A few questions to start Lego journey with my son

[groovybug]

My 6 year old son really gets into his Lego lately, and I have found it so enjoyable playing Lego with him. I can see countless amount of money and time spending in the years to come. I'm trying to do some research, however would much appreciate your advice how to start with Lego on the right foot:

1. What is the best way to sort out bricks? I can see many experienced builders sort bricks by colour. But is this also the best way for beginners? We are not seasoned MOC builders. We are starting with a dozen small/medium sets, he likes to build it up, play for a while and then break them all up and try to make something of his own. I'm thinking sorting by brick types (standard, slope/curve, hinge/joint, jump, decorative ..) might be more helpful?

2. Related question: Are all parts available from Pick A Brick or some we can get only from buying certain sets?

3. Are things generally cheaper used? (I don't mean to talk about highly collectible sets, just common sets). There are many sets available now that we like (for example the Ninjago Movie sets). However I don't want to buy all at once for him, but afraid that once they are retired, the price might shoot up. Especially most of the current sets are available at some discount (20-30% on Amazon or Smyths). What is your advice on this?

4. Care to share some of your most favourite starting sets?

5. Any advice, experience to share for beginners, and how to help children learn all much appreciated.

Thank you!

[PeteM]

1. For a child I wouldn’t bother to sort too much - it’s only adults that need to classify and divide their collections :) Let him tip it all out on the floor and rummage through :)

2. Most common pieces are, though you won’t find older, specialised or out of production parts (the old train window for example)

3. Yes it’s cheaper used, though a higher chance of missing pieces, dirty bricks or non-Lego elements. Definitely wait for discounts on sets from the usual places - some stores do regular events like 3 for 2 that Amazon then match, Brickset.com have a good bargain watch page... Also, if you just want bricks or models, search eBay for ‘Lego “no Minifigures”’ as you can get some good deals from people who are just after the figures, especially licensed sets. 

4. Personally I love the Creator 3 in 1 builds - good variety, good brick selection, and a good jumping off point for the imagination.

5. Not yet - I’ve got a three year old and a four week old, so I’m just at the beginning of this from a POFOL (Parent Of Fan Of Lego) perspective :)

[-zenn]

1. I still don't sort out most of my bricks... I just like it when I come across pieces which gives me a new building ideas.
2. What PeteM said. ;)
3. Yes, I recommend checking out Bricklink to get sets/parts cheaper.
4. Back in the 90's as a kid I just loved to get small sets, which gave a vast variety & collection to play with.
5. Whenever my nephew (2 years old atm) is here, we build & play Duplo together. He seems to copy certain building techniques, while also let his imagination making up a story;
past week we build a 4 story building, with animals & people living in it. Suddenly he got his firetruck, some drinking straws and needed to put out the fire & help.

[Littleworlds]

I second all of the above. Do some free, fun and creative building - and you can't go wrong really! 

[chubbybots2]

Actually we do sort some bricks but mainly the basic plates and 1 x 2s, 1 x 4s, and plants/flowers as he likes to build houses :D Other than that i second what the others have mentioned ^^

[groovybug]

On 21/02/2018 at 9:56 PM, PeteM said:

1. For a child I wouldn’t bother to sort too much - it’s only adults that need to classify and divide their collections :) Let him tip it all out on the floor and rummage through :)

2. Most common pieces are, though you won’t find older, specialised or out of production parts (the old train window for example)

3. Yes it’s cheaper used, though a higher chance of missing pieces, dirty bricks or non-Lego elements. Definitely wait for discounts on sets from the usual places - some stores do regular events like 3 for 2 that Amazon then match, Brickset.com have a good bargain watch page... Also, if you just want bricks or models, search eBay for ‘Lego “no Minifigures”’ as you can get some good deals from people who are just after the figures, especially licensed sets. 

4. Personally I love the Creator 3 in 1 builds - good variety, good brick selection, and a good jumping off point for the imagination.

