Older children will be able to build towers, houses and castles.
Cubes are an indispensable toy at all times, allowing you to develop your baby’s motor skills and imagination, and introduce him to color.
Construction kits
Construction kits allow you to conduct exciting educational activities with children from 3 years old. It is advisable to buy a toy that will contain bricks, cubes, parts for the roof, bars and plates. This construction set will keep your baby interested for longer.
A four-year-old child will need a construction set to build a tower or a fence, and a 5-year-old child will be able to build a playground or a complex castle.
Floor constructor
One of the varieties of children's construction sets are children's floor puzzles in the form of a rug or mosaic. You can only play with them on the floor due to the large size of the parts.
Floor puzzles have the following advantages:
- the parts are large, so even kids can fold them;
- develop accuracy and attentiveness, perseverance;
- presented in a wide range;
- they can be used as a warm play mat in a children's room.
Thematic sets
Thematic sets are presented for every age and taste of the child. You can use them to build a house, a car, a zoo, a robot, space aliens and much more. Such toys allow you to play out various situations, develop fantasy and imagination.
The famous Lego is the leader in the production of educational construction sets for children. Of course, there are many analogues that look like Lego and are even compatible with it. But the strength of structures made from cheap parts is still noticeably inferior. Mega Blocks (Canada) and Unico (Italy) have decent quality.
The Lego Duplo series is intended for the youngest buyers. Its big advantage is its large bright details and interesting plots, which make Lego Duplo attractive for children from 2 years old. Among the construction sets for children, there is a separate construction game for boys or girls, but basically they are universal. You can buy not only thematic, but also universal “Duplo” sets.
For older children, the “City” and “Friends” series have been created. New items in these lines come out almost every quarter, and it’s not difficult to find something exciting and suitable for any child. There are sets on the themes of Ninja Turtles, Star Wars, etc. Such games are suitable for children over 4 years old and preferably under adult supervision, since the designer of these series contains many small parts.
An older child will be interested in the “Technician” series. Age category: 6 years and older. A preschooler will also love this game, but he won’t be able to do it without the help of his parents and older brothers and sisters. These sets are not easy, you will have to rack your brain before assembling them. To be fair, it should be noted that such toys contain clear and accessible instructions, but still these construction sets are not worth buying for your child.
The Bionicle series allows you to build a variety of robots and their enemies. It is better to purchase it for schoolchildren or assemble the toy with your child.
For children over 9 years old, Lego has released a new series - Architecture, which allows you to reproduce an exact copy of the masterpieces of world architecture.
Block constructors
Block constructors come in different varieties and are designed for any age. Both a one-year-old toddler and a more “advanced” builder can assemble them. For younger users, the fastenings of the blocks are the simplest, and the parts of the sets for older children are held together more tightly.
Most often, in addition to blocks, a block designer set includes various minifigures of animals, people, and cars. Such toys can be universal, that is, they can be used to build anything that a child’s imagination can handle, and they can be themed.
Among the thematic ones, it is worth noting the “Children’s Playground” construction kits for children. As a rule, it is interesting for children, because everyone loves to walk in the yard. And such sets allow you to recreate a smaller copy of the one outside the window.
Bolt-on constructors
A child of senior preschool and primary school age will love a construction set with bolted connections. Such toys are produced from both metal and plastic. These kits allow you to develop your engineering ingenuity and build many interesting models.
Magnetic
Magnetic construction sets are very popular today. The most famous manufacturers are Magnetik, Smartmax, Magformers. This is an exciting toy, but when purchasing it, for safety reasons, preference should be given to proven, even more expensive, manufacturers. Before purchasing, you should make sure that the certificates are available.
Magformers is suitable for children aged 2 years and older. There are series that are universal or intended only for boys or girls. We can note the high quality of this toy - the magnets are built in so tightly that the baby will not be able to reach them.
Magformers allows you to:
- study colors and shapes, geometric figures;
- build various volumetric structures;
- play on a flat surface;
- build diagrams and stretch them into a three-dimensional structure.
The instructions are simple and accessible, containing many diagrams.
