http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/should-lego-be-gender-free-or-just-less-complicated/
As all of you no doubt know, my kids love Playmobil. And it's better than the Polly Pockets, Barbies, Cars (TM) of the world for a variety of reasons, but it's still not the same as unfettered play materials (crayons, building blocks, etc). It is a scene that is laid out and the kids often settle to play within that framework.
Lego isn't like that, right? It's just colourful blocks to create whatever you want. For me, it was architectural structures and floor plans.
However, over the past couple of years I have noticed two things: 1. the gender coding through colour (pink blocks for girls - Yup, you read that right) and 2. sets for making specific - often trademarked - items: Star Wars, Harry Potter, beauty parlours (yup, you read that right too), etc.
Seb got a trademarked dragon set for Christmas - which he loved assembling and then put on the shelf (though there is an extenuating circumstance). While Soph got an odd box jumble of 2nd hand blue, green, red, white, black and transparent blocks for New Year's. Can't wait to see what she creates and how it interfaces with the dragon!
1 comment:
Lego makes me mad. It is an absolutely creative toy that is being destroyed by branding. Henry has more than enough blocks to build anything. In any colour. Three times over. But he's so controlled by whatever the latest set is being advertised on their site. I thought it was all pretty innocent; I love building with Lego. But it has gotten out of hand. He build a brilliant working crane the other day, then lamented that he couldn't BUY a set just like the one he'd built.
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