Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Mix and match your duplo

Lego cordless power drill
Cordless power drill
I've always known that lego (and now duplo, its larger cousin) was a fantastic toy.  With a few blocks and a little imagination you can create a stunning array of things, from pretend power drills to guitars with strings to pluck (granted, not with particularly good tones).  With the addition of a few specialized pieces picked up from the Legoville collections or Bob the Builder sets, you've got everything you need to create an extensive array of construction equipment.

Semi trailer with excavator
Semi trailer with excavator like the ones we saw when they pulled down the house on the corner - using truck base from cement truck kit, wheel base from Lofty kit, caterpillar tracks from Muck kit, back hoe and cabin from Scoop kit, warning sign base from one of the Bob the Builder sets to provide the articulation between the truck and the trailer, generic pieces, and rubber bands to create the loading ramp.
My son loves tools, trucks, and tractors, so we have, in addition to a few basic sets of duplo blocks, a cement truck and Scoop (tractor), Lofty (crane), Sumsy (forklift), Muck (supposedly a grater), and Rolly (roller).  We haven't actually started watching Bob the Builder in our house, which is probably a blessing, but which also means we aren't compelled to create the characters.  The pictures show some of the things we've put together instead.

Lego guitar/bass
Guitar with rubber band strings
My only big gripes with duplo are the lack of hinges (you'll notice my makeshift hinge for the loading ramp on the semi-trailer) and pieces that click together in different planes, so you can build things at 45 and 90 degree angles.

Lego crane
Construction crane like the ones over the parking structure that is being built at the junction - using windows for the scaffold section, cabin from Bob the Builder sets, crane arm from Lofty set.  The ladder is made from fence pieces turned on end.
Our son is interested in creating lego versions of things he sees when he's out, and I like the fact that he can imagine the real object even though the lego version is rough, at best.  He has even created his own grinder, based on seeing one being used on the way to child care.

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