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What I've seen is that kids get that dopamine rush from putting together everything exactly according to instructions. From opening the numbered bags and method

What I've seen is that kids get that dopamine rush from putting together everything exactly according to instructions. From opening the numbered bags and methodically working through thick instruction booklets. The problem now is that they have this expectation of gratification from making something kind of perfect and their own creations are less interesting and fulfilling. I don't know what the name is for the idea that offering an "extra" optional path can detrimentally affect the other path. (I'd posit the same theory softly applies to Minecraft's creative mode.) But might just be my experience.

lovehashbrowns 5y ago
There's nothing wrong with someone only liking the follow instructions aspect of Lego and not the fully creative DIY aspect. I think one of the weirder parenting things is a parent trying to get their kiddo to like something in exactly the way the parent wants and anything else is a failure. "I built my Legos without instructions and we had fun! Kids these days...!" But then parents don't realize they misunderstood the entire point from the beginning. Legos were never a magic device to make someone creative. They were always just a way to try and sneak creativity into people. It just doesn't always work. Some people pick up Legos and make castles and cars and all this stuff, while some people pick up Legos, make a box house, and give up. Maybe your kiddo is secretly part of the gives up camp, but it's satisfying for them to follow to build instructions. What matters as a parent is that you gave them an option to be creative. And that's super cool on its own, y'know?
- jeremyjh 5y ago
  My son treats Lego sets like a model airplane: build it once exactly to spec, put it on your shelf in your room, never change it again. The one difference maybe is they will get played with more. Yet he's very creative with Magna-Tiles in exactly the same way we played with Legos when I was a kid (I was born in 1976). I do think part of the difference is the presentation and marketing of the set, and how specific some of the pieces obviously are. Yes, some kids can be very creative with these sets, but Lego the company would prefer you buy another set.
DrBoring 5y ago
I find that I am qualified to offer the following data point. My daughter is 8. She enjoys both Legos and Minecraft. She mostly plays Minecraft in creative, but recently I've been playing through survival with her (first time survival for both of us). She still enjoys building in survival. If anything, I would say her survival builds are more satisfying because she has to do the work of obtaining the resources, and crafting them into the parts she needs. There is also the added challenge of not being able to fly and to easily undo a misplaced block. If I'm doing a complex build like an automated farm, she enjoys crafting the parts for me. Back to Lego: She mostly goes for the Lego Friends kits, but also has a few Lego Minecraft kits. After she'd built something, she does imaginative role play with her 6-yo sister. Sometimes, they'll take the kits apart and rebuild into something different. Regarding temperament: My 8yo is pretty easy going. She is generally patient and doesn't get easily frustrated when things go wrong. I could easily see how a different child could hate imperfect Lego builds, or survival Minecraft.
onemoresoop 5y ago
My 4- yo kid likes to build from instructions but once that's done he'll take them apart and mix the pieces with all the other dismantled kits making it a nearly impossible task to redo the original kits. But he'd rebuild simpler variants, the play factor is still there. I on the other hand am bit stumped by the amount of small varied pieces. I'm thinking of getting a bucket with classic pieces, perhaps non branded/generic legos.
- deltarholamda 5y ago
  My kids do the same. They get a set, build it, play with it for a while, and then it gets deconstructed and mixed in with the Big Bin O' Lego. Oddball pieces become wings, or arms, or showerheads, or whatever their imagination sees. To me, that's the spirit of Lego. Even as a kid, I had friends who had, e.g., the Space Shuttle set, and once that shuttle got built, it was sacrosanct. If I tried to pilfer something from it, a blood feud would ensue.
jbmny 5y ago
I have definitely gotten that dopamine rush, and I think I still do. It's probably a big reason why I'm a programmer. There's a certain satisfaction you get from knowing definitively that you "solved" the problem. Making music is another interest of mine, but due to its open-ended, creative nature, I don't think it can provide this kind of satisfaction.

lovehashbrowns 5y ago

There's nothing wrong with someone only liking the follow instructions aspect of Lego and not the fully creative DIY aspect. I think one of the weirder parenting things is a parent trying to get their kiddo to like something in exactly the way the parent wants and anything else is a failure. "I built my Legos without instructions and we had fun! Kids these days...!" But then parents don't realize they misunderstood the entire point from the beginning. Legos were never a magic device to make someone creative. They were always just a way to try and sneak creativity into people. It just doesn't always work. Some people pick up Legos and make castles and cars and all this stuff, while some people pick up Legos, make a box house, and give up. Maybe your kiddo is secretly part of the gives up camp, but it's satisfying for them to follow to build instructions. What matters as a parent is that you gave them an option to be creative. And that's super cool on its own, y'know?

jeremyjh 5y ago
My son treats Lego sets like a model airplane: build it once exactly to spec, put it on your shelf in your room, never change it again. The one difference maybe is they will get played with more. Yet he's very creative with Magna-Tiles in exactly the same way we played with Legos when I was a kid (I was born in 1976). I do think part of the difference is the presentation and marketing of the set, and how specific some of the pieces obviously are. Yes, some kids can be very creative with these sets, but Lego the company would prefer you buy another set.

DrBoring 5y ago

I find that I am qualified to offer the following data point. My daughter is 8. She enjoys both Legos and Minecraft. She mostly plays Minecraft in creative, but recently I've been playing through survival with her (first time survival for both of us). She still enjoys building in survival. If anything, I would say her survival builds are more satisfying because she has to do the work of obtaining the resources, and crafting them into the parts she needs. There is also the added challenge of not being able to fly and to easily undo a misplaced block. If I'm doing a complex build like an automated farm, she enjoys crafting the parts for me. Back to Lego: She mostly goes for the Lego Friends kits, but also has a few Lego Minecraft kits. After she'd built something, she does imaginative role play with her 6-yo sister. Sometimes, they'll take the kits apart and rebuild into something different. Regarding temperament: My 8yo is pretty easy going. She is generally patient and doesn't get easily frustrated when things go wrong. I could easily see how a different child could hate imperfect Lego builds, or survival Minecraft.

onemoresoop 5y ago

My 4- yo kid likes to build from instructions but once that's done he'll take them apart and mix the pieces with all the other dismantled kits making it a nearly impossible task to redo the original kits. But he'd rebuild simpler variants, the play factor is still there. I on the other hand am bit stumped by the amount of small varied pieces. I'm thinking of getting a bucket with classic pieces, perhaps non branded/generic legos.

deltarholamda 5y ago
My kids do the same. They get a set, build it, play with it for a while, and then it gets deconstructed and mixed in with the Big Bin O' Lego. Oddball pieces become wings, or arms, or showerheads, or whatever their imagination sees. To me, that's the spirit of Lego. Even as a kid, I had friends who had, e.g., the Space Shuttle set, and once that shuttle got built, it was sacrosanct. If I tried to pilfer something from it, a blood feud would ensue.

jbmny 5y ago

I have definitely gotten that dopamine rush, and I think I still do. It's probably a big reason why I'm a programmer. There's a certain satisfaction you get from knowing definitively that you "solved" the problem. Making music is another interest of mine, but due to its open-ended, creative nature, I don't think it can provide this kind of satisfaction.