Why we play with bricks and minifigs.

We have a 7 and 10 year old that love role playing, pretend playing and building things. Bricks and minifigs tick all these boxes! We are not a family that is super into guns but the boys love setting up scenes and sometimes they like to setup military scenes. Instead of saying no to minifig (Lego characters) being able to use weapons we said ok. This is partly because weapons and fighting are everywhere and saying no is a bit pointless but also because it allows conversation with the children about the negative side of weapons, war and poor human behaviour. Rather than letting them discover this on their own, which they are going to do, they can have a parent engage with them as they play and explain to them why it is ok to play fight but in the real world fighting and battles can be absolutely devastating.

There are countless stories about the benefits of playing with building bricks and creative play, well beyond the obvious lessening of the desire for screen time. Our kids will pick playing with bricks and minifigs over devices at times. 

Furthermore, using minifigs to create scenes is really not just for kids anyway, we all know at least a few AFOLs (adult fans of Lego)!

Some interesting reading: 

https://theconversation.com/do-your-boys-fight-with-sticks-nerf-guns-and-fake-swords-all-the-time-heres-why-they-do-it-237976

https://hub.jhu.edu/2016/03/07/lego-blocks-build-better-thinkers/

https://www.cmosc.org/benefits-of-lego-play-for-childhood-development/#:~:text=Creativity%20and%20Imagination,bring%20their%20ideas%20to%20life.