# Have Lego kits ruined kids imagination wrt Legos? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 13, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535 "2011-03-13T14:01:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/41 "2011-03-14T11:45:44Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Yep. I remember it like you do; I had a kick ass airport/jet kit in the mid-80s and there were tons of other kits like that then. And when I wanted to buy generic buckets of legos for my brother during the early 90s, I had to look pretty darn hard for them since they were already almost exclusively themed kits. I am so jealous. I always wanted the airport/jet kit. But anway, I was in Target last night and I specifically looked at the Lego aisle for this thread. There were a ton of kits, but there were also three different brick buckets. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/42 "2011-03-14T16:13:32Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > My kid usually builds the kit once, then disassembles it and throws all the pieces into the giant Lego bin with the rest of the Legos. Then he uses them to build all kinds of crazy stuff. So at least in this household, no, it does not seem to be affecting creative play. Fang does this as well. He gets the kit, spends a couple of hours building it by the directions, then disassembles it and tosses everything into his Lego bins. I’ll go by his room a couple days later, and see a massive ship for his Clones and more specialized droids (this one has _this_ for shooting fire) for them to battle. Being the good parent that I am, I tell him he’ll need to clean it all up before bedtime. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/43 "2011-03-14T16:29:02Z")
I despise Lego kits. There’s a Lego store in a local mall. The side aisles are filled with kits (meh), but the end wall, the tabernacle, the holy of holies, is floor-to ceiling drawers of context-free, imagination-tempting lego pieces. Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/44 "2011-03-14T17:37:18Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Why is it that some people think imagination and creativity are not innate human qualities, but are somehow the product of having fewer resources or less well developed technologies? It just seems like no matter what the advance or development, someone will always point to it saying “these kids today have no imagination!” > > Isn’t it more likely that imaginative kids will always find something imaginative to do with any given thing, and other kids will not? I agree with this. I could never figure out what to build with Legos. I would probably have been happy to have a Lego kit to build when I was growing up. I’m good at following instructions and assembling pieces, but I could never imagine how to make something without a plan. Some people just have it, and some don’t. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/45 "2011-03-14T18:16:54Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > These kits come with custom molded pieces that are specific to the kits. Tons of angles and lots of wheels. Curved molded pieces to make round areas of aliens and whatnot. That’s not my experience. There are very few set-specific pieces. The sets re-use these pieces over and over again and not only in the same series. Pieces that seem specific are actually quite versatile. > [@Cubsfan](#): > > Are Legos as we knew them dead? Lego has a [Creator series](http://creator.lego.com/en-us/Default.aspx) that are what you want. Buy these for your kids or buy the cheap knock-offs; these tend to be generic. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/46 "2011-03-14T18:29:37Z")
> [@straight\_man](#): > > Has there ever been a Lego fez? 🙂 Yes - Oriental Adventures & Indiana Jones Lego sets had minifigs with fezes: [example](http://legoindianajones.wikia.com/wiki/Venice_Canal_Chase) Me, I love sets. And they’ve done nothing to ruin my kid’s imagination - even the IMO overly-specialized Bionicles get their parts used in other things. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/47 "2011-03-14T18:41:53Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > My kid usually builds the kit once, then disassembles it and throws all the pieces into the giant Lego bin with the rest of the Legos. Then he uses them to build all kinds of crazy stuff. So at least in this household, no, it does not seem to be affecting creative play. That’s what my girl does as well. Also, the Lego game Creationary is awesome for forcing creativity. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/48 "2011-03-14T18:46:18Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Oh, man. If Whatsit Jr. got Hogwarts Castle, he would just _die_. That’s great, **dangermom**! I _know_! She is totally going to die. It’s going to be great! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![xoferew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/e9a140/32.png) [@xoferew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xoferew)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/49 "2011-03-14T23:36:08Z")
