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I would be interested in seeing if there was any difference in rates of girls that played with Lego growing up and whether or not they went into engineering. I

by starky 12y ago

I would be interested in seeing if there was any difference in rates of girls that played with Lego growing up and whether or not they went into engineering. I remember sitting with my class of 120 on the first day with my Mechanical Engineering class. One of the profs asked us how many of us played with Lego growing up. I believe that every single hand in the room was raised to that question (about 20% of those were women). My suspicion would be that Lego is pretty much universal and that very few children grow up not playing with it at least occasionally.

watwut 12y ago
Isnt lego more art then engineering through? I liked engineering toys as a child (mostly merkur), but found lego less interesting. It is more about building something good looking then about solving problems and being technical.
- kragniz 12y ago
  It depends on what you're building. If you're playing around with minifigs and the basic bricks, then yes, mostly. However, Lego Technic is much more about solving problems, particularity the Mindstorms [0] range. I had the RCX when I was around 9, and programming it and making things that move really started an interest in robotics. I've helped out at some local FIRST Lego League events [1], which are very engineering-focused. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms_EV3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms_EV3 [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRST_Lego_League http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRST_Lego_League
  - watwut 12y ago
    Point taken, I did not had lego technic. I'm not sure about today, but it was more expensive then just buying bricks and over what my parents were willing to pay for a toy. Although lego Technic looked to me like a toy anyway while merkur looked to me like a "real thing". There is something special on using real screwdriver and screws :). Lego Mindstorms would be in the same price category today, I would say. I suspect most parents would have to be sure the kid will play with it to excuse the price, it is not something you buy just to try whether the kid like it or not.

by starky 12y ago

watwut 12y ago

Isnt lego more art then engineering through? I liked engineering toys as a child (mostly merkur), but found lego less interesting. It is more about building something good looking then about solving problems and being technical.

kragniz 12y ago
It depends on what you're building. If you're playing around with minifigs and the basic bricks, then yes, mostly. However, Lego Technic is much more about solving problems, particularity the Mindstorms [0] range. I had the RCX when I was around 9, and programming it and making things that move really started an interest in robotics. I've helped out at some local FIRST Lego League events [1], which are very engineering-focused. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms_EV3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms_EV3 [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRST_Lego_League http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRST_Lego_League
- watwut 12y ago
  Point taken, I did not had lego technic. I'm not sure about today, but it was more expensive then just buying bricks and over what my parents were willing to pay for a toy. Although lego Technic looked to me like a toy anyway while merkur looked to me like a "real thing". There is something special on using real screwdriver and screws :). Lego Mindstorms would be in the same price category today, I would say. I suspect most parents would have to be sure the kid will play with it to excuse the price, it is not something you buy just to try whether the kid like it or not.