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I'm trying to figure out when it makes sense to transition my son (and daughter, eventually) from Lego to Duplo (or the equivalent generic blocks).

I'm focused on the age at which children have the manual dexterity, fine motor strength, and focus to work with the smaller pieces.

I'm not concerned about choking risk, which is why the recommended ages on the boxes are of little help - they're almost always driven by the unsupervised "put it in your mouth" risk, and I'm interested in situations with a high degree of supervision and a child who no longer puts non-food items in his mouth.

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  • One advantage of Lego brand in particular is that the different sizes will interlock (Primo (Duplo Baby) if you can find it, Duplo, and standard Lego). The different sizes may lend themselves to different projects (larger blocks are nice for buildings, while the smaller ones could be the furniture inside or other details). Perhaps you could work on something together, with both kinds of blocks and see which hold the kids' interest and which cause frustration? I'm sure the age level for the skills mentioned vary widely.
    – Rachel Williams
    Mar 10, 2014 at 16:51
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    If they are out of choking stage, just get some LEGOs. If they start playing with them, then you know!
    – DA01
    Mar 10, 2014 at 22:37

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We started moving our son from Duplo to Lego at age 4. There was a significant overlap and he will still play with Duplo now (he is almost 6). We tend to concentrate on buildings since you tend to get the car kits for birthdays (he got two helicopters last birthday). He was able to do a Lego house kit at 4.5 with assistance.

The next transition is from Lego to Technics - I'm guessing this is at least another year or more away.

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