I had a kid in my preschool class who would get his parents to buy him complex lego kits and then he would have his nanny assemble them for him. At school he would stare at the legos and keep asking teachers and other kids to build him something. At the conference we suggested to his parents that they buy him simpler kits that he could actually put together at least partly by himself. They seemed baffled. “But he likes the realistic aircraft carrier! He keeps it on his dresser!” So in other words he didn’t even play with it after it was built for him. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/50 "2011-03-14T23:40:53Z")
> [@straight\_man](#): > > I’m pretty sure that’s just a set that someone has cobbled together. Your best bet is assembling the pieces one by one — just find stuff that works. Has there ever been a Lego fez? 🙂 You didn’t actually click on that second link, did you? ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/51 "2011-03-14T23:43:03Z")
I always envied kids with leggos. I was a kid in the late 60s / early 70s and I don’t remember them being around, all I ever got was Tinker Toys and \ Lincoln Logs ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/52 "2011-03-15T01:47:31Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Whatsit Jr. built a TARDIS once. Cool, my kid too. 🙂 And the Doctor has been having adventures where he’s confronted by Darth Vader, pirates, skeletons… and guys with weird \*anime \*hair. 😃 (He’s a big Doctor Who fan). OP: Nah… my kid’s got a cubic butt-load of Lego (his parents were addicts before he was born) and little of it stays in original kit form. What he wants to play tends to be more influenced by movies, TV, books, and the Lego then gets reformed to support that. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/53 "2011-03-15T02:07:57Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You didn’t actually click on that second link, did you? In fact, yes, I did. What am I missing? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/54 "2011-03-15T05:31:54Z")
> [@straight\_man](#): > > In fact, yes, I did. What am I missing? 😕 Sorry, looks like I’m the one who missed something - I assumed that, since it was being sold through Amazon, it was an official Lego set. I didn’t look too closely at the listing. You’re right, though, it appears to be a home-made lego figure. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/55 "2011-03-16T11:20:38Z")
Oh God no. It’s been about 15 years since I played with Legos, but having them come in kits didn’t reduce the imagination of myself or my friends. First of all, even with the legos assembled into their intended form, we still made up all sorts of adventures for our lego men to have with their spaceships and castles. Secondly, we still invented all sorts of creations of our own to supplement things we built to the instructions that came in the box. Man, legos freaking rule. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/56 "2011-03-16T14:39:35Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > My kid usually builds the kit once, then disassembles it and throws all the pieces into the giant Lego bin with the rest of the Legos. Then he uses them to build all kinds of crazy stuff. So at least in this household, no, it does not seem to be affecting creative play. My son is the same, and he makes some pretty impressive stuff IMO. He made a cool working catapult that I found this morning when I stepped on it in my bare feet. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/57 "2011-03-16T17:39:52Z")
I remember the kits back in the day (mid 70s) - and looking at them and going ‘not enough wheels’ - I actively remember looking at the ‘pro models’ things they had at the time - and thinking the pieces were too specialized. me, I built elaborate homes and 18 wheelers. My kingdom for more doors! Kits today arre cool - but I do think they tend to be too specialized and ‘collectable’ - but anything that gets kids building stuff with thier hands and working thru puzzles is a good thing. Like an earlier poster - there is not a piece of furniture I cannot build out of a flat box. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_John\_de\_Pebble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Sir\_John\_de\_Pebble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_John_de_Pebble)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/58 "2011-03-16T19:54:42Z")
