How To Build A Better Friendship

LEGO Friends

Maybe I should confess up front that as a child I don’t think I ever put together a LEGO construction from the instructions, I just built whatever took my fancy. I’m like that now with flat pack furniture.

Following Miss8’s birthday party, a couple of her closest friends stayed behind for a bit of a play date. Usually this involves the destruction of bedrooms, arguments and screaming because…well, kids.

But not this day. Because we had a plan.

Lady luck had landed two identical LEGO Friends sets (Mia’s Roadster) in our hot little hands, so we decided the girls could have a little fun with them.

“You girls pair up and we’ll see who can complete their set first,” we told them.

The rules were simple. First to finish,wins. To help them if they got stuff they even had three lifelines per team – Ask Your Mother, Ask Someone Else’s Mother and Ask Your Father. As I was the only dad on site I expected to be called on quite heavily for my construction advice.

So you can imagine my surprise at being an hour into the build, with everyone having used two of their lifelines to find the right piece in a pile of bits or fit it to the right spot, and no-one had asked me a goram thing.

Heads were down and little faces were concentrating on finding the right pieces and fitting them together. To be honest I worried they would lose interest after the first half hour ticked by, but if anything they were even more into the game. There were little looks stolen at their competitor’s efforts to see if they were ahead or behind and hushed discussions and giggles on both ends of the table.

Another surprise was how neck and neck the whole thing was. I thought one group, specifically the one without Miss5, would shoot ahead, but the instructions were clear enough that she was just as quick as Miss8 on the other team at finding the required blocks.

I was super impressed at how much fun they were all having.

Without me.

“Daddy,” said Miss8 when there was less than thirty pieces of LEGO left on the table, and I got really excited about finally being asked to help.

I leaned over her shoulder and studied the instructions.

“What’s up, love?” I asked her. “You need to know where that bit goes?”

“No,” she said, snapping the boot, which can open and shut, into place.

“Well, what can I do for you?” I asked eagerly, ready to display to Tracey and the other mothers how LEGO savvy I am.

“I dropped a wheel,” said Miss8, her fingers busily reaching for the windscreen her friend was handing her and then pushing it into place. “Can you pick it up for me please?”

In all it took each team a touch over an hour to finish their LEGO Friends and no one really cared who won (although against all odds it was the team with Miss5 on it) they were just happy with their own achievements.

“I’m super impressed,” I said to Tracey later when everyone had gone home and I was playing with the Roadster and it’s workable boot. “They really enjoyed that and, even better, they finished without any real help at all.”

“You know what this means?” Tracey asked me. I thought maybe she was thinking we could set the girls up with a LEGO Friends set sometime and sneak off for a nap, but no.”Next time we bring a bit of furniture home in a flatpack box,” she grinned, “the girls can act as your lifelines.”

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 LEGO Friends have given me three packs to give away, which each include LEGO Friends Bunny & Babies, LEGO Friends Olivia’s Garden Pool and LEGO Friends Vet Clinic. Each pack is valued at $55.97. All you need to do is answer the question, What LEGO Friends set would you like to see released? in the comment section of this post and include the hashtag #LEGOFriendsLove after your answer. Don’t forget to register in this Rafflecopter widget either so I can contact you if you win. GOOD LUCK!

 

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It really does make a difference. Thanks.

“Raising a family on little more than laughs”

A super BIG heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated. I could easily have given out another three prizes and still felt like I hadn’t rewarded all the bestest entries.

The three winners are……..(these .’s are drum beats) ……………

……………………………(so this is a drum roll)…………………………..

…………………………………(just sayin’)…………………………………….

BRENT 

Lego Buffy Friends – Buffy had a powerful set of friends and plenty of accessories to go along with it. The great thing being, you could cross it over with the previous monster hunter line of Lego. And seriously, who doesn’t want to see a dark brooding Lego version of Angel. Also, Willow’s magik shop would fit right in, next to the Friends vet clinic in Sunnydale.

SAM  

I would love to see a Wonderland set…. Alice, the Mad Hatter, etc  My daughter would go nuts. 

STACEY 

I have two new nieces and I’d love them to have an awesome LEGO character like Amelia Airheart with her own plane to inspire them to do great things. 

145 Comments

  • Hi there!
    I would love to see the LEGO Friends Vet Clinic released! My 6 year old loves animals and LEGO and this would suit her amazingly!!
    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • Wouldn’t it be great to have a lego set that had girls as astronauts, or Firewomen – rather than the typical stereotypes that they tend to have!

