Has anyone ever grown out of Lego?

[Janeway]

Making a poll for a friend. She loves light houses, and I told her buy it now and put it up and someday, her grandson will be old enough. He is 4 yrs old right now and already building with the 5-11 age sets. Lighthouse set is for 8 and up. SO>>>question is..is there any chance..has there been anyone boy in the history of time who grew out of Legos? ONLY for kids who were already in to it, not for kids who were never in to it in the first place.

Edited November 21, 2016 by Janeway

[JustEm]

My cousins and nephews certainly did as did a teen(prior to teen years) who's family I pet sit for. I think they're crazy but it has meant we've been given many free sets from them

Edited November 21, 2016 by hjffkj

[MEmama]

Mine was never interested, does that count?

[Guest]

Mine was never interested, does that count?

That's more what I've seen. The kids who 'grew out of them' only played with them very casually when younger. The ones who can spend three hours building things when they're in second grade? Nah, they pretty much love them forever. Even my husband is game to sit down and build with the kids, there is something very satisfying about the simplicity of Legos.

[Mimm]

A couple of my adult brothers still collect some sets.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

If we could afford it, I'd buy and get all the Lego Star Wars in existence.... for myself.  :-)  My BIL is 48 and buys himself sets.  

[bettyandbob]

The kids I knew the grew out of Lego weren't that into them in the first place. 

 

there are 7 year olds that like Legos and there are 7 year olds that LIKE legos. I think you can tell early on if a child is going to keep playing with them. 

[QueenCat]

LOL.......... my 23 year old builds with legos to relax.

[TechWife]

LEGO is not something one grows out of. Some people watch football games or golf, others build LEGO. It's an amazing hobby for many people.

[Janeway]

Mine was never interested, does that count?

Nope. This is only a poll for those who were in to it, did they grow out of it. If they were never in to it, they cannot grow out of it.

[MEmama]

Nope. This is only a poll for those who were in to it, did they grow out of it. If they were never in to it, they cannot grow out of it.

My brother was super into Lego as a kid, but definitely grew out of it before his teen years. I've never known anyone over maybe 12 max still play with it. But obviously some people do.

[UCF612]

I don't see my oldest ever outgrowing them. He wants a career as a Lego designer and he'd be really, really good at it. My youngest might outgrow them someday but even if he did I think he'd still enjoying building a set now and then if he was into that set's theme.

[Julie Smith]

My kids enjoy lego a bit, we have a bunch. But they have never been really into it. They prefer teddies. 

[Wabi Sabi]

My ds built a very complicated Millennium Falcon Lego kit when he was 5 years old. From the age of 4-8/9ish all he wanted were Lego sets for every holiday and birthday. He's now 12 and hasn't touched a Lego in at least 3  years. 

I hate to think of how much money we spent on Legos that are now just gathering dust (literally), but I also can't bring myself to get rid of them either. 

Edited November 21, 2016 by Wabi Sabi

[TrixieB]

I haven't grown out of playing with Lego yet.  I buy sets for myself occasionally.  . 

 

My teen who was into Lego as a younger kid still builds stuff.

 

My teen who stopped playing with Lego after they outgrew Duplo has no interest.

[AngieC]

My story is similar to those posted--Lego obsessed 4-9 and hasn't played with them in close to a year.

 

We bought a set a month ago to try to reinvigorate his interest. He enjoyed putting the set together, but hasn't touched them since.

 

We have a huge collection that is collecting dust now.

Edited November 21, 2016 by AngieC

[happypamama]

My 11yo son was VERY into Lego for many years but is less so now. Part of that is other interests that have taken over. He does sometimes still enjoy building random things with his younger brothers but isn't so much into the sets anymore. But, he started getting into them at four or five and was really, really into them, so I think a six or so year obsession is just fine. :)

[bensonduck]

I just thoroughly enjoyed myself yesterday spending the afternoon building a Star Wars set with my 8, 5 and 2 year olds. I had as much fun as they did.

 

I clearly haven't grown out of them. It remains to be seen whether my kids do. My 5 year old is absolutely obsessed right now. The 8 year old plays and builds stuff daily but it doesn't dominate her conversation and thinking the way it does for my 5 year old.

 

There is perpetually a huge blanket across my living room floor covered in Legos and partially built structures.

[Tess in the Burbs]

I think it depends on personality.  My dh still likes Lego and loves to help DS with his.  DS won't get rid of his.  I am not buying any more, he can save up his money at this point.  I thought with 15 this year he would stop playing with them....but it's just as strong an interest as a younger kid.  

 

[City Mouse]

My DS is more of a collector now. He doesn't "play" with his Levi's much anymore, but he still goes through the catalogs and pick out sets he would like to have.

I am a bit of a lego collector myself. If the sets that I wanted weren't so expensive I would have more of them.

[Carrie12345]

My oldest son never got into Legos. 

My teenage daughters like them okay.

My little boys love 'em, but they aren't teens yet.

 

More importantly, my husband and I love them!  I only discovered them as an adult. He rediscovered them as an adult.

[scholastica]

I am listening to ds(18), home from college, rummaging through his bins looking for pieces right this minute. He and his gf are going to the Lego store tomorrow. So, no I haven't seen it happen. 

[foxbridgeacademy]

DS did around 11, but he stopped playing with everything at that age.  

[Sarah CB]

My older two were obsessed with Lego. My 16 year old bought some as recently as last year. My 14 year old grew out of it by about 12. My 11 year old asked for some for Christmas last year but barely played with it and doesn't want any this year.

[Pippen]

Ds was obsessed with Lego from ages 5-10. As in, played with it for hours and hours and hours every single day.