Electronic
Electronic construction kits will be of interest to young physicists and chemists. With their help, you can clearly explain natural laws to a young researcher, show the structure of instruments, and teach you how to assemble an electrical circuit. It will be very difficult for a child to cope without an adult. But how many interesting minutes you can live in the same breath with your child!
Curvilinear
Curvilinear construction sets consist of bendable tubes. You can make different shapes out of them, which can be bent, crumpled, and they don’t break.
Soft
Soft construction toys are figures made of synthetic material with soft filling. They are used for kindergartens and playrooms. Upholstered modules include frameless furniture, sports and gaming figures.
Preschool children are very actively exploring everything that surrounds them. By manipulating various objects, the child learns the laws of the world around him. The items can be anything: from soft toys to mother’s cosmetics. For full development, it is important that these objects provide as varied an experience as possible. After all, any impression at this age has a huge impact on the intellectual and emotional life of the child.
What are the benefits of construction sets for children?
Construction set is a children's game known to everyone. Boys and girls love the designer, and stores offer many versions of this game. Why is a construction set so good for a child’s development?
The main charm of the designer is that only spatial laws apply when playing. The child is free to build anything and anywhere. Even if a castle is drawn on the box of parts, children can easily turn it into a ship or car.
The designer develops thinking
In different types of construction sets, parts are fastened in different ways. Therefore, when playing with construction sets, the child is forced to perform various mental operations. The greater their number, the greater the training given to thinking.
By collecting the details, children immediately receive an answer as to whether they are doing the right or wrong actions. The parts either attach to each other or they don't. The building either continues to stand or falls. Adult assistance is not required in this game. The game itself shows the child whether he has chosen the right path. Designers made from cubes or bricks are good in this regard. They are suitable for the youngest children, but are not inferior to plastic construction sets in activating children's thinking.
Game with movement
The designer satisfies the child's need for movement. When playing on the floor or carpet, children crawl and move around the structure to look at it from all sides. You shouldn't end the game at this stage. Disassembling the building and putting the parts into a box is also an element of the game. The child will have to be attentive and use fine motor skills.
The designer teaches how to communicate
Assembling a construction set gives you the opportunity to interact with other people. Adults can show their building, boast about its height, or tell who lives in it. Children willingly assemble construction sets with their peers. The game can become story-driven and filled with communication: you can put together two houses for animals that will visit each other, or two fortresses between which there is a battle for adjacent lands. If your child shows you something he has collected, be sure to ask him about it in as much detail as possible. The child’s imagination will instantly draw answers to your questions, and sincere interest will be very pleasant for the little builder.
If our arguments convince you, then you can buy Legos and play with your child. This is not only a fun way to spend time together, but also a useful activity for any age. Try to make some kind of figure without looking at the picture. Many people are so keen on Legos and the like that they become fans of them, buying new series and types. This game does not get boring, does not become outdated. It is interesting to play both by yourself and with friends or with adults.
Give your child a useful toy!
LEGO constructors are the most popular toy in the world, not only among children, but also among adults. Among the educational toys for children, it is the construction set LEGO occupies a special place. It can be used almost from birth, when the baby is just beginning to master shapes, colors, and sizes. The age limits for the game are endless. The editors of the site will tell you what the LEGO phenomenon is and how to develop thinking with the help of a designer.
Sometimes the parents themselves, who gave the construction set to their child, study the instructions with interest and excitement, sparing no time in assembling this or that structure. For preschoolers and schoolchildren, the construction set becomes a real means of development and learning. With the help of the designer, a variety of tasks can be easily and effectively implemented.
Whichbenefits of LEGO constructors for children?
Scientists have concluded that LEGO promotes the development of motor skills and fine motor skills. To connect small parts with each other, the fingers will have to work hard, which will bring great benefits to the baby. Any design involves a variety of manual manipulations. A one-year-old baby learns to build a pyramid from blocks, training the coordination and dexterity of little fingers. A six-year-old child builds quite complex structures from parts of different shapes and sizes. All this requires active hand work. The development of fine motor skills is directly related to the development of thinking and speech.
