Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Why LEGO is the Best Toy for Kids

From big, toddler friendly DUPLO block towers to the intricately designed pirate ships and race cars of regular LEGO sets, the super-cool LEGO brand of construction blocks has been a timeless favorite of kids and kids-at-heart for over fifty years. 

Tots and teens and everyone in between have spent happy hours building cities, playgrounds, spaceships and castles to house enchanting miniscule astronauts, knights and Harry Potter characters, creating unforgettable imaginary worlds. 

Whether sprawled on the living room floor on a rainy day or taking a happy construction break with pals at summer day camp, kids around the world have enjoyed decades of building bliss and imaginary adventures with these incredible toys.

Fine Motor Skills
While they’re absorbed in the kinds of creative play that experts adore, totally unconnected to their various techie screens, kids are developing the fine motor skills and dexterity that will serve them well in everything from academics to art. 

From the moment your two-year-old first gets the red and blue DUPLO blocks to connect to the day your pre-teen actually completes his treasured Harry Potter castle, kids are improving these all-important skills while having a building blast. 

As anyone who has built a LEGO Star Wars spaceship can attest, it’s not easy to figure out how to build these intricate buildings and vehicles. Kids have the option of following enclosed instructions, much as an engineer would follow a blueprint, or they can strike out on their own, designing and building boats, skyscrapers, Ferris wheels and wagon trains of their own. They can plan, design and figure out how to build endless, delightfully detailed little worlds.

Amazing for Academics
Kids who play with building blocks and other construction toys are also hard at work developing creative problem solving talents, spatial skills and mathematical abilities. 

Once your little one decides he simply must modify his LEGO pirate ship to add a mast or a few canons, he has to figure out the design and how to make it work effectively, an absorbing, sometimes frustrating and (hopefully) ultimately rewarding task. 

She learns to be persistent and think outside the box (literally), skills that translate well into the academic world. The design and construction process itself is of course a super and fun-filled way to build on working with shapes, configurations and measurements.

Endless Creativity
Particular in today’s digital age, when kids spend hours glued to computers, televisions and smart phones, LEGO toys have managed to survive and thrive with their timeless appeal to the creative creature that lurks somewhere in all of us. 

Whether your youngster wants to build a whole town of his own design or follow the steps bit by bit to the perfect working robot, these inspiring toys that appeal to the child in all of us.

Wonderful World of Imagination
Whether they’re building a futuristic world of their own or re-creating the otherworldly adventures of Star Wars, kids at day camp and in playrooms around the world are exercising their imaginations in a big way when they pick up these tiny blocks and their equally tiny people. 

Anyone who has watched a child chatter away while playing with the little worlds of LEGO knows that the toy can magically transport young and old to the world of long-ago kings and castles, into the pages of a favorite novel or far out into the futuristic world beyond the stars.

Let your kids enjoy the Lego Experience at Maplewood Summer Day Camp. Experienced staff will keep your child both safe and busy with arts and crafts, games, water sports, gymnastics and more. Visit the site at http://www.maplewoodyearround.com to see the fun your child will have at Maplewood Summer Day Camp.