Did you know when kids build with Lego and Duplo they are building brain connections as well towers? As kids play with Lego and Duplo, they are learning some complicated concepts and higher thinking skills that will help develop kindergarten readiness.
One challenging concept is that of opposites. Some bricks are big and some are little. The tops of the bricks are bumpy and the sides are flat. Kids make towers that go up and see how high they can be before falling down. These are some opposites that are easy and simple, but soon things get complicated. While some Lego bricks, like the double ones, are big compared with other Lego pieces, they are still small beside the Duplo. And even though Duplo is bigger, a square one is shorter than a long, flat Lego.
Opposites are not just all of one thing or all of another, it often depends on what objects are being compared. Do you see how confusing this can be for kids? Opposites occur in relation to other things. Making a tower with Duplo is much faster than making a tower with Lego. But building any tower up is slow and it falls down so fast. Clean up time can seem so long, even though it is only 2 minutes.
Understanding the meanings of opposites will take practice and repetition. But it can be fun and happen as kids play. Kids will need experiences and opportunities and adults will need to be patient as kids figure out how opposites works. There are some adults that have a challenge with the opposites of left/right. Thankfully, that’s not a concern with Lego. As your child plays, you can use some of these opposite words and concepts when appropriate. For a play-of-the-day, would your child like to have some fun and learning with Lego and Duplo?