Creativity and Productivity
Not only do LEGOS greatly increase specific things such as spatial awareness skills, they also increase creativity and productivity in general. In contrast to something like a barbie, where the child is just creating a hypothetical situation in their head, when playing with LEGOS, the child is building or solving something. Additionally, playing with Legos encourages children to experiment with different shapes and colors. As they play, children learn how different colors can be used to create patterns and how different shapes fit together to make structures. They also learn how to combine these shapes and colors in new and interesting ways to create original designs.
According to Mitchel Resnic in his book Lifelong Kindergarden: cultivating creativity through projects, passion, peers, and play, “Educators and experts agree that playing with blocks or other constructive games can provide various possibilities to improve the quality of learning and development of children's creativity in the early years." (Resnic, 112) This is the case mostly because of the fact that the children have so much enthusiasm when playing with such toys or games. This enthusiasm leads to hours upon hours of experimenting with new ideas and strategies. In addition, the children are being exposed to problem solving, a child who spends 10 minutes looking at the directions wrong, for instance, is not going to repeat the same mistake. On the other hand, a child who spends that same time playing with a doll wouldn't be encountering challenges like these; and therefore, will be less efficient in the way they handle similar situations.
