Lego Bucket

One of the more useful lessons I have learned this year is that it is a big help if I have a hierarchy of challenge within a category of play, especially if I hope for therapeutic benefits.

With Legos, that means saving some sets for stand-alone play, forming stepping stones between the most basic "Legos from cards" and the often-overwhelming well-sorted bulk collection.

Eliza and Levi gave me a Lego bucket for Christmas that was a bit of a challenge to my commitment to supporting the hierarchy: it contains a booklet of sample designs, which is an almost critical element of a separate step, but it also contained some Legos that would very usefully supplement the major collection.

Good sense prevailed, and I will maintain this as a stand-alone set. I sorted the contents into zip lock sandwich bags by type of brick, and built one of the designs in the booklet.

The chart of contents on the outside of the bucket helped me decide. I really like those, and not all Lego buckets or tubs have them. Its presence makes the useful pieces much easier to borrow if I ever actually need them for something I build with the bulk collection.