December 18, 2011

Lego Kindergarten

The Lego brand has been around it seems like forever, and for some of us this is true. The creator of the Lego brand, Ole Kirk Christiansen created the Lego brand in 1934 by utilizing the Danish words LEG GODT and taking just the first two letters from each to come up with Lego. The reason he chose these words is because they mean "play well". However, what he didn't know is that one of the meanings of these words in Latin is "I put together". How ironic is it that two different languages have such perfect descriptions of the Lego brand in those two words?

We all know how well loved the Lego toys are and how much fun every child of every age has when they sit down to create with these building blocks. However, many parents had come to the conclusion that these toys just weren't suitable for their preschool aged children. Some of the pieces could cause a choking hazard. What's more, children of this age don't have the dexterity to handle some of the smaller building blocks. As you can imagine, this could cause quite the scene with a small child that is looking to have fun playing and creating while at the same time can't quite maneuver the pieces in the manner he is so desperately trying.

Have no fear because the ever inventive minds at the Lego brand had an idea in mind. Late in the 1960's they decided to start tailoring their building blocks to age groups instead of just to children in general. This brought about the Lego Duplo building blocks that were targeted at the youngest group of kids. This new invention consisted of building blocks that were twice as high, wide and long as the original blocks, thus making them much easier for tiny hands to handle.

Since the invention of the Duplo brand, they have not only come up with the "loose" bricks idea for smaller hands, but they have expanded it to include definite play themes. Now children not only have a bucket of Legos that will allow them to let their imaginations roam and build whatever comes to mind, they can now build certain items within each set such as a train, castle or airport.

What's more, since this type of building blocks are geared towards the preschool age child, ages 2 - 6, they are constructed in such a way that no small pieces can come loose and present a choking hazard. As you can see, Lego has something for virtually everyone, and their ever inventive minds are constantly at work coming up with new ideas to ensure young and old alike always have options for educational fun!