Best Gifts for Grandson - Books and Legos

Classic Brick Box - train instructions included

My grandson's birthday passed a couple of months ago. I have come to realize that he has really enjoyed gifts of both books and Legos. Because of his enjoyment of these two things, I will continue to add to his collections for several holidays and birthdays to come. Whether you are looking for gifts for boys or girls, aged 4 to 99, books and Legos are great ideas. But based on my grandson's reaction, books and Legos are most excellent gifts for grandsons.

Legos Building Sets and Basic Brick Box Sets

I am a long distance grandparent, so I experience many holidays and birthdays through photos, phone calls, and video chats. Even many states away and through photos, I could see the extreme happiness on my grandson's face as he held up the Lego Batman Movie - Joker Lowrider kit that he had received from his uncle.

Lego Batman Movie - Notorious Joker Lowrider

That was his first Lego kit. And after seeing the genuine smile on his face with that Lego kit, I sent him a Classic Medium Creative Brick Box. Soon after he opened his gift, my son sent a photo of the little train that they built together with the instructions included in the Brick Box. It was fun to know that my gift was something they had spent time together to build.

Legos Medium Classic Brick Box

Books to Encourage Reading and Quality Time Together

I have read to my grandson during video chats. And my son has spent a great deal of time reading to his son. As a result, books seem to be important and interesting to my grandson.

During this last video chat a few days ago, my grandson "read" his favorite book to me for a long period of time. He was focused and excited. He also took great care to hold the book up so that Gramma could see the pictures too. 

Bedtime reading to Gramma

It was a heart-warming and wonderful way to spend time together. The book he chose to read to Gramma was about creatures under the sea. Not only was he spending time with a book, he was also spending time teaching Gramma about his fascination of sea creatures.

You can be sure that Gramma will remember to send him books about creatures under the sea.

More Lego and Children's Books Reviews from our Contributors

Our contributors at Review This share reviews about children's toys and books. It seems that every one of us believes that nurturing children's interest in reading is a wonderful thing. And that providing toys that nurture creativity is also a very important thing. 

We can spend quality time with our children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and other children who are important in our lives. Below are resources to find some of those books and toys. 

Our Wednesday Elf reviews children's books which have become classics over the decades. She reviews books that have endured over time as family favorites -Children's Classics that many of us have read to our children.

Toy Treasures is a gift guide for "Toys that Capture Our Attention and Hold Our Hearts". The site lists a variety of toy categories and the Lego category showcases a variety of specialized sets as well as basic collections.

The Holiday Gift Guide Directory is a compilation of gift resources and gifts reviews by our contributors. The all-occasion gifts in this list are honest reviews and reviews or placement in this directory cannot be purchased.

And last but not least, don't forget to check out the Toy Reviews tab on Review This for a variety of toy reviews for all ages and occasions. I have to admit, I am more than a little tempted to gift myself with the Lego Big Bang Theory set reviewed by our Beverly.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Lego Big Bang Theory Reviewed

Fun Legos Set For Grown-ups and Kids

Close-up of Lego Big Bang Theory Box

I just treated myself to the Lego Big Bang Theory set. No, I didn't buy it for the grandkids, I bought it for myself! I am a huge fan of the TV series The Big Bang Theory and I have loved Legos since my kids were little and we played with the plastic bricks together. When my girls were small there were no sets of Legos like there are now. We had to use our own creativity to make things. Once the grandchildren came along, Legos got even more interesting with the wonderful sets to complete. Trust me, this Grandma has purchased loads of those sets for the granddaughters! Suffice it to say, Grandma had just as much fun with the building as the girls did!

As I mentioned before, I am an avid fan of The Big Bang Theory on television. Just about every night in the hour before prime time viewing begins; my husband and I watch the syndicated reruns of the show. I started noticing that they were doing promos using Lego characters to promote the Lego Batman movie and one evening I said to my hubby, "I wish they had a real set for the Big Bang Theory." My husband replied in his logical way with, "Well, they must have one because they are showing them like they do." After rolling my eyes just a tad, I picked up my cell phone and looked it up on Amazon. Much to my delight, there is one! Ask me how long it took to hit the "buy" button! If you said, "No longer than it takes to log in." ... you would be correct!

Just opened Lego Big Bang Theory box

So, it came yesterday and of course I had to build it! The picture on the right is right after I opened the box and was ready to start building. If you haven't purchased a Legos set before, you might not know that the pieces are in numbered bags and you get an instruction book to follow. The instructions are simple for a child to follow. Basically pictures with no text are provided on each page. The page shows you a picture of the pieces that you will need for that step and then how to place them together. 

The fun thing about the instruction book for the Lego Big Bang Theory set is that there is a page that tells about the television series and a page that identifies each of the main characters of the sitcom with a picture and a short little bio. As I began building and went from page to page; I was tickled to see that every once in a while there was a small image of one of the characters with a quote from one of the episodes of the series. That was a fun little surprise!

It took me about 2 1/2 hours to completely build the set. There are a lot of little pieces to sort through but it was easy to follow the directions on each page. My only disappointment in the set is that it isn't very big and there are so many little things to build and place that it looks cramped. Because it is so small, it is really kind of hard to see everything. Then again, that is kind of fun because you have to take your time to find all of the hidden little treasures.

