Pet Shop too hard for a 6 year old?

[realdane]

My soon to be 6 year old really want the Pet Shop modular for his upcoming birthday. He is very good at building by himself and can follow instructions. He doesn't have any big or hard sets yet. Log cabin, and Hagrid's Hut is the extent of it right now.

 

I'm wondering if the Pet Shop will be too difficult for him and cause frustration. I'm leaning towards a couple of medium sets instead like the fire or police station. There's obviously part of me that really want the Pet Shop so I can build it with him : )

 

Does anyone have personal experience with younger kids building the modulars by themselves?

 

Thanks

[JoshTX]

Welcome to Brickpicker. If you want to get him the Pet Shop I'd say do it, but help him build it together.

[Darth Lego]

Welcome to the site!

Every kid is different. One of my 2nd cousins was 6 when he built his first modular almost all by himself. Another one of my cousins was 8 and he needed a lot of help with his modular. The 6 year old had already built two +1,000 piece sets by that time so he had some experience.

Your son hasn't built anything more than 500 pieces and the Pet Shop is rated for builders 16+ so I would get a fire/police station used to save money and see how well he builds that. If he can build that than get the Pet Shop. If he struggles it isn't the end of the world and you can buy other sets to build up his experience. (No pun intended.)

Hopefully that helps!

[Grolim]

Go for it!  I'd love it if my 5yr old, soon to be 6, wanted to try something like that.  I think Lego has really improved the quality of their instructions these days as well, they are a lot easier to follow with the inset bubbles showing parts needed for each step and plenty of smaller steps.  Not like the old school big leaps where you would have to play spot the difference between two pics and find 20-30 pieces each time.

[TheDarkness]

Buy one, give him stages to build which you check up on. When things becomes a bit more difficult then you join in

[Sauromosis]

Get it. Like books, it's good to stretch oneself and try to read something at a more advanced level.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

Welcome to Brickpicker. If you want to get him the Pet Shop I'd say do it, but help him build it together.

 

Only way to find out is to get it and help him build it. Could be really good for him.

[Quacs]

I don't see an issue with giving it a shot.  I can tell you my 5 year old would NEVER have the patience for a modular, so that would be my only caution. 

[TheOrcKing]

I would give it a shot and let him have at it. Let him try to build it himself and help as needed unless the both of you like to build stuff together. I only say to let him try and build it himself because when it is done, he will feel an amazing sense of accomplishment. It's like finally beating Ninja Gaiden (without cheatcodes)!

[comicblast]

I think you should go for it. I haven't built something quite that large yet, but I am working my way up there. I've almost mastered building battle packs!

 

Like everyone else has said, let him start it out, and open the box, bags, throw them all over the place, etc, so it doesn't feel like dad is hogging the Pet Shop. Is there any particularly difficult part of the Pet Shop, besides the fact that it has a bunch of pieces?

[spener90]

Give it a shot! I think it would be a great experience.  The benefit of the Pet Shop is that it is split into two different parts.  Patience with building will be key though, it isn't a simple build.

[wholovesboo]

I just built this modular, actually, and here are some thoughts. 

 

I agree with the others, you never know unless you give him a try. Especially if it's the one he really wants to build. Also does he want to play with it afterwards or would he be fine with keeping it on display? If he's planning to play with it, just know that the 2 buildings are rather narrow inside (and they are separate buildings). You can "lift up" the roof and each floor to see inside, but in terms of play it may be frustrating for a child to have to keep lifting each level to go from floor to floor. Know also that the actual "pet shop" is only the first floor of the blue building. The upper two floors are a loft apartment. There is also only living room furniture on the first floor of the brown building. The second floor is empty save for a paint can and tray and a swipe of white paint on the wall, and the third floor has only 2 "moving boxes" (the idea is that someone is just moving into the building).

 

My daughter, who is a bit younger than your child, was with me when I bought the Pet Shop, and she was very excited about it, and it crossed my mind that maybe I could build it with her. When I opened the box however, I quickly changed my mind. My daughter has some experience following directions with the Princess set and the pink suitcase, but the Pet Shop would have overwhelmed her due to the sheer number of pieces. She also wouldn't have the patience to follow through. It takes several hours of building. Your child is older, and he has much more experience, but you may find that your assistance is required, especially in the beginning. If there's a way to help him sort out all the pieces before he starts building, that would really help because I found rooting through the plastic bags rather frustrating (There's like 6 bags per section -- four have the section number ("1") on them, the other two are within one of the numbered bags). Also I found that the colors used to represent the black bricks and dark gray bricks in the instruction booklets were hard to tell apart.

 

Anyway, that's just my experience...I hope it works out for you and your son!

[realdane]

Thank you for all the thoughts guys. I have watched reviews of the set on youtube so I have a good understanding of playability. My son actually likes to build more than he likes to play with the LEGO. I think we might give it a shot but we'll see. He's turning 6 so his birthday wishlist could change : )