He's a Lego Maniac! Did you know there's Lego sets JUST for Preschoolers?

Well, it's official. I have a child old enough to play with real, actual Legos, and not the (still fun) Duplo or Megablocks. Lego has fairly recently come out with these JUNIOR sets, which are fully functional Lego pieces, but instead of having 16 little tiny pieces making up the body of a motorcycle, it's just one complete piece, making it easier for beginning Lego Maniacs! 

I let him pick out his own set to start with, and this was a reward for having a good spring break and also because we had said we were going to go to the arcade but since Cocoa Puff was sick, we weren't able to go. 

He picked out the Fire Suitcase. I think it was a good choice because it had a decent amount of pieces, but not too many, plus he loves fire trucks. 

It features an Easy to Build fire pickup with rear storage compartment and trailer with adjustable cherry picker,

motorcycle,

and an abandoned house with opening door and windows.

The set also includes two firefighter minifigures with acccessory elements of four translucent-orange flames and translucent-blue water, two oxygen tanks, axe, handsaw and two fire extinguishers.

The set Includes Easy to Build models with bigger pieces and a simple guide to get kids building and playing quickly while the LEGO Juniors suitcase lets you build and play on the move.

The Fire pickup with trailer measures over 2” (7cm) high, 7” (20cm) long and 1” (5cm) wide with cherry picker lowered, and over 7” (20cm) high, 7” (18cm) long and 1” (5cm) wide when raised. The Abandoned house and baseplate measures over 2” (7cm) high, 2” (6cm) wide and 1” (4cm) deep, motorcycle measures over 1” (3cm) high, 2” (6cm) long and 1” (3cm) wide.

The suitcase was easy enough for him to open, and inside were the instructions and two packages of LEGOs: one with the number 1 on it, and the other with the number 2. We opened the instructions and started building the set together. I told him that we have other sets where you can build whatever you want, but for this set, I wanted him to at least start with building the kits like they have in the instruction book. 

He enjoyed how the smaller blocks fit in his fingers. He spent a few minutes looking at the pieces and touching each one and experimenting with how they fit together. When he was ready, we moved on. 

I would look at each new step and ask him to get me the pieces we needed and line them up for me. Then, we'd look at the picture together and I'd ask how he thought the pieces went on. 

He would assemble the pieces for one step and then check and make sure that it looked like the photo. His commentary was pretty funny as we were doing this. "Mama, it looks like a sailboat!"

There were only a couple steps where he needed some help, and I was happy to give it to him. His fine motor skills are still somewhat behind, so this didn't surprise me in the least. 

Once we got the wheels on, then the project really started taking off. This is when he got really excited because he could predict where the rest of the pieces went. 

I let him drive the truck around a little bit between steps so I could keep his attention. 

He got almost to the end and started losing interest, so we stopped for a few minutes and came back to it. 

He loved playing with the set. He would "Start" a fire and then race the fire truck and motorcycle over and put it out. I think he did this about 4 or 5 times in a row. 

He is very excited about this set and he cannot wait to set up other Lego pieces and make a whole neighborhood! 

The suitcase has removeable and repositionable dividers, which is kind of nice. The case fits the kit and pieces very well, and has lots of room to add other pieces and kits as well to take along anywhere. 

Overall, he did a great job. LEGO is marketing these Juniors products to 4-7 year olds, and I think that might be about right, although I can't really imagine my 7 1/2 year old nephew really caring if he had the Juniors set or not since he's a LEGO master and has built some of the $100 sets with 1000s of pieces by himself (but he does not have the fine motor skill delay that our kiddo has and also is a VERY visual, spatial, and artistic kiddo so LEGOs came very naturally to him). I recommend this kit, as well as the other LEGO Junior kits, and I have put several more sets on his Amazon wish list! 

Do you have a LEGO maniac at your house?