I can add to the pile-on saying _no_: I’m a 30-something who just recently rediscovered Lego after neglecting it for two decades. I used to be terrible at building without the kits, but now it’s pretty much all I do. If I get a new set, I will build it once and rip it apart after a couple of hours. My five-year-old does the same thing, incidentally. If you want to walk the line between sets and free build, you could also encourage a tot to build the set (or a portion of it) without looking at the directions. Voila, creative thinking. > [@dangermom](#): > > Last night my husband and I went birthday shopping for our younger daughter, who is the family Lego addict. (You can see her rock band [here](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_vBMG0kK63HI/TX0oWcTjY4I/AAAAAAAAC9A/2nap3ZgVpow/s576/P3190110.JPG) and [here](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_vBMG0kK63HI/TX0oYKD4ZuI/AAAAAAAAC9E/bzS8-cQkeMg/s640/P3190112.JPG), though how she knew Chewbacca would be the best bouncer I do not know.) I’ve spent the last year exploring the internet for Lego creations, and have seen all sorts of brilliant stuff done with the Star Wars minifigs. I think that rock band is my new favorite–the trooper with the mic just cracks me up. I hope she loves Hogwarts! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/59 "2011-03-16T20:03:03Z")
I don’t think Legos sets ruins imaginatoion. You can always build other things out of them. You know what ruined imagination? **Colorforms** When i was a kid, you bought Colorforms sets that featured colored vinyl cutouts of licensed characters and a laminated or glossy background you could place them on. Since the characters couldn’t be moved around except transversely (it always had to face the same way, unless you wanted it upside-down), you were severely limited in what scenes you could make. Licensed Colorforms Set: [http://www.collecttoys.net/Colorforms/colorforms.php](http://www.collecttoys.net/Colorforms/colorforms.php) It wasn’t until about a decade ago that I learned that the _original_ Colorforms set was a much more general and generic set of pieces, mostly simple brightly colored geometric shapes: > **[Amazon.com: The Original Classic Colorforms - Fun Retro Re-stickable Vinyl...](https://www.amazon.com/Colorforms-Retro-The-Original-Set/dp/B000BNEODU)** > > Product Description The award-winning kit that started it all. The Retro Original Colorforms Set is just like the set that launched our brand in 1951. In the set is 350 brightly-colored geometric stick-ons in 5 different colors with a... > **[Amazon.com: The Original Classic Colorforms - Fun Retro Re-stickable Vinyl...](https://www.amazon.com/Colorforms-Retro-The-Original-Set/dp/B000BNEODU)** > > Product Description The award-winning kit that started it all. The Retro Original Colorforms Set is just like the set that launched our brand in 1951. In the set is 350 brightly-colored geometric stick-ons in 5 different colors with a... [http://www.liveandlearn.com/shop/colorforms/colorforms-classic-original-edition/](http://www.liveandlearn.com/shop/colorforms/colorforms-classic-original-edition/) > **[Colorforms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorforms)** > > Colorforms is a creative toy named for the simple shapes and forms cut from colored vinyl sheeting that cling to a smooth backing surface without adhesives. These pieces are used to create picture graphics and designs, which can then be changed countless times by repositioning the removable color forms. The name also refers to the specific registered trademark brand these products are produced under, as well as the company that manufactures the toys, Colorforms Brand, LLC. > Sets initially feature... You could combine red circles with blue rdctangles and yellow stripes to make _anything_, instead of having a monocolored Fred Flintstone Always Facing Right [http://www.collecttoys.net/Colorforms/flintstones.php](http://www.collecttoys.net/Colorforms/flintstones.php) Or Cartoon Ringo always behind the drums looking the same way: [http://www.collecttoys.net/Colorforms/beatles.php](http://www.collecttoys.net/Colorforms/beatles.php) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535/60 "2011-03-16T20:33:52Z")
I think pretty much all the lego in my collection is second hand anyway - I bought it in charity shops and on eBay - it’s got a very wide assortment of traditional pieces, plus parts of modern kits - we shouldn’t, in this thread, neglect the fact that Lego is durable enough to be handed down generation after generation - so today’s kids get to play with traditional Lego, if their parents care to supply it. One of the things I like best about second hand lego is picking through it to see what’s in there that _isn’t_ Lego. There’s always a sprinkling of marbles, other small plastic toys, bits of K’Nex, etc mixed in - it almost tells a little story about the original owner. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-lego-kits-ruined-kids-imagination-wrt-legos/574535.md?page=2)