Legos

[lovemyjob]

I am looking for ideas/feedback for those of you who have school agers who play legos.

What do you do to make legos fair? There are several coveted "pieces" that the kids are always having arguments over. I need a fair way to work this issue. In the past, the rule is you can build whatever you like, but every Friday the creations get destroyed and we start again on Monday. This has been nice because my own kids have friends over on weekends and they don't have to worry about saving or taking things belonging to others.

It is no longer working. They rush to be the first on Monday to get the things they want. How can I make things fair????

[Heidi]

how many of these coveted pieces are there? Do they need all the pieces together, or are is there a way to group them?

If you could group them somehow and they'd still be usable, I'd seperate each group in small zip locks or pencil boxes.

Either that, or buy more of the most treasured ones.

I like the other rule....good compromise on that! During the week, does each sa'er have a "spot" to put his or her creation?

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

All of our creations come down at the end of the day. They are saved throughout the day during the three Center Times, but are taken apart at the end.

[familyschoolcare]

If it is older schol agers and not mostly or all kindys. I would tell the children they must come up with a way to solve this problem by 4:30 PM this friday or

you will put the legos away untill they do solve the problem. If it was mostly or all younger school agers I would sit them down and explain that this is not

working and we (meaning them) need to come up witha solution ad soon, I would then guide them into a fair solution.

[Childminder]

Remove the coveted ones from collection completely for a while. We call it toys in time out.

[cheerfuldom]

We have a couple pieces like that (not legos but other toys). One is the Little People pink castle with princesses! If the kids and daycare kids regularly fight over something, to be honest, I remove it from the daycare toy rotation and bring it out for my kids on the weekend only. There is a very few items that I have had to do this with. One good thing is that eventually usually my kids will get over the newness of the item and not even care too much about it when it goes back into daycare rotation. If something is fought over constantly, I get rid of it permanently. This is one reason why the daycare playroom does not have any electronic toys. I find these to cause the most issues and just got rid of all of them about a year ago.

[Heidi]

Remove the coveted ones from collection completely for a while. We call it toys in time out.

Hey...my sis calls it that, too! I think I'll add that to my repertoire!

[Willow]

Agree with Childminder.

I refuse to micromanage bickering.

I encourage and expect especially pre-k/school aged kids to talk problems like that out and come up with a solution all on their own. I don't intervene unless the agreed upon solution isn't fair to all the kids, and then I simply implore them to reconsider who's getting the short end of the stick.

If kids fight over a toy beyond their agreed upon solution it gets pulled from the rotation for awhile.

I don't by default set rules over any toys past that. If they want them taken apart each day then fine. If they agree however to leave them day to day until they all decide they all want to build new then I could care less.

[Blackcat31]

How can I make things fair????

You don't. The only way a child will think something is fair is if they get their way and have htings as they want. Fair is NOT a concept that works well in childhood or adulthood so don't bother trying.

What I do is tell the children to figure out a way to play nicely. I don't ever use the word "fair" just nice. Play without arguing, bickering or protesting. If they cannot figure out how to play nicely, then NO ONE plays.

Just like in real life, some people are givers and some people are takers and each person has to figure out who and what they are. Speak up if you don't like something or be walked on and taken advantage of.

This method however, is something I did with SA children who have the skills to communicate and mediate their own behaviors. I wouldn't just throw a bunch of 2,3 and 4 year olds together and expect them to play nice. They need to learn the skills it takes to be nice first such as persepctive thinking, logic and empathy.

Remove the coveted ones from collection completely for a while. We call it toys in time out.

This is also a good method for solving these issues but I try to use it only as a last resort as I hate modifying the world to placate a child or group of children.

I would be more apt to NOT let any of the kids play with ANY of the pieces before I removed specific pieces...kwim?

[Childminder]

I would be more apt to NOT let any of the kids play with ANY of the pieces before I removed specific pieces...kwim?

…Is this not modifying?

[Blackcat31]

…Is this not modifying?

LOL!! Probably. But I guess I figured it was more like "eliminating"..... so I don't have to listen to them fight. LOL!