 

By 11, he was done. It's packed away waiting for my nephew to grow into it. Ds wasn't into Lego robotics, and we couldn't afford the architectural sets he might otherwise enjoyed, so when his need for imaginative play ran out, so did the interest in Lego.

 

i can't say I regret not having lego and lego pieces everywhere; it was a wonderful hobby while it lasted though.

 

Ditto, but mine lasted until age 12. He did buy himself a small set when the Star Wars movie came out, but hasn't touched our big tub of Legos in years.

[Lucy the Valiant]

DH's theory: There's a "dark ages" period when kids who were true Lego lovers temporarily lose interest for a few years, usually late middle school / high school / early college (it varies), and then the true Lego lovers pick it back up and become AFOL (Adult Fans Of Legos - it's a real thing, and there are hundreds of online connections for it).

 

So his advice to parents is that if a kid played with the Legos for more than 2 years as a child, save them (if you have room) until he or she graduates from college and gets his/her own house and THEN decide. :) He still has every Lego set he ever received throughout childhood and appreciates receiving them as gifts, even as an adult. It's a good hobby to share with kids, too. :)

[Dmmetler]

My DD is less into them at almost 12 than she was at, say 6. She still enjoys building, has no desire to get rid of the sets she has, but has no new sets on her wishlist this year (there are a few minifigs that she wants, but no whole sets).

[lanalouwho]

One does not simply grow out of Lego.

Just FYI, I'm imagining a LoTR meme to accompany that.

 

Sent from my HTCD160LVW using Tapatalk

[Ausmumof3]

Well in the box it says age 4-99 ... So if you turn 100 you've outgrown Lego

[Melissa in Australia]

My oldest took his Technic Lego to University with him.

[Melissa B]

My son is 11 and has grown out of them. He has plans to put them all on eBay, maybe over the summer. 

 

My brother never outgrew Legos. He still has many of his sets and is thrilled to have two sons to share them with in a few years.

[Ali in OR]

I haven't outgrown them yet. I took the childhood legos that belonged to all 4 of us kids (one big box) probably when I was in my early 20's. But I will say that I'm not interested in just anything lego--it has to be of intrinsic interest. I always built houses from basic pieces (no house kits back in the day), and I still like buildings. My kids started getting Harry Potter sets when they were still slightly on the young side--that's okay, I wasn't going to let them build them anyway! They could play with them after I built them. That worked the first year anyway--by the second year they were ready to build and only reluctantly let me help! Now we're on to the Christmas sets--I could see getting those for myself even as an empty nester. So I vote once a builder, always a builder.

[Aras]

My ds13 still builds with his legos, as does my dd12. They build whatever they were supposed to once, then it gets take apart and becomes any number of things. There was a time when he played with them less, but I think it was because he was frustrated that he couldn't find the pieces he wanted. I guess it would be the equivalent of trying to work in a workshop and all of your tools and supplies are in a lump on the floor. So the whole family spent about 3 weeks sorting his crates of legos into the smaller bins you find in fishing tackle boxes. We used 12 fishing tackle boxes! But now they can easily find what they are looking for and they generally put things back where they go. 

[Tap]

Ds22 definitely loved Legos and Bionicles as a young kid.  He outgrew them around 12yo.  We still have them, but definitely didn't really play with them after that age.  He will play with a younger kid, like his sister and build something with her, but not a big solo project.

[MomatHWTK]

I bought a Yellow Submarine set for my DH this year. ; )

[kroe1]

I bought the Disney Cinderella castle for me recently. DS36 still asks for the big Lego Star War sets for Christmas. He keeps them built and will not let his own sons play with them. Lol.

[SparklyUnicorn]

One of mine did.  He's 14 and I think the last time he was interested he was 10. 

 

I personally can't stand building Legos.  I helped my younger kid for years and it was pure torture to me. 

[J-rap]

The boys I've known who really loved them (including my ds) began to outgrow them once they had more extra-curricular stuff to do.  For my ds that was in 7th grade, when he began swimming, being in community theater, etc.  So, it's not like he lost interest, but he slowly became so involved with other things that he no longer had time to sit and build his amazing creations.  And then life just took off and he never got back into them again.  I would think that's fairly typical?

 

 

Edited November 22, 2016 by J-rap

[mamaraby]

My ds (not quite 12) still plays with Legos. His holiday gift list was pretty much Legos, books, and clothes. My girls are into Legos in equal measure. We have bought more Lego sets than I can count.

 

I would imagine in a year or so, the kid in the OP would be more than capable of assembling the 8-11 year old sets. My 6yo dd can easily assemble most Lego sets. Aside from when kids are little and choking is a concern, do people actually follow the age ranges on the box?

 

ETA: I have always wanted one of the architectural sets. Does that count?

Edited November 22, 2016 by mamaraby

[athomeontheprairie]

The boys I've known who really loved them (including my ds) began to outgrow them once they had more extra-curricular stuff to do.  For my ds that was in 7th grade, when he began swimming, being in community theater, etc.  So, it's not like he lost interest, but he slowly became so involved with other things that he no longer had time to sit and build his amazing creations.  And then life just took off and he never got back into them again.  I would think that's fairly typical?

 

I would agree with this. And our experience is the same.

 

I LOVED lego. Until High school-then school and work overtook my life. Once I had kids, well, the lego is back.

 

My 17yo bil loves lego. But between sports, school, work, chores he certainly doesn't have time to build. They've been put up. But bring him to our house, and he'll happily sit and play for hours with his younger nephews and nieces.

 

I think there's a difference between "I like legos but don't currently have time in my life for them" and "I'm so glad I don't play with those anymore"

[The Girls' Mom]

Apparently not.  

Today, out of the blue, my 16 y.o. dd climbed up into the attic, brought down their box of old Legos, and then she, her twin sister, and her 20 year old sister sat and played with Legos for three hours.