    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • Always such great entertainment for the Kids and partly educational. Better than them sitting around playing computer games. I would love to win a set for my Nieces. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I love it when my two sit and construct using Lego. Whether they use the instructions or their imaginations let’s face it; it gives me 30 minutes of quiet time to enjoy my coffee. Win/win.

  • I love it when my two sit and construct using Lego. Whether they use the instructions or their imaginations let’s face it; it gives me 30 minutes of quiet time to enjoy my coffee. Win/win. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I would love to see a LEGO Friends set with LEGO girl & boy scientists in their lab carrying out fun science experiments while playing.#LEGOFriendsLove

  • Lego Buffy Friends

    Buffy had a powerful set of friends and plenty of accessories to go along with it. The great thing being, you could cross it over with the previous monster hunter line of Lego. And seriously, who doesn’t want to see a dark brooding Lego version of Angel. Also, Willow’s magik shop would fit right in, next to the Friends vet clinic in Sunnydale.

    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I asked my 3.5 year old girl what kind of Lego Friends she would like … and she just ignored me and kept playing with her guitar! So I’m guessing a hippie playing an acoustic guitar in a coffee shop style Lego set would be right up her alley!

    I know she loves Lego … I’m constantly stepping on bits of Lightning McQueen or Mater Lego that was handed down to her by her cousins.

  • I asked my 3.5 year old girl what kind of Lego Friends she would like … and she just ignored me and kept playing with her guitar! So I’m guessing a hippie playing an acoustic guitar in a coffee shop style Lego set would be right up her alley!

    I know she loves Lego … I’m constantly stepping on bits of Lightning McQueen or Mater Lego that was handed down to her by her cousins.

    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • #LEGOFriendsLove I’d really love to see a farm with vegetable plants, fruit trees, chickens etc It’s just something so many kids don’t make the connection to these days 🙂

  • We don’t own any lego friends sets (yet), but I always like ones that resemble everyday. I’d love to have a school for our kids to pretend play with. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I think its time Lego friends stepped up a notch to include some electronics like the boys have .. a Ferris wheel or carousel that move maybe some lighting that can be added to the already great range, a conveyor belt to go with the car wash ?

  • My 11yo is a mad collector of Lego Friends. Her suggestion for a new set is a hospital. Combining her two loves of Legi, and looking after people. I don’t want her to grow up! Keep up the #LEGOFriendsLove

  • Lego Friends in a bakery! I love appliances no matter how small they are. I have two little girls who help me bake every day and this would be awesome in our house. #LEGOfriendslove

  • i know my kids would agree with me because they are bigger fans then I am, but how about a Firefly themed set?
    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I’d like to see a Lego Friends set with traditionally female based settings, that are not based on pink/purple/pastel colour schemes released….girls like blue too!
    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • #LEGOFriendsLove I would love to see LEGO friends in gender neutral colours scrap the pink/purple box. Lego in general needs to stop catering to gender stereotypes.

  • I’d love to see a LEGO Friends Health Clinic where the LEGO people can come to vaccinate their babies, and fix lost arms and legs. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • #LEGOFriendsLove
    New sets that would appeal to Aussie girls would be a netball team, Surf Lifesavers, an orchestra, a rollercoaster, and I loved a previous suggestion about a farm with trees, animals and a veggie patch.

  • #LEGOFriendsLove A LEGO Friends set based on zoo theme where Lego friends go on a zoo safari and have lots of fun.

  • #LEGOFriendsLove
    my twin boy is always playing with his lego. My twin girl is always looking longingly. would love to see some Lego Friends cops and robbers, astronauts or mechanics. Anything that requires my daughter to build something other than a shop or a cruise ship. And yes, would love some that moves with mechanics in it!

  • Having 3 girls who are all into Lego Friends they each had an idea. Miss9 would like to see a library, Miss6 thinks a music store and Miss3 a fun fair setting. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • A Lego friends crocodile feeder (Miss 4’s chosen career, my own little wildlife warrior lol)!!!! Think a female version of Steve Urwin!!! #LEGOfriendsLove

  • My 3.5 yr old would love Doctors. always play at being a doctor and making sure that we are ok lol. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • We would love lego friends tikki island party set, with grass skirts, tikki masks statues and coconut trees. #LEGOfriendsLove

  • I would love to see a Lego Friends hospital and ambulance set. I’d love to see Olivia as the Dr coz she is my daughter’s favourite character (I know she’s supposed to be school-age, but she could be on work-experience maybe?) Other characters could be included as nurses or patients #LEGOfriendsLove

