I loved this set of comic panels and I enjoyed reading this interview. However, while I originally loathed the idea of LEGO Friends, in practice, I actually like the line and the additional lines for girls that its spawned. (Note that Im a builder and collector and not a parent, but I am nevertheless keenly interested in the future of girls in STEM.) First, the Friends line isnt dumbed-down from a building perspective. The sets are as complex as other sets marked for that age range, with appropriately interesting building techniques. They are not juniorized. They are thoughtfully detailed. Second, the Friends line itself has branched out to offer not just Heartlake (basically the equivalent of the City line, albeit with a girl-interest spin substituting for the police/fire/rescue obsession that seems to have plagued City in the last few years), but also a Jungle series. The Jungle series has adventure playsets where the Friends girls go and rescue animals. Third, the Friends style is now being used for the Disney Princesses line. I cringe a little bit at some of the things that have been done here from a set choice standpoint, but well, its Disney Princesses, which has certain implications. If your child is going to play with Disney Princess stuff, it might as well be in LEGO form. I owe the Tangled amusingly-euphemistically-named Rapunzels Tower of Creativity (as opposed to, you know, Rapunzels Tower of Horrible Abusive Imprisonment), which is a well-constructed playset full of lots of little details. At the moment it sits on my desk as a display piece. (Sadly, the kittens love it. The testament to the sturdy construction is that they have not yet been able to break it.) Fourth, this year LEGO has added a new line called Elves, using the Friends style. Its fantasy-themed and thus far the sets look beautiful. (Theres even a cool single-mast sailing ship in hues of blue.) One of the interesting issues, I suspect, in designing for girls is that most girls arent as into vehicular play, and LEGO has become *really* dependent in recent years on vehicles. That means that every set in the girl-oriented lines is pretty much a playset. Vehicles, when they appear, are basically a setting -- campers, yachts, and so forth. But there also really need to be more girls (ponytails, so to speak) in the mainline sets as well, including in the sets specifically targeted at boys. The sets for girls do include male figures, and it benefits children of both genders to have both genders representated in the figures they play with. Research from the past that indicates that boys, especially, wont play with girl-figures or anything associated with girls, may not be as relevant now that more and more parents are raising children with the expectation of gender-equality.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 20:58:09 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015