Do your teens still play w/Lego's

[zebra15]

I'm not sure where to put this so I will start with the Teen section.  DS just turned 12 and Lego's are his life.  They are basically the only 'toy' he uses.  I know each kid is different and each kid had different likes and interests.

If you have a lego maniac.how long did the passion last.  I have an insane amount of $$ invested in Lego's and DS does love them, he takes excellent care of them, and basically assembles them and puts them on display.

I don't want to say 'no' to buying the larger sets (very expensive) but if the lifespan of this obsession is short lived and something else is going to take its place - please let this ma'am know.

We have a couple Lego stores in our area and yes I realize sometimes the passion just never ends,

FWIW- DS loves math, physics, chemistry and is basically doing all STEM classes.  I have no problem with LEGO'S.

[JollyGG]

I don't think he actively buys sets for himself but my brother still does enjoy LEGOs and he's almost 40.

First Lego Leauge goes through age 14 and is a pretty popular activity around here for the middle school group so I would think that some LEGO interests would be present in those kids. 

[whatsnextmom]

DS 11 has never been huge into Legos but we have a good size collection (started from his big sister.) He still pulls them out on occasion but I can't say we've purchased any for a couple years now.

He discovered Lego Mindstorm this summer though at robotics camp and he LOVED them. The class was filled with middle schoolers who obviously, still loved Lego. I wish they weren't so expensive or I'd buy them. Still cheaper to take classes and camps though.

[Sharlla]

DS1 is almost 14 and he loves making stuff and movies with his legos
 

[chel]

Might just be me, but I still know guys in their 40's that enjoy them.
I just bought my dh a death star for fathers day.
I've tried to get the legos from when I was a kid, but my older brother won't give them up (and he has no kids)!
So yes it can last a long time.

They are nice when you have older kids watching/babysitting/playing with younger ones., once they get past the mouthing stage.
I'd much rather build Lego stuff for my toddler to distroy than play dolls.

Heard they have great resale value if it doesn't work out.

[fruitfulmomma]

The FLL books are housed in the adult section of our library. My 12yo ds picked one up yesterday. I don't know really anything about it but it looks like some pretty advanced engineering/robotics stuff. He is homeschooled and spends a good deal of his time working on projects with various building systems.

[oaksie68]

Well, DD is only 12, but still LOVES to build with LEGOS (have to keep her out of the stores!) Now that she has an Engineering class in MS, where she sort of gets to "play" with LEGO-like building materials for a grade, I don't know if that will impact the LEGO usage at home, but I doubt it.

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by chel 

I just bought my dh a death star for fathers day.
 

Lucky guy. DS wants that set. It's awesome. 

Last year, we gave DS the Star Wars Millenium Falcon set. He is 19. I was relieved because I couldn't think of many ideas for him and he mentioned that he still liked building the Star Wars sets when we were talking about decluttering our games shelves. He did get other gifts, clothes and books etc., but Lego was the "fun" present.  

So, yeah, the passion can last for awhile......

[whatsnextmom]

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree 

Lucky guy. DS wants that set. It's awesome. 

Last year, we gave DS the Star Wars Millenium Falcon set. He is 19. I was relieved because I couldn't think of many ideas for him and he mentioned that he still liked building the Star Wars sets when we were talking about decluttering our games shelves. He did get other gifts, clothes and books etc., but Lego was the "fun" present.  

So, yeah, the passion can last for awhile......

We know a high school girl who collects all the Harry Potter sets. She just likes to put them together and display them.

I'd like the Death Star one too!

[Mirzam]

I know I was still enjoying Lego at 14. My mother certainly wasn't buying me any, but we had a huge collection of bricks. My DS is 12 and from a young child he has really enjoyed playing with Lego. He was at his height of his Lego obsession as a 9/10 year old. He stopped being into it so much around 11, but during the summer discovered it again, and was making Lego armies. He was also watching tons of Lego youtube videos, mostly made by adults. Now he is back at school this has stopped. As a younger child he poured over the Lego catalog and would ask for the most complicated sets, which we would get for his birthday or Christmas, and he would proceed to finish them within a day! Although he has moved on, he will still play with them once in a while. I can imagine him as an adult getting a great deal of pleasure from putting some elaborate set together.

oaksie68, DS also takes an engineering class in MS (it is called TIDE here) which does incorporate some Lego in it too. It's his favorite class!

[oaksie68]

Mirzam - DD's Engineering class is her reason for getting up in the morning most days! So yes, by far it is her favorite class too!

[klk197]

I used Legos all the way through high school, and now I'm an architect. I never had any special sets or put them on display (I'd start over every couple of days), and I was very excited when my mom got me a bunch of white bricks for my 15th birthday--not exactly a typical teenager request, but I'm relatively well-adjusted! My own son is still young, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy him more bricks if he wanted to build bigger constructions. I would, however, avoid the predetermined outcome sets that seem to dominate the market because the pieces are so specific (fit only in such a way to make a space shuttle or pirate ship or...), as they seem to imply rules of building (build what's on the box!). Rather than constant spatial experimentation. The more general bricks are also better as hand-me-downs because nothing is lost in translation.

[revolting]

My BIL is 15 and still plays with legos. He does stop motion animation stuff.

[tonttu]

My 14-year-old still loves his Lego and also Playmobil , and seeing how the other boys in his class are after girls already , I am quite happy about it !

[34me]

My son's 14th birthday is today. Yup, Lego. He got the mind storm set for Christmas when he was 11. If you go on line there are so many amazing message boards for adult Lego enthusiasts.

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by 34me 

My son's 14th birthday is today. Yup, Lego. He got the mind storm set for Christmas when he was 11. If you go on line there are so many amazing message boards for adult Lego enthusiasts.

Happy birthday to your DS!  

[WittyNameHere]

Totally normal. I played with Legos from high school to grad school. It was the perfect way to unwind and unleash my creative energies when I was spending most of my time studying or solving homework problems. The older I got, the more elaborate the sets were. Now that I have kids my husband and I are buying up sets for us for the kids to use when they're older. 

[sageowl]

I teach high school, and it's fairly common for kids to still be into legos (especially if they're into science/engineering/robotics).  It might fade out a bit around 14 or 15, but not necessarily.  I know plenty of adults who are lego maniacs. 

Like someone else said, if he gets bored with them, you'll have no trouble re-selling them. 
 

[teastaigh]

Hi, I'm so happy to see this thread!

I'm coming in late, but if anyone is still out there, I would sure appreciate some input.

My 15 year old DS is a smart, sweet kid who is Lego obsessed -- especially Lego city, making his own creations, buying bricks one at a time, creating whole worlds.

He has recently articulated a desire to share this hobby. I can't find a local Lego Enthusiast Meetup for him. He has one teen friend that he can get together with, but

no others. He gets Brick Master magazine, designs his creations on a CAD system that he taught to himself, recreates scenes from trips to Europe. ...

Can anyone suggest an appropriate online forum?

I've also wondered about a Lego penpal???

Any ideas will be much appreciated.

peace,

teastaigh

[babymommy2]

because the pieces are so specific (fit only in such a way to make a space shuttle or pirate ship or...),

I think this is completley untrue. Just because the piece is the bottom of a pirate ship, doesn't mean  it you can't use ot for something else. Most ofthe special pieces are used in differnt ways in differnt sets. I have one child who tends to make the sets to the plans, and one who will make the set to the plan once, break it down and invent , invent , invent. over and over and over.