Ever since we took a trip over to LEGOLAND in Atlanta, Darah’s interest in all things LEGO has been building. Until now, she and Layah have only played with the LEGO DUPLO sets for younger children. They are larger, easier to work with as a beginner, and they aren’t choking hazards, so they are definitely the right fit for the 3 and under set.

But Darah is now 5, and after seeing the smaller LEGO pieces at LEGOLAND and all the absolutely amazing things that could be built with them, her interest was piqued.

But was she ready to upgrade? I wasn’t so sure. Building LEGO structures can be quite a complicated endeavor, and I didn’t want Darah to get frustrated and too quickly declare that LEGOS weren’t for her. And this, my friends, is why you need to check out LEGO JUNIORS, if you have a little one that might be ready to graduate from DUPLOS.

Darah first started working on the two sets we were sent with her grandparents. But over the weekend she asked to get the sets back out and do some building with her daddy.

I wish I could go back in time to record that moment, friends. The look of sheer delight on Tim’s face when his child asked him to play LEGOS with her was priceless. He promptly sacrificed his beloved Saturday afternoon nap to get down on the floor and do some building with his daughter.

Before I opened the LEGO JUNIORS sets, I assumed that they would be smaller than DUPLO pieces, but bigger than traditional LEGOS. Perhaps they were an in-between size? I was definitely wrong: they are the same size as traditional LEGO pieces.

I think a key difference with the JUNIOR sets is the instructions. They are beautifully simple, and they walk the child through the process, brick-by-brick.

One of the fun things about LEGO sets is that building is only part of the fun. Once you have created what you want, it’s time to play with it! Darah enjoyed having her horse leap over fences (he’s more of a flyer than a leaper, as it turns out) and brushing him in the stable.

She also really loved sending LEGO figurines flying through the air thanks to her catapult. I’m pretty sure every member of the house spent some time playing with this creation. 🙂

After Tim and Darah wrapped up their LEGO projects for the afternoon, Tim shared with me about just how impressed he was with how the sets kept Darah’s attention, and how well she was able to follow the directions. She even worked ahead a few times, which shows a growth in her confidence level, as the very first time she played with the sets (with her grandparents) she gave up more quickly and left the work to them to finish. When I sat down with Darah to admire her work, she was eager to show me the other things that she could build with her sets, and we agreed to tackle those projects in the near future. It only took 2 sessions of building for her to go from shy and slightly reluctant to fully engaged and confident in her skills as a builder.

LEGO® JUNIORS is designed to give children age 4-7 a great first experience with LEGO bricks through iconic, fun and easy to build models. LEGO JUNIORS sets contain quick start elements and numbered pre-packed bags that can be built without help from Mom or Dad – which makes any small builder extra proud.