An important part of a child’s development is play. Playing allows your child to develop their bodies while being an opportunity for them to learn new skills and develop an interest. One of the most effective ways of learning through playing is through the use of toys.
There is a myriad of toys you can have your child play with that can help develop their bodies and minds. One of the best toys that can help enrich your child’s growth and development are building blocks from Lego. Legos are simple toys that allow anyone to build something from their imagination. For children, this allows them to explore and develop skills through playing with them.
Let’s go over how does playing with Lego help enrich your child’s growth and development.
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Contents
A Cheap but Effective Hands-On Learning Experience
One of the main reasons why Lego is not only very educational but also extremely fun is that it is a very hands-on experience. The learning opportunities a child can have aren’t limited by any means but most of them are usually aren’t as hands-on as Legos or are too expensive for most families to afford.
There are a great number of learning opportunities that a child can experience with Lego as they get to decide how to use the blocks, learn how to create things, distinguish between different block colors and many other things. Legos can serve as a gateway to several skills and knowledge your child can learn.
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Introduces Planning and Following Instructions
One way that Lego helps promote your child’s development is through instructions they provide with Lego sets. Several Lego playsets come with instructions that help guide a child in building something out of Lego blocks. This helps your child become familiar with following instructions. Additionally, it also helps them become familiar with the prospect of planning things.
Children can also be allowed to learn from their failures as they have the opportunity to rebuild and fix any problems they encountered on the last thing they were trying to build.
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Problem Solving and Lateral Thinking
Two skills that a child can develop while playing with Legos is the skill of problem-solving and lateral thinking. This goes hand in hand with the previous entry of planning and following instructions. Playing with Legos allows your child to learn and understand that actions are also required to make an idea a reality.
The construction of Lego buildings allows your child to exercise their problem-solving capabilities as they try to find and fit the right block to match the shape found in the instructions or their minds. It also promotes lateral thinking as they have to find different ways to accomplish something if their previous attempts ended up in failure or if they want better results. If they’re playing with other children, it can also help them develop the ability to learn from other’s perspectives and appreciate different viewpoints aside from their own.
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Allows Children to Practice Creativity
A core skill that Legos can help develop is one’s creativity. Legos allow children to explore their creative side without limits. The different things you can potentially build from Lego blocks allow your child to express themselves without strict restrictions. This is further supplemented with different Lego playsets that give them parts that allow them to recreate things they’ve seen in real life like tourist attractions or even things they see in movies.
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Promotes Spatial Awareness
The last thing that Legos allow your child to develop and help enrich their growth is the development of spatial awareness. This allows them to have and develop the skill of thinking and visualizing 3D shapes rather than flat 2D shapes that most children are familiar with. This plays into the creative aspects as it helps them become more creative with the Lego creations.
