How to Add Learning to Super Hero LEGO Play
This week is Super Hero LEGO week at Inspiration Laboratories. I’ll be sharing fun ideas for playing and learning with Super Hero LEGO all week! I’ll start by talking about the two new sets LEGO sent us and then I’ll share how we add learning to our Super Hero LEGO play.
LEGO® Super Heroes Products
LEGO has three different age-appropriate super hero product lines. Start with DUPLO at age 1 1/2. They are double the size of regular LEGO bricks but they are still compatible. As your child grows, you can build with DUPLO and regular LEGO together. LEGO® JUNIORS is the next stage. It’s designed for kids 4 and older. It uses regular LEGO bricks but there are quick start elements like walls that help kids feel success with building faster. See our review of one of the LEGO® JUNIORS sets here. The LEGO® Super Heroes sets are designed for ages 5+. These are your standard LEGO that bring characters to life and inspire pretend play. Which super hero is your child’s favorite?
Check out all of the LEGO super hero sets here.
DUPLO Super Heroes
We received the DUPLO Batman Adventures set and the LEGO® Super Heroes: DC UNIVERSE™: The Batboat Harbor Pursuit.
The DUPLO set comes in the box below and has Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.
Aiden (age 6) followed the directions and built the set for his sister, Lily (20 months).
Batman has a boat, Wonder Woman has a bike, and of course there’s a cat to rescue. I love the size of the DUPLO figures. They are perfect for little hands to use in pretend play.
What I love most about DUPLO is that Aiden and Lily can play together. The pieces are large enough for Lily but still interesting enough for Aiden.
LEGO Super Heroes
The LEGO set has Batman and Robin as well as a bad guy.
I suggest following the age recommendations from LEGO. The LEGO® JUNIORS sets have been very easy for Aiden to put together on his own. Regular LEGO sets are variable. Sometimes Aiden needs help figuring out how to add a piece or two. Most of the time, this is because he skips a page. Aiden and his dad love to build the more difficult (older age) LEGO sets together. Aiden does most of the building but his dad is right there to double check that everything has gone together as it should. This makes it easier than problem shooting what went wrong later. The Batboat set was perfect for Aiden. He worked through building it on his own. His dad was right there watching and assisting if Aiden asked, but he didn’t need the help for this set.
After the set was built, Aiden and his dad got to playing. Deathstroke, the bad guy, stole some diamonds and is escaping by boat. Batman and Robin are in pursuit. They launch a missile.
Deathstroke is hit and his box of diamonds flies open. The diamonds fall into the water.
Batman and Robin save the day!
How to Add in Learning to the Super Hero LEGO Play
- Instead of diamonds, have the bad guy steal letters or words. When Batman and Robin capture him, they read the words and return them to the correct location. For example, all of the -at words would go to the -at word vault and the -am words would go to the -am word vault.
- The bad guy can also steal math facts or equations. Batman and Robin would need to solve the equation to return it to the correct number vault. For example 5-3 would go to the 2 vault and 10+5 would go to the 15 vault. (See this number vaults game in action here.)
- Missile science or target practice – measure how far the missiles travel each time. Are they consistent? Can you place a target a certain distance away and then hit it?
Stay tuned for more ways to add learning to the DUPLO super heroes. See all of our Super Hero LEGO week ideas here.
What other ideas do you have for adding learning to these LEGO sets?
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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