5. Not yet - I’ve got a three year old and a four week old, so I’m just at the beginning of this from a POFOL (Parent Of Fan Of Lego) perspective :)

 

Thank you everyone for your input.

1.I'm thinking of how to help him find pieces quickly, rather than being tidy, because sometimes it takes him a long time just to find a hinge. But I can see that being over-organised is hard to maintain for a child. I'm trying to find the right balance. Maybe just a few main categories, but not sure what those should be. 

3. Are second hand sets always cheaper though, especially when they have been retired? I can see some retired Ninjago sets being sold for higher than retail. So I'm still trying to figure out should I accumulate sets when they are still being sold (at retailers with discount), or its okay to buy them later whenever a birthday/holiday comes up. 

 

Edited February 24, 2018 by groovybug

[Littleworlds]

To 1: I think having more "exotic" pieces together can help a lot, without making things overorganized. Searching can also be a quite calming experience and can be a good exercise in patience and focusing, within reason.

2: It really depends. Some sets are quite in demand, while others get generously discounted even while still on the (virtual or physical) shelves. Generally the ones with popular minifigures stay quite stable in price and often get up on the second market. When buying new it helps to keep an eye on sites like Amazon for special offers. Especially towards the end of the products shelf-life prices come often down significantly. 

[fred67]

Agree with @Littleworlds; I am really over-organized, but if you've got a small number of hinge plates, clips, etc., then they could all just go into their one bin.  You still need to search, but through a whole lot less.  You can narrow down without getting obsessive about it.

 

[enigma84]

Hello  Groovybug,

for my personal experience:

1. Kid love to play and when I was 6 all my "not mounted" (how I called the raw LEGo material) was in a big uniqu box. Also find the right part is part of the fun!

2. Not sure on this, there also other places where to buy, personally I've never byed from pick a brick.

3. It depens from set to set. On how old is the set, the dimension, theme, but usally if you are not looking for a MISB you can find some good deal on the net.

4. For me it depends on you kid tastes, what he more likes, but as already suggested if he likes to mount and de-mount the set the 3in1 can be a good starting set

Hope I've give you something usefull :-)

[Japanbuilder]

I have a 6 year old and a 3 year old. They both love their LEGO. I get them a mix of Duplo, Friends and Princess since that is what they're into. They build them with me and are happy to take them apart (except the biggish sets they love to play house with those). 

Yet, despite my spoiling them with licensed sets and friends stuff I have noticed I get a lot more bang for my buck with Classic buckets. Even the 5 dollar sets are a boon. 

They literally spend hours spilling pieces onto the floor and just building w/e comes to mind. I throw in City starter sets to give them figures to play with since they don't associate the bucket parts with Friends or Duplo. When they finish building, however, they are more than happy to mingle their city minifigs with the minidolls no problem. 

I would not worry about sorting or anything fancy but look at the Classic and Creator line and see what strikes their fancy, those free roaming bricks that are meant to be cobbled into anything seem to work really well with my kids. Start small and see what grabs them and gets their creativity running wild. Also dinosaurs are big still even with my kids. Those eyeball parts really make them go wild making funky dinosaur-lion-hippo things. It is fun to play with kids when they do that kind of stuff. 

[Mechbuilds]

1. I personally use those sorting cabinets people use for nuts and bolts. I have currently 3 of them for technic pieces. 
2. I use brickowl. It's the best site if you need very specific parts for a very specific build. However, finding extremely rare parts is harder on that site. 
3. Best place to buy lego sets are from garage sales and stuff like that. Normally lego sellers in lego specific sites such as brickowl, know their parts worth. 
4. Favorite set.. Hmm... I can't think of any, i'm much more of a moc builder. Usually when i buy a set, i assemble it only once and disassemble it afterwards. But if i have to choose one, i'll choose the bucket wheel excavator.. So many parts.. 
5. For small children, i'd get one of those large bins that have wheels under it. You can easily just push it under the bed. Kids like to dig in a large pile of legos and adults like to be organized. I think a large bin that you push under the bed is a good mix of both. If you can get one that's very long and not that deep, even better.