We are all about super heroes in this house. And LEGO® bricks. So, when my boys saw these Super Hero LEGO® sets, I nearly lost my hearing. There was a lot of squealing and dancing going on for the better part of 20 minutes. They weren’t the only excited ones though. I’ve always loved the Spider-Man comics and my husband was mildly surprised when he found out I’m a bigger nerd in the comic book world than he.

Who doesn’t love a little LEGO®!? There are many, many things I love about LEGO® bricks – there would have to be to counteract the shocking pain and rage that bubbles up every time one of the little demons is underfoot in the middle of the night, am I right? But that just tells you how awesome these toys really are. One of my favorite things about them is that they encourage imaginative play. I walked in on my boys smack in the middle of an all out battle of good and evil this morning – Wonder Woman and Superman were trying to save the kitty from the evil “Dr. Deafstoke”.

I love that LEGO® has so many options that fit all of my kids, no matter their ages. LEGO® DUPLO® offers an unlimited source of creative play as young children explore the world around them with their growing imagination. Double the size of the iconic LEGO® bricks, yet 100% compatible, DUPLO® bricks grow alongside your child as they curiously create and discover many ways to play. Age appropriate minifigures allow even the youngest builders to role play. And LEGO® JUNIORS delivers fun, age-appropriate building sets with easy-to-follow building instructions, colorful photos and playful guidance to help to ensure a smooth transition to independent building. Quick start elements and modular bricks, such as walls and archways, facilitate easy builds—giving children out-of-the-box success. Storytelling and creative play is inspired by a variety of iconic themes. While LEGO® Super Heroes: MARVEL™ and LEGO® Super Heroes: DC UNIVERSE™ bring characters from comic books and new movie releases to LEGO® brick form for older kids.

Our DUPLO® set had some great basic pieces, two fun bridge pieces, a boat, four minifigures and Wonder Woman’s bike! My two youngest fight over the bike and the kitty all the time! Go figure, right?! The DC Comics set made two fun vehicles that my boys like to pretend can fly and three minifigures, plus a few more accessories. Big J loves the vehicles and that he can change them easily. But that’s not the only kind of playing we do with fabulous LEGO® bricks. Here are five ways we play with our bricks that encourage learning:

1. Counting. I have REALLY struggled getting Little J to learn. He doesn’t have the hunger for learning like his older brother does. He wants to play! LEGO® bricks let us do just that. We often count the connector knobs on the blocks when we’re building.
2. Size. This one is Little J’s favorite learning LEGO® game. Because bigger is always better… right? We have been working on sequencing and size comparisons.
3. Patterns. And here’s Little J’s least favorite. This one is the most obvious learning I guess. You can do simple patterns or more complex ones. You can even incorporate counting and size into the patterns.
4. Color recognition. This was the only way I could get Little J to practice colors. As we would build, we would say the color of the brick we were adding to the tower. The anticipation of knocking the tower over was enough to help me keep him engaged.
5. Shapes. This is one I do with both Little J and Big J. Most of the bricks are square or rectangular, but there are some with irregular shapes too.
6. Following directions. This one is pretty easy for Big J. I just give him the instruction booklet and set him to it. He is analytical enough with his thinking that he can usually handle the instructions with minimal help. For Little J, I will usually give him verbal instructions. “A four, a two, then a six.” The numbers refer to the number of connector knobs. He stacks them like towers.
7. Free building. We like to have competitions – we are a household full of testosterone over here. Someone will come up with an object to build (a car, a house, a helicopter, a motorcycle, etc) and then everyone does their best to build that object. Little J usually gets help from someone. Sometimes we’ll vote on who created the best one, usually we don’t. Daddy would win all the time.

I’ve included a printable below that you can use to help guide you through some of the learning activities we like to do with LEGO® bricks. It’ll open a window where you can download the full quality version. Save it to your computer and then print.

Click to download

I love LEGO® because they help my kids grow. As children play, they grow confident in their ability to bring stories and ideas to life. LEGO® Super Heroes is a perfect way to introduce the entire family to the land of make-believe & open-ended play. With something for every age, you are never too young or too much of an adult to build your own version of a superhero with LEGO® bricks. What special power does everyone in the family wish they had?

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.