George Chan
Sept. 9, 2000
**********
Definition
There comes a time in life where parents have to stop their kids from playing with toys. Now the question is what is the definition of toys? At what age should we restrict our children? Well, many kids in our day and age are playing with LEGOs, which are building blocks for the kids’ imagination. A toy is also diversionary object meant to keep kids entertained and out of trouble, many believe that it serves no educational purposes, and that when kids reach a certain age they should stop playing with these “toys”. Now in the year 2000, LEGOs aren’t only for kids, but are now used as a learning tool for teens and young adults. The LEGO Company doesn’t only produce the normal geometric blocks that everyone knows about. But they produce a wide variety of sets that incorporate technology and electronics. These sets that the Lego Company produces are specifically tailored to enhance the ingenuity of the young adults minds. From the basic LEGO set which is a tub of geometric blocks, to the revolutionary LEGO robotics introduced in the late 90’s, and further more to the LEGO interactive CD’s.
Although I understand views of parents and young adults on LEGOs, I still believe it is not a toy. A toy would not belong in a High school Electronics lab, a toy would not involve the fundamentals of mechanics and electronics, and a toy would never be as complex as involving hundreds of pieces and involve hours of construction.
LEGOs serve a fundamental role in the education of kids, from preschoolers to elementary school kids. LEGOs in this case serve a unique function in developing kids’ motor functions by having them move and manipulate the blocks. Also it develops their hand eye coordination by having them stare at pictures and build replicas of the picture. Most importantly it builds their minds and imagination by allowing them to manipulate their objects into their own creation. Would a toy necessarily build all those functions? Probably not.
After the kids pass through their first stage in development, a whole plethora of sets are available. The LEGO Company produces the Medieval, explorer and rescue sets. These sets allow the impressionable youth minds to develop an interest in a particular field. For example, exploration sets are there to entice kids to explore and be adventurous. The sets are limited to the extent of the kids’ imagination, but there are have many choices of sets to choose from. The different sets allow kids to improve their visual acuity in hunting down pieces and referring to the visual blueprints.
The LEGO Medieval set allows kids to explore history and see what they had in comparison to what we have now. Besides that the set teaches them about the hierarchy of the medieval society. With the basic medieval set the kids had the ability to build castles, paramount, and figure out how a drawbridge works with the different pulleys and levers. Besides just building the basic LEGO castle the kids could try and design new Medieval machinery weaponry or even structures. This set is meant to entice kids appetite for learning about history and may even lead them into a field of history from historian to historical preservationist.
The LEGO explorer sets include the research vessels, geologists and many others dealing with exploration. The exploration sets allow kids to see what happens when people explore. What tools they use and what equipment. The deep-sea exploration sets include, deep-sea laboratories, submarines and even research vessels. With this set kids can understand the fundamentals of buoyancy, marine life and studies. Which can further lead them into a marine biology or a marine engineering major in college.
Now the LEGO rescue sets include police fire and rescue sets with in each set. The importance of these sets is to show that the people in uniform aren’t bad people, but they are there to help them. The sets can be combined to make the ultimate rescue vehicle or something even more elaborate. This set has the potential of steering kids to try and help others, to try and become and active member in a junior volunteer fire fighting company, or even have them become a civil or mechanical engineer.
The more advanced sets are the LEGO Technics and LEGO Robotics. The Technics set increase the ability to recognize how gears, pulleys, and other mechanical systems work. The Technics set allows kids to further develop their ability to imagine, and to comprehend different parts of a system. The Technics sets are more tailored towards people interested in mechanics, how different things in this world work together to create a working masterpiece. The LEGO technics can help a adolescent decide fully if they want to become an Mechanical, aerospace, or civil engineer, and many other fields that are related.
LEGO Robotics is the newest front of the LEGO industry. The robotic sets or mind-storm sets are the newest groups of LEGO. Lego Robotics introduces computer skills and abilities to improvise and innovate their designs. The LEGO mind-storm requires a person to type in commands to the robot through the use of a computer, and therefore getting them involved with computer programming. Then the mind storm also interacts with the LEGO website to get new projects for people to build and evaluate how a certain code they type in can change the actions of what the robot does. The company also states that the LEGO robotics as “An introduction to introductory principles of computer control, programming and robotics through a thematic approach” the benefits of the sets can give pupils head starts into computer sciences and engineering as stated by the LEGO Company ‘Stimulates early design, engineering and computer skills.”
Last of the LEGO line is the LEGO interactive CD. Now you must be thinking this has to be for kids. True it was originally intended for kids but the CD also allow them to design and test their designs on the interactive world. Also with the program the potential designers and computer graphics engineers would be able to see their designs work in a virtual and interactive world.
What is really interesting is that an electronics teacher at Syosset High school Mr. Borokove, uses the LEGO robotics system to demonstrate how gears, motors and computer controllers work. So if a teacher uses LEGO as a tool in education, doesn’t that mean LEGOs are not a toy? Mr. Borakove once said to me “George, when I first brought the LEGOs into this class my students thought I was crazy, but then they realized that the LEGOs had a bigger part to play in their education.” So if Mr. ********, an electronics teacher that has been teaching for 10-15 years in Syosset High School uses LEGOs as a teaching tool, would you still think that LEGOs are toys?
LEGOs are used as toys for kids but it does more than just entertain. LEGOs help the kids learn and build their abilities for imagination and problem solving. Even a teacher uses LEGOs as a teaching tool for students of the High School level. Without LEGOs in my life I don’t think I would have ever chosen the field of Mechanical Engineering, that I am studying now at Pennsylvania State University.
Steinmetz, Sol (Ed.) Random House Dictionary College Edition
New York: Random House Inc. © 1998
LEGO Company “LEGO FAQ page” Http://www.lego.com