  • I would love to see a Lego Friends hospital and ambulance set. I’d love to see Olivia as the doctor coz she is my daughter’s favourite character (I know she’s supposed to be school-age, but she could be on work-experience maybe?). Other characters could be included as nurses or patients. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I’d love to see a Lego Friends hospital and ambulance set. I’d love to see Olivia as the doctor coz she is my daughter’s favourite character (I know she’s supposed to be school-age, but she could be on work-experience maybe?). Other characters could be included as nurses or patients. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • Haha. Sorry about the duplicates. It kept coming up as an error so I’d write it again and then it came up 3 times. Oops. ;P

  • I would live to see a fairytale/mythology Lego Friends set, with dragons and fairies and castles…and empowered girls who are knights and leaders and goddesses, not just pretty and princesses 🙂

  • I would love to see a fairytale/mythology Lego Friends set, with dragons and fairies and castles…and empowered girls who are knights and leaders and goddesses, not just pretty and princesses #LegoFriendsLove

  • I’m thinking my daughter would love a daycare set of #LEGOfriendslove as she always plays looking after babies with her barbies 🙂

  • My boys would love a mine lego friends with the trucks, dozers, hard hats etc. So they can pretend to do what their daddy does, and when he is home he can show them what he does. Fifo family. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • My 4 year old daughter would like to see some musician Lego Friends. I just love watching my husband’s face when he puts his work boots on and there is lego inside!!

  • A LEGO Friends restaurant/cafe suggests my 6year old who wants to be a waitress like Andrea #LEGOFriendsLove

  • My 4 year old daughter would like to see some musician Lego Friends. I just love watching my husband’s face when he puts his work boots on and there is lego inside!! #LEGOFriendslove

    sorry for the duplicate but I forgot the hashtag

  • #LegoFriendsLove is an amazing tool for teaching my daughter construction, maths, team work and well having fun with dad. Every new set that hits the shelves is a lesson in budgeting and saving to purchase and then time management in organizing homework so that it can be built then we add in town planning and where we will actually place the said set into our city of friends. Who needs human friends when you have Lego although it is fun to build with someone else too.

  • I would love to see lego friends classroom. My girls love playing teachers. #LEGOfriendslove

  • Miss 10 would love to see a gymnastics Lego friends set or Wizard/Magic (Harry Potter inspired)Lego friends 🙂

    #LegoFriendsLove

  • #LEGOFriendsLove having a son with Autism and delays of the like I think it would be good if there was a Lego Friends set that had little Lego people with disabilities.
    Maybe a little lego person in a wheel chair and a house with a ramp. Maybe a lego person with a broken arm or a missing limb.
    Sounds harsh but true friendship is supporting people through their darkest hour – discrimination free, and what better time to teach our kids that then when they are young?

  • My 7 yr old is determined to become an astronaut. An “On the Moon” set would be awesome! We’ve been on the webcam to the International Space Station and watched NASA tutorials to encourage her. It helps to “see what you want to be”.
    #LegoFriendsLove

  • Lego is awesome! My two little ones love theirs, its always part of their birthday/Christmas presents! Girl superhero lego would be amazing!! #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I would love for Lego friends to put out more sets with planes and cars. Not just the stereotypical girl things. My daughter loves to put her brothers lego cars together. She plays with his Lego more than the girl stuff she was bought

  • I’d like to see a Lego Friends Pirate set released 🙂 Would definitely buy that for my little girl. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I’d like to see sporty Lego Friends sets – basketball, cycling, archery, golf, netball, tennis, swimming…I could go on, but I won’t.

    #LEGOfriendsLove

  • Would love a LEGO friends Agents of Shield Lab/Avengers set made. It would be awesome! #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I would LOVE to see a Lego Friends Builder set. Our 11 year old wants to design and build houses when she grows up. She wants to have the tool belt and be completely hands on.

  • How about super hero female characters, like Batwoman, Supergirl etc. They have boy super hero sets already! #LEGOFriendsLove. My husband would enjoy this too.

  • I would love the release of LEGO friends vet clinic! My 5 year old nephew aspires to be a veterinarian when he grows up so this will be good fun for him :). #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I would like to see a Lego Family Village with baby, sister, brother, mum, dad, grandma and grandad from different racial backgrounds.
    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I’d love to see a Lego Friends camping trip or race set (karts or cars) my girls love making camps under books for their lego and designing cars. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I would love to see Lego friends courthouse with women featuring as judge and at least one female lawyer. More woman than men are being admitted as lawyers in NSW and most kids don’t understand the role of the law in the justice system beyond cops and robbers. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • ‘Bestie Bust Up’ it always happens, either a short term split or permanent if the spat is over something of substance and not superficial fluff as most blow ups tend to be! Be good to release a Lego friends set that’s realistic, painting life as it is and can be.