Lego Big Bang Theory Set

I think it is fun that they included all of the main characters in the set. There is Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, Raj, Penny, Bernadette and Amy along with Raj's little dog. All in all it was a fun set to build and it is fun to have it setting out as a conversation piece in our home.

This would make a wonderful gift for the Lego fan on your gift list, especially if they also happen to be a fan of the show The Big Bang Theory. In fact, I plan to order another one to give to my son-in-law for his birthday this year. I know he will get a real kick out of it!

View of my completed set

I thought you might enjoy seeing a view of my set on display in our living room. As you can see there is a lot of detail in this little set.

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Reviewing a Set of Basic Classic Legos

The Lego Building Bricks

Source: Wikipedia

We all know the Lego toys, beginning from our own childhood experiences, and on to the toys we gave and are giving our children and grandchildren today. The Lego, described as a construction set toy, began as a wooden toy by a carpenter (Ole Kirk Christiansen) in Denmark in 1932. He eventually called his company LEGO, from the Danish phase leg godt, which means "play well". 

When plastic was introduced for toys, the Lego Group company began the basic interlocking brick design (based on the traditional stackable wooden blocks of the time) that we know today as the LEGO.

Lego pieces are universal in that each piece remains compatible in some way with existing pieces. Also, each Lego piece is manufactured so precisely that when two pieces are put together, they fit firmly, yet can be easily disassembled.

Lego bricks from 1958 still interlock with those made in the current time, and Lego sets for young children are compatible with those made for teenagers. Six pieces of 2x4 bricks can be combined in 915,103,765 ways.~ Source: Wikipedia.

The Lego toys have evolved into a large variety of themes based on popular games, movies, books and more, such as Star Wars and Disney.  Themed sets can be found from individual vehicle sets with less than 75 pieces for under $10 to really large sets with over 900 pieces and prices over $100.

Grandson David's Birthday

(c) Wednesday Elf

Last week my grandson David celebrated his 7th birthday. David (like most kids, including all five of my grandsons) has been a Lego fan for several years and has collected several sets which he plays with almost daily. One of his favorites is a Star Wars set. 

When I asked his parents for a birthday gift suggestion, my son said that a Basic Lego set would be perfect because David, while enjoying his themed sets, has a vivid imagination and wanted to make his own designs out of Lego pieces (difficult to do when a themed set only goes together one way).

LEGO Classic Creative Supplement Set

The set of Legos I sent David for his birthday last week is this LEGO Classic Creative Supplement, which has 303 pieces in 20 different colors and includes a brick separator. It also features 2 sets of eyes for building all kinds of creatures and different shapes to use for animal arms and legs.  The set comes with an Idea book, and more ideas can be found online at LEGO.com/classic.  All models pictured can be built from this set simultaneously. 

(c) Grandson David, Age 7

As you can see by the first toy David made with his new set (a Dragon created within minutes of opening his gift), he LOVES his basic Lego set, an ideal supplement to all his other Lego collections.

Turned out to be the perfect birthday gift from Grandma.

Quick Links:

• LEGO Classic Creative Supplement on Amazon

For more Lego Reviews, check out

ReviewThisReviews: Legos

(c) Wednesday Elf - 5/14/2015

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Collectible Lego Toys Under Review

It's time to shine the review spotlight on collectible toys, specifically Lego toys. Even more specifically, some of my favorites for my own collection of Lego toys. Yes, I am a collector of toys. Not just Legos, but others types as well.

My Lego collection started by accident. I inherited my younger brother's Lego toys when he headed off to college. But that one accident opened up a whole world to me. Now, I'm always on the lookout for additions.

Lego Toy Planes

I couldn't resist adding a Lego toy plane to my wish list. The trick was trying to pick out which one. Lego offers us toy options from a Ninjago Storm Fighter plane to a passenger plane complete with airport terminal. In true Lego fashion, the planes are built from the a combination of bricks.

Lego Planes and Helicopters reviews not only my favorite toy planes but plenty more, including some fun helicoptor choices. Any collector of Lego toys will lots to add to his or her collection.

Lego Goes Game With Minecraft

My granddaughter introduced me to the world of Minecraft. I was hooked quickly into building villages, called biomes, and saving my communities for the zombies and bombs. Of course, I wanted my Lego toy collection to include my new-found game world.

Lego Minecraft Sets helped me out. The full collection of Lego Minecraft sets is reviewed, giving me the information I needed. Well, needed to know I wanted to add all the sets. Yes, my Lego toy collection is growing.  

Collectible Lego Toys

Even if you aren't an avid toy collector, Lego is still a fun way to enjoy playtime. My Legos provide hours of great fun for me as I build each set, but they do more. Because they are toys, they are meant to be played with. That's great for my grandchildren as well as me. How many toy collections can boast that feature?




Posted by: BuckHawk

About This Contributor

BuckHawk decribes herself as "Basically a lazy person who prefers the easy things in life." So that's what she writes about. Easy home decorating, easy recipes, easy entertaining. But, she is also a lover of animals, gardening and crafting. You'll find her writing all over the Web, but with Review This Reviews! she has the opportunity to write about all of her loves.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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