Travel with LEGOs – TIPS
LEGOs are a favorite toy for all ages and you can travel with LEGOs!
Travel with LEGOs: Open ended toys are the BEST!
An open ended toy has no rules or set directions for how they are to be used and are often the simplest toys. That means, these little building blocks can be put together in any of the gazillion ways your child can imagine – and different every single time you play with them. You can put them on a plate and pretend they are biscuits for your tea party or move them around on the floor while making vehicle sounds and voila! you have cars. The sky is the limit with an open ended toy.
Open ended toys have so many wonderful combinations of things you can do with them that it is really like packing LOTS of toys. This is awesome because when you travel space is at a premium. Talking during open ended play can helps increase vocabulary and language development. Designing and negotiating the play according to the child’s mood, interest, and even what you have explored during your travels that day increases cognitive development.
Simple, open ended toys with lots of uses are the best toys. LEGOs are great example and they travel so well!
Travel with LEGOs: Keep up with them.
Moms are clever and have so so many fun ideas for making them travel friendly!
I love this way to keep legos from going all over in the car or airplane from Mama Papa Bubba because the legos don’t all fall out when you open the lunch box! Such a smart design, mom!
This fantastic way to keep legos from falling everywhere when you travel with the kids from kv. barn (Her lowercase – not mine. The English teacher in me cringes at the thought of people thinking I forgot to capitalize a name!!) is great because the container is deep enough to allow for a lot of legos!
Travel with LEGOs: Don’t worry about losing a few.
The beauty of an open ended toy means it still works if a piece, or a few, are missing. So, take a ziploc baggie of LEGOs and don’t worry about losing a few. No stress.
Do at least try to pick them all up from the floor. We all know that there is no pain like the stepping on a LEGO in the middle of the night with bare feet type of pain!!!! OUCH!
Travel with LEGOs: Why you need to travel with toys
Sometimes parents have an inflated idea of what a child can do: like sit and enjoy quiet conversation at a restaurant, or sit quietly after a very long day of sight seeing. How is it that they are all revved up when we are exhausted?
***Bring toys.
Some parents feel irritated that kids need toys when you are on this amazing vacation or trip. Isn’t that enough stimulation for them? Do I have to bring extra??
**Bring toys.
Kids are not just small adults. They think very differently than we do! Â Toys are vitally important to them as is the time to play.
Play is so valuable and important to the development of children that the United Nations asserts that play is part of the Convention on the Rights of the Child which went into force September 1989. Children have the right to play.
**Bring toys.
Want to experience LEGOs and not just play with them?
Travel with LEGOs: See Sean Kenney’s Nature Connects traveling art exhibit
Sean Kenney is an artist who uses only LEGOs. The sheer staggering size of his creations will knock your socks off!! He show is touring North America now and uses over 2 million lego pieces in 100 sculptures.
Check the touring schedule here!
Travel with LEGOs: Visit Legoland Parks.
Lego fans will enjoy walking amongst Lego Buildings when you visit one of the many Legoland Parks. Would this make your kids feel like Godzilla!
Visit Legoland Billund Resort, which is in the same town where LEGOs were invented!
The one in Malaysia must be awesome beyond words!! I totally need to see it in person! Visit Malaysia’s first international theme park in Johor Bahru.
Travel with LEGOs: Click for information on Legoland resorts.
Travel with LEGOs: Visit the actual factory in Denmark.
Take the family to visit the Lego factory in Denmark and see how legos all got started! But, think about this way, way in advance as they are already booked for 2016. . Registration for 2017 tours starts in November 2o16 so keep your eye open at this website if you are interested. Super pricey – more than $2100 EACH which includes 2 overnight hotel stays and meals over two days. In years past they sell out in MINUTES.
Travel with LEGOs: Cool info for curious traveling families!
**The world Lego comes from two Danish words.
These two words together: “leg” and “godt” which means ‘play well’.
**There are a LOT of LEGO bricks in the world!
As of 2008 there were 62  bricks for each person  (6 billion people) in the world. That is 6 billion times 62. Figure out THAT math problem…if you dare!! LEGO says that by 2019 there will be more LEGO people than humans in the world. (Let’s hope they don’t rise up and rebel!)
**LEGO bricks come in 53 colors.
Can you even name 53 colors? I don’t think I can! But that is OK because you can find the entire list of colors here.Â
**The LEGO company sells 3.9 minifigures EVERY second EVERY day of EVERY year.
We should buy stock!
If you aren’t satisfied with the many choices from the actual lego company, you can go online to design your very own, one of a kind lego minfigure. If you do, I’d love to hear all about it!!
**Do you wonder why LEGO heads have holes in them?
They were designed so that kids wouldn’t choke on them if swallowed. Air can still get through the hole even if it were lodged in a child’s throat. Smart design! However…..the design was changed in 2015 and the hole was removed….only LEGO knows why!
**If at first you don’t succeed…try, try again!
It took 3 years and 51 trys to get it right when they designed the first LEGO person.
**Who designs LEGO creations?
Real master builders that work for the Lego company. See them in action here building a camper with running water! That has to be one of the coolest job titles ever! (Since “full time multi tasking ninja” is not a real job title – that would totally be #1)
**Watch a LEGO movie!Â
Get out the popcorn and have the whole family enjoy the LEGO movie before your trip!
Whether your family travels TO LEGOs destinations or just travel WITH LEGOs. This toy make for great travel!
Travel with LEGOs: Education and Child experts LOVE LEGOs
Scholastic’s Parents has this to say….
“A child engaged in open-ended play is simply going with the flow. He is exploring open-ended materials — objects that have multiple uses and infinite possibilities, like the ones mentioned above, and others, such as paint, clay, sand, mud, water, blocks, and Legos. There are no expectations, no specific problems to solve, no rules to follow, and no pressure to produce a finished product. It’s all about free play — the freedom to invent and discover.”
American Academy of Pediatrics has this to say…
“Parents (can) encourage children of all ages to engage in free play and build resilience… Choose appropriate toys, like blocks and dolls, and avoid expensive toys that require limited imagination.”
United Nations Human Rights: Convention of the Rights of the Child…
“Article 31
1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.
2. States Parties shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity.”
Happy and creative travels,
Natalie, The Educational Tourist
Cool blog on Legos. I love to play with them and learned so much more about them here. I didn’t realize they were a Danish product…always assumed they were made in the USA!
My kids are crazy for anything with LEGO logo on it. From the cartoons on tv to the set of bricks. I can tell that its one of their favourite toys. Especially on our vacation trips.
They are small and travel so well! We love them, too, and I’ve been amazed at how many years we get out of them. With open ended toys they last forever!
Long live LEGOs!
LOL! We should buy stock!