    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • Our little miss just likes playing with the girls, usually with her brother and in batmans cave instead of the juice bar or soccer pitch…though I think most of hers are missing pieces now…particularly their hair. She’d like the bunny and baby idea though…or a Lego Friends/Superhero crossover….Stephanie’s secret hideout? Olivia’s Underground Lair? These are Lego friends right? Lol.
    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • Not sure that it exactly fits the lego friends but both my 4 y.o. and 7 y.o would love Ben and Holly lego – the little castle, the great elf tree, Gaston’s cave etc…#LEGOFriendsLove

  • Miss 5 would like a mermaid scene and Miss 9 would like a hospital. I love Lego friends, my kids save up all their money to buy Lego and it is a continual favourite in our house. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • Little Miss is obsessed with the fire station at the end of our street. Would love to see a set with women firies to give her extra inspiration #LEGOFriendsLove

  • (Hey Bruce! Delete if this has doubled up somewhere)

    While I am bias towards the Buffy Set suggested above (and next to Vet Clinic would be perfect for the Pet Cemetery Reboot), my suggestion is going to be an Art Gallery, complete with little canvases displayed on easels that you can “design” yourself with small LEGO pieces.

    Innocently, I love the educational and cultural aspect of this.

    Personally, I can’t wait to watch Z bring out her LEGO Duplo Joker and play out the scene from Batman (Jack Nicholson style).

    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • Who doesn’t love LEGO! I was elated discovering a range just for girls, I only wish it existed when I was a kid.
    The LEGO group of girls all have respected careers but how did they learn the ‘smarts’ to qualify? I think its almost essential that a SCHOOL be added to the range. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • My daughter would like a performance stage with a moveable curtain, microphones, seating, musical instruments and dressing rooms. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I would love a lego friends zoo with heaps of animals. My boys luv seeing animals from all over the world so they’d luv the lego friends vet clinic. ☺
    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • My girls would love a hockey set in red and white to match their own hockey team colours, a birthday party set or an owl set. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I’d love to see LEGO Friends Wizard of Oz! The whole movie is about friendship. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I’d love to see a whole range of female-empowering roles such as scientists, doctors, teachers and police officers alongside the more ‘traditional’ roles females often get lumbered with in these playsets. Please!
    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • Id love to see lego friends wonder women or supergirl girls need to know they can be heros 2

  • I would love to see a Wonderland set…. Alice, the Mad Hatter, etc 🙂 My daughter would go nuts. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • Most of us would have grown up with Lego in one form or another, so this would be great to pass onto the next generation the love and passion for all things Lego.

  • Instead of the typical pony’s, hair saloons & cafés, my daughter would love bike riding & fishing

  • Lego friends how to clean your room. I’ve no doubt they could do it with Lego and then implement it into real life!

  • We’re huge Lego kids here and ce rating a 4th birthday today I suspect more to come (just need a better way to store/pack up). I also think Lego is starting to buck the gender stereotypes. I’d like to see of that, with males and females in the same set perhaps. The girl astronaut/scientist idea is great too. My miss 6 wants to be a chemist so she’d love that. #LEGOfriendslove

  • I have two new nieces and I’d love them to have an awesome LEGO character like Amelia Airheart with her own plane to inspire them to do great things. #LEGOfriendsLove

  • I think an empowering role model, like an emergency services unit, pilot or an adventurer would be great additions to the range!
    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I would like to see a hospital/doctor set released, my girls and their cousins are always playing doctors so they would love it! Great for both genders too 🙂

    #LegoFriendsLove

  • I would like to see a hospital/doctor set released, my girls and their cousins are always playing doctors so they would love it! Great for both genders too 🙂

    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • My daughters would love to see a lego friends hospital (miss 9 wants to be a surgeon), and miss 7 wants to be a vet 🙂 #LEGOFriendsLove

  • Miss 9 would love to see a lego friends set with instruments (including, drums, strings and woodwind instruments) I should have guessed before even asking her…..#LEGOFriendsLove

  • #LEGOFriendsLove
    My daughter would love an art and craft set or mining, to prove girls can do anything with friends by there side.

