My six-year-old granddaughter loves Lego and has for a couple of years. Me, I'm a new Lego believer. I grew up with Meccano: green-painted steel, brass pulleys and lots of small screws and little bolts.
So many toys are fun but at their core they are but a way to waste time. Lego is different. I watch as the little girl tackles the construction of a carnival ride. It's complex and intricate. It demands attention to detail while encouraging planning and patience and careful adherence to instruction. She works through the illustrated book slowly, insuring that the assembled piece is correct at each stage along the way. She does not want to find herself ripping apart her finished work.
A few months back, the city had a freshly laid road ripped up. Why? It was discovered that there were errors made in laying down the base layers. On the good side, the construction company accepted responsibility. The repair cost the city nothing.
But this was a mistake that my granddaughter is being trained to catch and to catch during construction and not after the final asphalt has been laid.
My wife and I had a young boy living with us for awhile. This was some years ago. He loved playing SIM City on my early Macintosh computer. He outgrew the computer game but he didn't outgrow his interest in cities. Today he cares greatly about the neighbourhood in which he lives.
Toys don't have to be time wasters.
1 comment:
I grew up with lego too, though it's become more intricate over the years, from what I've seen in stores.
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