The stage is set for Santa… {from the Lego City 2015 Advent calendar}
So this isn’t really a Christmas post, but I thought it was something worth sharing anyway!
And who knows, maybe it will have an impact on this year’s Lego Advent Calendars as well…
Lego’s new characters
I haven’t been able to find these on the main Lego site, the Lego Facebook page or at any online toy stores but at a toy fair in Germany, Lego has shown two new Lego characters in their City range. One is a boy in a wheelchair and one is a stay at home Dad (complete with pram and baby bottle!)
So what’s the big deal?
Having toys (as well as books and other media kids interact with) include the variety of human situations is important to my mind. For one thing, if kids can see themselves in their toys, they feel normal and accepted – why should all dolls be white skinned and blonde for example when there is such a range of skin and hair colours amongst us? Just like it’s ok for kids to see a Dad caring for a baby and non-nuclear family types.
And even for those kids who already represented by their toys, seeing other people represented helps those kids accept differences in real people, too. Teaching kids acceptance and tolerance is really important – and a key step towards peace.
Giving the new Lego
As I said above, I can’t find the Lego online so I’m not sure when they will be generally available to purchase – hopefully they will be around in time for Christmas though. According to CNN, they will be released in June and hopefully that includes in Australia.
I also don’t know what the set is like, so it may not appeal to lots of kids (eg a wheelchair bound witness in a cop set will probably sell better than a wheelchair kid washing dishes!) but I hope we do get a number of disabled people turning up in general sets from now on.
I won’t make a big fuss about the wheelchair; rather, I will just give the relevant set to my kids in the way I’d give them any other Lego to make the point it is normal.
What a great concept. Those toys are sure to take the market by storm. I totally agree with you that kids need to see more of themselves or things that they can relate to in their toys. Thanks for sharing that great piece.
I hope they do become easily obtained so they can take the market by storm, Clair.
These are really neat! My son loves playing with Legos and I’ve seen some of these sets in stores. I’m considering buying them for him. I think it’s great that Lego is making a more diverse set of toys to reflect the diversity in the places we live.
Wow, you’ve already seen these in shops? That’s awesome, HappyKoi!
They haven’t got to any shops I’ve seen yet but I hope they will soon so people can put them under Christmas trees. We do live in a diverse world and it is good seeing toys show that, too.
I love how LEGO is still around and making good products. That was always my go to toy when I was a kid and I always loved all the things that you could build. They also tend to be more education for kids, so that is always nice.
Lego is such a great toy, isn’t it? My kids love it and I love how it helps their fine motor skills, creativity, instruction following and spatial skills, all without them having the slightest idea it’s teaching them anything at all!
Did you know that Lego (the company) started off making wooden toys and the bricks came a bit later?
Lego has a tradition of releasing Christmas themed sets that are wonderful, some are gorgeous and spectacular pieces like the Winder Holiday Train (Set number 10254 if you want to search it) but mostly they sometimes release small polybag sets like little snowmen or pine trees. The thing with Lego is that it is not exactly cheap but this are really small and affordable sets. We have had this snowman set that my kids started to build for me every November so I can put it on my desk, can you believe that, among many things, is this little toy what really signals that the holidays are coming around here? It has become a very important tradition.
I love little traditions like that, fcuco 🙂
I will look up that Lego set – my son LOVES Lego and we have piles of it in our house! Last year, both my younger children had a Lego Advent calendar each to mark down the days to Christmas which was a lot of fun.
I was just watching some youtube clips of some guy who made it into the Guiness Book of Records by building a tiny replica of a combustion engine out of legos. Complete with tiny moving parts. It was amazing and it has inspired me to add legos to my list for my kids this year.
WOW! It is incredible what some people think of and do!
I love Legos, they are something in-temporal that I’ve played as a kid and that my kids still play with them now. We can build virtually anything with Legos and that is why kids love them.
Lego is great for imaginative and creative play, isn’t it? And in the shops today, I actually saw Lego set that has a child in a wheelchair, Dad pushing baby in a pram, a boy and girl playing soccer and wo women doing manual work (painting and something I forget!) – my 8 and 15 year olds were both keen to have that set, too, which was very positive!