  • my daughter would love an art/craft theme or mining as that’s what her dad does and it will show girls can do anything with friends but their side…. Girl power!!!! #LEGOFriendsLove

  • Would love to see a LEGO friends magical castle set because what little girl doesn’t love castles, princess and unicorns
    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I would like to see a scientist LEGO Friends kit. My daughter loves science and would love a LEGO kit with scientists to play with. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • My 7yr old has a couple of Lego friends sets. She would like a school please :-). #LEGOFriendsLove

  • Love building on the positive sister friendship and cooperation whilst having fun with Lego friends. Would love to see Lego ball games. #LegofriendsLove

  • Trapeze, skateboard ramp, flying school and now robot world lol makes me wanna play with lego again 🙂

  • My kids would love a Lego theme park with rollercoasters and a ferris wheel.
    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • We would love to see ?Lego friends superheroes, but non-sexy girl superheroes as well as the boy ones. I have B/G twins and I hate seeing them gender stereotyped even when I try to get them equal toys. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I would love to see Friends Supermarket Lego (think trolleys and food items), Friends Cake Shop and Friends Magazine Editor. A Friends Free Thought Creative Box would also be awesome – with a few characters and basic buildings / scenarios to create. Let their imaginations run wild.

  • I’d love to see the girls visit Enid Blighton’s faraway tree and all the crazy worlds at the top #LEGOFriendsLove

  • Would love to see a Lego friends hospital, my niece and nephew are often asking about nan and auntie’s work #LEGOFriendsLove

  • Racetrack with motorbikes, pit crew, flags and working starter light
    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • Lego Friends Dinosaur Dig! My girls are dinosaur mad, and they’d love that! #LEGOFriendsLove

  • Lego is hours of entertainment for my kids but I have never thought to make it a race what a great idea #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I’d love to see a LEGO Friends school set. Could go so any ways with that set. A school room and yard and school buses. All the extra things for the room and yard. Would be awesome!! #LEGOFriendsLove

  • A dolphin pool and rescue centre set #LEGOFriendsLove – My 4 daughters would love that. Then they would role play the Lego friends DVD episode they have.

  • My daughter loves her vet/animal friends Lego sets. I would love to see some that some can show her that women can do anything so maybe an astronaut set. That way she can truly reach for the stars
    #LEGOFriendsLove

  • My kids put together a lemonade stand recently, saving the (small) amount of money to put towards a water well for friends in the third world. I think a little stand like that would be a neat idea! #LEGOfriendslove

  • I think a scientist Lego friends set would be awesome- break the mould girls!
    #LEGOfriendslove

  • My daughter loves Lego! I would love to see a seamstress set so my daughter could play Lego like Mummy sews! #LEGOfriendslove

  • #LegoFriendsLove – something not so ‘traditionally’ female. Like a construction or quarry set or race car or superhero. The boys get exciting stuff while the girls get juice bars!

  • My girls love The a Little Mermaid so would love it if there was an underwater mermaid themed pack, complete with underwater style castle, sea creatures like dolphins, star fish, shells, and of course mermaids 🙂 Perhaps even something cool like blocks or mermaid tails that change colour when wet, so they could play with the set in a container of water when completed, and watch the magic! #LEGOFriendsLove

  • We have three beautiful daughters that love LEGO. The two older ones are also fascinated by dinosaurs… a Dino Hunter set would be a fantastic addition. Maybe even one with a mother T-Rex and babies/eggs…the games my girls would have! #LEGOFriendsLove

  • I’d love to see some Lego Friends series parallel the mainstream versions so there’s cool female characters as well – girls fighting dinosaurs, being heroes, creating great things. Like you can get a range of sets within a series but they’re all usually male characters sometimes with the token female, but some in the range have more girls or at least a dominant girl.

  • We would love to see a Lego friends school and airport! We love building! Great for fine motor skills! #LEGOfriendslove

  • what about a robotics engineer set? So many women in science shaping history from long ago. I think a science lab set with boy and girl figurines would be perfect. #LEGOFriendsLove

  • #legofriendslove
    I think its important to have sets for everyone .. so a set that includes boy & girl figures – that’s not just one colour (like pink or blue) .. toys should be for “kids” not one gender or the other 🙂

  • My four boys are all starting out in different sporting clubs so a sport themed LEGO Friends set would be fantastic!!!! Already, I have noticed competitiveness within children in the teams and they are sometimes on the same side :). It would be good to show through LEGO Friends that team members stick together and are not against each other!!! So a sportt is fun theme 🙂

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