With the help of the designer, the child’s speech is improved. Let's take an ordinary set of parts from which you can build, for example, a house. Thanks to the participation of an adult, the child learns new words (shapes, names of building materials, parts) and their characteristics. He learns to correctly apply concepts in speech, compose sentences or a story.
LEGO perfectly develops the structural and logical thinking necessary for building three-dimensional structures and understanding the diagram attached to the construction set. Assembling parts into a whole requires complex mental activity. To get a logically correctly completed work, you need to think carefully. The colors in which the parts are painted are specially selected taking into account how children perceive the world.
By assembling a construction set, a child learns to be attentive and patient, to calmly experience failures and be persistent on the way to the goal, even if it is as seemingly modest as a small house made of bright details. In this way, he develops self-discipline and self-organization, which allows him to acquire qualities during the game that will be useful in the future. Only by carefully studying the instructions can you assemble the model correctly. Sometimes even a slight deviation from the task can ruin the entire plan. Often a child has to redo, correct, or correct an already assembled structure.
In addition, this game brings invaluable benefits to the creative thinking of the baby. It is necessary to constantly think about the next step, calculate all possible combinations and choose the most successful ones, analyze which step will be the best. The great advantage of the LEGO constructor is the ability to assemble it to your liking, not limited to the forms proposed by the creators. The parts of different sets are combined with each other, which gives unlimited scope for imagination.
The designer develops imagination. From LEGO parts you can assemble your own unique creation: a house for a bear, a garage for a car, an extraordinary bridge. Coming up with something new from the same type of cubes, bricks, logs is so interesting.
The safety of LEGO construction sets lies not only in the absence of sharp corners, but also in the complete environmental friendliness of the parts. All toys are assembled at the factory without the use of glue, which can easily poison a child by inhaling it too much or by “tasting” the part.
As already noted, LEGO plays an important role in the development of a child. This fact has been proven by many scientists. Based on the results of research and observations, scientists concluded that assembling construction sets has a positive effect on the child, even more than drawing and modeling from plasticine. This is due to the fact that when drawing and playing with plasticine, the result of a child’s labors is not always successful. But when playing with this construction set, children always end up with something whole and beautiful. Thanks to the shapes and colors of the construction set, no matter how the child assembles the parts, he will always end up with something similar to real objects. Achieving good results during assembly builds self-confidence and even leadership qualities in young children.
Child psychologists have proven that a person who was deprived of imaginative games in childhood subsequently manifests an inability to adequately perceive the world around him and a mental defect. LEGO reduces the likelihood of such problems to zero.
There are hardly many toys in the world that can bring so many benefits at once. But children play not because it is useful, but because it is interesting. And we can say without a doubt that LEGO is one of the most exciting games ever created by man.
No wonder this brand has received a huge number of prizes and awards as one of the best and most important inventions of the 20th century. A child needs such a construction set no less than books, various educational programs and clubs.
If your child doesn’t have one yet, you definitely need to buy a LEGO construction set, choosing one that is appropriate for the child’s age and preferences:
From one year to 3 years. For this age group of children, they came up with a LEGO series called Duplo. The construction parts are larger to make them easier for kids to handle and to minimize the possibility of swallowing. Of course, in any case, parents need to be close to the child during the game.
From 3 to 7 years. These are ordinary LEGO construction sets with smaller parts from which you can build anything.
From 7 years and older. Sets in this category include a larger number of parts and are characterized by a high complexity of assembled objects. Some models of equipment even have a remote control, which is loved by many children.
Legotherapy
Currently, Lego therapy is considered successful, along with traditional psychological and educational therapies for children and adolescents suffering from hyperactivity, attention deficit disorder, and autism. The difference between regular play and therapy is that the game is aimed at improving precisely those qualities of the child with which there are difficulties. For example: a restless child should try himself as a calm construction manager, and a child prone to autism should try himself as an engineer, where a lot of communication is required.
Speech therapists note that when using the constructor in certain techniques, many children get rid of stuttering.
I would also like to note the following point: in the age of universal computerization, LEGO teaches children to create independently with their hands, without the help of given computer programs. And the sooner parents and teachers draw children’s attention to this exciting game, the less the risk of becoming dependent on the monitor, which is now causing serious concern.
